The Week in Philly from KYW Newsradio

Latest Episodes:

'Death by a hundred cuts:' The state of voting rights in America Jul 20, 2021

Show notes

Voting rights have been in the headlines for months. Many states are passing new laws around the right to vote, and there is a recent Supreme Court ruling that we found interesting out of Arizona for the effect it could have on people being able to cast ballots. Dr. Susan Liebell, Professor of Political Science at Saint Joseph's University joins KYW Newsradio In Depth to break down Brnovich vs. the DNC and the state of voting rights in America right now.

Anti-government protests in Cuba: Why now and what it all means Jul 20, 2021

Show notes

The recent anti-government protests in Cuba led to a lot of headlines, because we don’t see demonstrations against the communist regime on the island nation very often at all. So what drove Cubans to take to the streets? Was it more than just anger at the government’s COVID response? Could change be coming to Cuba? And what role does the ongoing US embargo play in all of this? Dr. Lowell Gustafson, Professor of Political Science at Villanova University is on the podcast to talk about why the protests in Cuba are important and what it means for the future of the Cuban people and the nation's relationship with the rest of the world.

Big questions about living in condos after the Surfside disaster Jul 19, 2021

Show notes

After the tragic condo building collapse in Surfside, Florida, condo owners and associations across the country are asking hard questions about the condition of their buildings, and a lot of people are taking a second look at inspections and maintenance reports and worrying 'could that happen here?' We wanted to talk about the future of condominiums and what we could see after Surfside. David Wilk, Director of the Real Estate Program at Temple University's Fox School of Business is on the podcast to talk about the future of condos and what people living in condos right now need to know and need to be thinking about.

Yes, that unemployment report looks like pre-pandemic numbers Jul 16, 2021

Show notes

Don't blink, but the jobless claims report reminds us of a very different time in history when pandemics were just things we read about and didn't consume every part of American life. Child tax credits are going out and we'll be able to see the impact on real families in the data very shortly. Other parts of the economy are on a steady uptick, consumer sentiment appears to be rising, and tourism is finally recovering. David Fiorenza, economist at the Villanova School of Business joins KYW Newsradio In Depth to talk about what happened this week in the economy and what it means for all of us in our daily lives.

Workers have strong feelings about returning to the office Jul 15, 2021

Show notes

As more and more people get vaccinated, a lot workers are being asked to return to the office. Others are being given the option to come back. So how are Americans feeling about returning to the office to work? And how much of the population is hoping remote works stays around forever? Morning Consult, a global data intelligence company, recently released the findings of a survey focused on this and some other fascinating related concepts. Alyssa Meyers, Brands Reporter at Morning Consult is on the podcast to break down what they found and where Americans want to work in a post-COVID world. Check out the survey here - https://morningconsult.com/2021/07/07/office-worker-survey/

'There's no vaccine against hunger' but the child tax credit will help feed hurting families Jul 14, 2021

Show notes

Food insecurity continues to be a serious problem even as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. But could the expanded child tax credit set to kick in this month with money being sent directly to families be a game changer in addressing that food insecurity? Loree Jones, CEO of Philabundance, a non-profit working to end hunger in the Philadelphia area joins the podcast to talk about the need for food and how the child tax credit could have a big impact on hungry families.

Parts of the American economy won't go back to 'normal' after COVID Jul 14, 2021

Show notes

It's been a very long pandemic and we're still emerging from COVID-19, but the economy is working its way back and it will eventually get back to the level of strength it was before all of this. But it's not going to look the same. Some aspects of the economy have changed for good since march of 2020. David Fiorenza, economist at the Villanova School of Business joins KYW Newsradio In Depth to talk about the ways the economy has recovered to where it was before the pandemic and how it's changed permanently.

The consequences of the declining birth rate in the US Jul 08, 2021

Show notes

The birth rate in the US has been in decline for several years now. How big of a deal is that? Should we be alarmed? What are some problems this could cause down the road if the trend continues? Dr. Hans-Peter Kohler, Professor of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania is on the podcast to talk about what happens when a country's birth rate declines and the situation the United States is facing now.

'The problem is much bigger' than the wealthiest 25 Americans avoiding taxes Jul 07, 2021

Show notes

The nonprofit investigative journalism outlet ProPublica released a series of articles based on a treasure trove of tax records they obtained. The tax records focus on the wealthiest people in American society and reveal how little they pay in personal taxes. Dr. Steven Balsam, Professor of Accounting at Temple University's Fox School of Business is on the KYW Newsradio In Depth podcast to talk about how it's possible to pay so little in taxes when you make so much, what it reveals about our tax system, and how to fix the problem.

Read the ProPublica investigation here:

https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax

What do people mean when they talk about 'critical race theory'? Jul 06, 2021

Show notes

We have heard an awful lot about critical race theory in the news lately, it has become the new flashpoint for debate, but... what do people mean when they talk about critical race theory? Contrary to what it may feel like, this is not a new concept at all. We wanted to learn about critical race theory, why it’s important, and why those words might not mean what you're reading, so we reached out to Dr. Jennifer Rich, Associate Professor of Sociology at Rowan University to break down what critical race theory actually is and how it's being used in politics today.