WHYY Radio Sunday Specials

The best specials and series to inform, entertain and keep you company.

Listen Sundays at 8 p.m. on WHYY radio.

August 2
Technology: The Pivot Point
During this recession, technology has been keeping society and the economy afloat, from the platforms distributing food and masks to the physical wiring that lets us all stay connected. Biotech companies are working to transform the way we fight and cure diseases like COVID-19, and educators are struggling to find ways to make digital learning as effective as in-person classes. Marketplace Tech’s Molly Wood shares how current innovations might help us transition to our post-pandemic future, and how the crisis has underscored the inequity in internet access.

August 9
Reimagining the Economy
We are in the midst of a pandemic that has led to one of the worst economic crises in our history. Once the public health emergency becomes manageable, this country still faces one of the biggest public issue of our lifetimes: will we go back to business, inequity and the systemic racism we had, or will we draw a blueprint for the economy we want? In this one-hour special, Marketplace Morning Report’s David Brancaccio explores what a new reimagined economy might look like and what it will take for us to get there.

August 16
The Economy, Reset
The pandemic and the financial crisis have highlighted a fundamental truth: our economy has never worked for everyone. The Black unemployment rate has consistently been twice as high as the white unemployment rate, even during the past 11 years of economic expansion. In the last few months, 40% of Black-owned businesses have closed, and essential workers are disproportionately Black and Latino. Black Americans make up around 13% of the population, but they account for 23% of all COVID-19 deaths. Kai Ryssdal will talk with experts about what it will take to begin to end the systemic racism that has defined our society and our economy for the last 400 years. Through host interviews, relevant historic examples, and personal stories, the program will offer solutions-based ideas for a fully integrated and inclusive economy. It will also outline some of the institutional obstacles that any such changes will face.

August 23
Schooled
The class of 2020 is bound for the history books. Here, we tell the stories of three students coming of age in a moment where the world feels both ‘on hold’ and ‘on fire.’