Air Traffic Controllers on Edge, Future of Pharmacies, Unhoused Youth

Rite Aid’s recent bankruptcy filing posed challenges to healthcare access for customers in Philly, where 18 of the chain’s stores shut down, creating a scarcity of pharmacies that puts patients at risk of limited access to necessary medication and supplies. We’ll talk with Marcus Biddle, health equity fellow for WHYY’s “The Pulse,” as small local pharmacies struggle to address increased demand.

Throngs of holiday travelers at airports across the country put heavy stress on an already strained aviation system, and the shortage of air traffic controllers is making things worse. A recent New York Times investigation found that some of these overworked employees are struggling, turning to drugs and alcohol to cope. Reports also show an increase in near-collisions, outdated equipment and threats to passenger safety. Times investigative reporter Emily Steel joins us.

The City of Philadelphia is putting $8.8 million toward the crisis of youth homelessness – but is it enough to help young moms in shelters, LGBTQ+ youth sleeping on the streets, and the many suffering outside as we enter the dead of winter? Yvonne Latty, Director of the Logan Center for Urban Investigative Reporting at Temple University, and Kenny Cooper, suburban reporter for WHYY News, discuss WHYY’s new podcast series, “Young, Unhoused and Unseen.”