The Week in Philly from KYW Newsradio

Latest Episodes:

'American data for American people:' The case for a vaccine database Nov 24, 2021

Show notes

The COVID-19 vaccines have been a big focus of our society for months now. So much work went into developing them, and the work to get them out to people is still ongoing. So is that data being used to help Americans? Is it even being tracked? Are we doing ourselves a disservice by not have a centralized vaccine database to keep all the info of who got vaccinated, and where, and when, all in one place? What would that even look like? What would be the benefit and how would that go over with the American public? We wanted to dig into all of this so we called Sigal Atzmon, founder and CEO of Medix, a global medical management company, to talk about the pros and cons of a vaccine database. Check out Medix here: https://www.medix-global.com/eu-en/home/a/main/

Hamilton's Ta'Rea Campbell on the road that led her home to Philadelphia Nov 22, 2021

Show notes

Ta'Rea Campbell has gone from the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts to the Broadway stage, and now she's back in town playing Angelica Schuyler in the touring cast of Hamilton. She says playing this iconic role in her hometown has been amazing, but the touring life isn't for everyone. Ta'Rea told us about the challenges the road brings - especially when a pandemic stalls your plans - plus how she's bonded with her castmates and why this tour is unique from any other performance of Hamilton.

Pandemic economy: Jobs, retail, holiday shopping - good news across the board? Nov 19, 2021

Show notes

The jobs numbers revised up quite a bit, and retail sales looked good too. People are spending money, inflation and supply chain problems or not. What should we expect for the holiday season and black Friday? Philadelphia economist David Fiorenza helps us break down the all the economic news of the week that matters to you in your daily life.

How 'race-norming' became part of the NFL's concussion settlement process Nov 19, 2021

Show notes

That NFL Concussion settlement has been in the news for years since it was agreed upon, but recently there was a new chapter where we learned about an alarming concept that was being used in deciding who got paid and who didn’t or how much. It’s called race-norming. We wanted to talk about what it is and how it works and how something like it could still be around so we asked Ken Jacobsen, Practice Professor of Law at Temple University's Beasley School of Law to come on the podcast and explain what happened.

Philadelphia Gay News founder fought for visibility, and won Nov 17, 2021

Show notes

Mark Segal may be known today as the founder of the Philadelphia Gay News, but some of his best stories happened earlier. He broke barriers for the LGBTQ community at Stonewall, was a marshal at the first Pride parade, and drew national eyes to the movement by disrupting major news broadcasts. We talked with him about the many bold actions he took to make himself and his community visible, the remarkable changes that came as a result of his work, and how he feels now looking back on 52 years of activism.

Incarceration is going down in Pennsylvania - but not for women. Here’s why Nov 16, 2021

Show notes

There has been a lot of focus on trying to reduce the number of incarcerated people in the US. There's been progress on that front, but that progress is not equal. In Pennsylvania, the numbers for men have gone down, but the number of incarcerated women continues to increase. We wanted to talk about this, find out why and what can be done to address it, so we called Dr. Jill McCorkel, Professor of Sociology and Criminology and Villanova University and the founder and the executive director of the Philadelphia Justice Project for Women and Girls.

What's in the infrastructure deal? Power grid upgrades, drinking water, high speed internet Nov 15, 2021

Show notes

It's finally infrastructure week. So what's in the bipartisan infrastructure bill just passed into law? Highways and bridges, high speed internet, electric vehicle charging networks, and safe drinking water, among a lot of other things. There’s been a lot of talk about the price tag of the bill, but not nearly as much about what is in it so we asked Scott Deacle, Associate Professor and Department Chair of Business and Economics at Ursinus College to come on the podcast and break it down.

'People have a lot of power:' What bosses need to realize about the worker shortage Nov 12, 2021

Show notes

The worker shortage is still here, a ton of businesses have help wanted signs in the windows. Most of the discussion and the hot takes about the worker shortage have focused on the workforce, what individual workers or job seekers want or aren't able to accept anymore. We wanted to take some time to focus on employers. What are bosses doing to adjust to this new normal? Do they appreciate that for the first time in a long time, they truly have to compete for people? Is there any self-awareness that maybe their old playbook isn’t in line with what people are looking for these days? It's a lot to unpack, so we called Jennifer Rossi Long, Senior Director of West Chester University’s Twardowski Career Development Center.

A sacred journey: How Philadelphia’s USS Olympia carried the Unknown Soldier home Nov 11, 2021

Show notes

You can visit the USS Olympia in her forever home at the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia. But before being decommissioned, the ship had one final and sacred task, to carry the Unknown Soldier home to America from France. The details of that journey were pieced together from scraps of history. Craig Bruns, chief curator at the Independence Seaport Museum tells KYW Newsradio In Depth how he discovered details about the often harrowing voyage, why the Olympia was chosen for this sacred task, and how you can visit the warship turned museum in Philadelphia and see this important piece of American history for yourself.

Learn more about the Olympia and the Independence Seaport Museum here: https://www.phillyseaport.org/cruiser-olympia/

The real reasons why immigration stays broken, no matter who is president Nov 10, 2021

Show notes

The immigration system in the United States has a lot of serious problems. While immigration was a constant focus during the Trump administration, the problems in the system predate that administration, and for the most part they still exist today. Why is immigration reform so hard to accomplish in America? What are the key issues everyone agrees on, and why don't they get fixed? And what can the country do right now to address the biggest problems with our immigration system? Sarah Paoletti, Practice Professor of Law and Director of the Transnational Legal Clinic at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School talks on the podcast about the biggest holes in American immigration and why the system tends to stay broken.