The Week in Philly from KYW Newsradio

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The inequality virus: "Half of humanity was right on the edge, and then the pandemic hit." Feb 12, 2021

Show notes

It's becoming more and more apparent that inequality is the challenge of our time, made even more visible by a global virus pandemic that has been unsparingly unequal in its impact. We broke the wrong kind of record in 2020 -- a new report from the group Oxfam shows that for the first time, inequality has grown everywhere during the pandemic. The report is called "The Inequality Virus," and Paul O'Brien, Vice President at Oxfam America on Policy and Advocacy Work joins KYW In Depth to talk about the report, how the wealthy got even wealthier during the pandemic, how dire the situation is for the bottom fifty percent and what needs to happen to bring us back from the edge.

Look at the report here: https://bit.ly/3pepnxy

Paul O'Brien is the author of a book about inequality called “Power Switch: How we can Reverse Extreme Inequality." "Find out more here: https://bit.ly/2Zap2Sc

The deepening housing crisis: "$60 billion in back rent, and no real path forward" Feb 10, 2021

Show notes

Ever since the start of the pandemic, the people on the wrong side of the K-shaped recovery have taken it on the chin. So many people have lost income and savings, and the number of people falling behind on the rent or the mortgage is truly hard to fathom. So what's a concrete, actually helpful thing that people can do to try and keep from losing their home? The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation published what they call a roadmap to help prevent people from losing housing during the pandemic. Avenel Joseph, Vice President of Policy at the RWJF joins KYW Newsradio In Depth to talk about the roadmap and break down some changes at the local and national level that need to happen to advance equity in housing. Take a look at the report here: https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/collections/housing-and-health.html

Kill the filibuster: the shaky future of "The Soul of the Senate" Feb 09, 2021

Show notes

The filibuster hasn't been a part of the US Senate forever but you'd be excused for thinking it was. For the last 180 odd years, the ability of the minority party to grind Senate proceedings to a halt with a speech has been an important and ever-present component in the recipe for American law. And now, as is often the case in the short windows of time in American politics when one party controls all the levers of power, there's a lot of talk among Democrats about eliminating or reforming the filibuster to make it easier to legislate. So how did we get here? How did the filibuster evolve to become the weapon of obstruction that it's so often used as today? What are the consequences of getting rid of it all together? And what would that even look like? Dr. Ben Dworkin, Director of the Rowan Institute for Public Policy and Citizenship at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ joins KYW Newsradio In Depth to break down what the filibuster started as, what it is today, and what happens if it goes away forever.

The case for $15 an hour and why it's not about the money Feb 08, 2021

Show notes

Calling for a hike to the federal minimum wage is nothing new, but right now there's a pretty significant amount of support behind establishing a benchmark of $15 an hour. It's a big jump from $7.25, the minimum wage since 2009. There's already a lot of people talking about the minimum wage and arguing whether we should or shouldn't bump it up -- so we wanted to sort of bypass the "should we or shouldn't we" of it all and talk about the issue from the math side. What do we know about what $15 an hour would mean for the economy? How would it affect small businesses? And what kind of tangible effect would this have on the individual household level? Dr. Nancy Fox, Associate Professor of Economics at Saint Joseph’s University joins KYW Newsradio in Depth to break down what a minimum wage raise to $15 an hour looks like to a market economist.

"As many people incarcerated as possible." How the government got in the private prison business, and why it's getting out Feb 05, 2021

Show notes

Under a new executive order from President Joe Biden, the federal government will not renew its contracts with private prisons. We had a lot of questions about what this means and the bigger picture -- like why did the federal government start using privately run prisons in the first place? What actually changes for guards and inmates when a prison turns private? And what are the larger societal ramifications going to look like after the government exits the for-profit prison business? Dr. Caitlin Taylor, Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at La Salle University joins KYW Newsradio in Depth to talk about why we use prisons to turn profits in the United States and what it says that the government wants out.

Big hopes for big stimulus, and why you should know about the treasury yield curve Feb 05, 2021

Show notes

It's been a busy week -- jobs numbers, new unemployment figures, stimulus development, questions about student debt forgiveness, and why you should care about the treasury yield curve. Time for our weekly look at the American economy with David Fiorenza, Associate Professor of Practice at Villanova School of Business who 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.

Super Bowl advertising, pandemic style Feb 04, 2021

Show notes

For some people Super Bowl commercials are about as highly anticipated as the game itself. But it's safe to say the vibe's going to be a bit different this year, with a country and a TV audience that has been through a lot in the last 12 months and is still in the midst of a pandemic. So how are advertisers thinking differently this year, and how have the messages they're sending changed? Sean Grevy, CEO of 43 Oak, a Media Buying and Planning Advertising Agency based in New York City joins KYW Newsradio In Depth to talk about what to expect on advertising's biggest night and how the pandemic has changed the playing field.

Was the 9-to-5 work day even a good idea? Feb 04, 2021

Show notes

If you've been working from home at all for the past year you've probably benefited from having a little more flexibility in your schedule. It's really nice to stop competing with everyone else for the Friday 7pm doctors appointment, or not having to take an extra train ride home and then back to the office at lunch just to take the dog out. But with vaccines being distributed and the expiration date of the pandemic at the end of the tunnel -- what's the future of our new work/life balance going to look like? Are we at the beginning of a revolution in how we work, or will workers largely return to office culture as we knew it? Jennifer Rossi Long, Senior Director of West Chester University’s Twardowski Career Development Center joins KYW Newsradio In Depth to talk about how COVID-19 changed the 9-to-5 for good and ill alike.

Amazon after Bezos, and Bezos after Amazon. "What took him so long?" Feb 04, 2021

Show notes

Jeff Bezos announced he will be stepping down as the CEO of Amazon, the company he founded, later this year. He'll transition to the role of executive chairman of Amazon’s board. He will be replaced as CEO by Andy Jassy, who has been leading the Amazon Web Services cloud team. Amazon of course is a massive, hugely powerful and influential company which has made itself a daily part of life for millions of Americans. So what does this change mean for the company and Bezos going forward? Dr. Stephen Andriole, the Thomas G. Labrecque Professor of Business Technology at the Villanova School of Business joins KYW Newsradio In Depth to break down the impact of the CEO change at one of the most important companies ever, and what's in store for Bezos after he exits the trenches.

Former Montco DA Bruce Castor: "I'm a lawyer, and President Trump needs help." Feb 03, 2021

Show notes

For anyone who follows politics in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, the news over the weekend that former Montco District Attorney Bruce Castor will be heading up former President Donald Trump's impeachment defense was a bombshell. So how did Castor get the biggest job of his life? Jim Melwert, Suburban Bureau Chief for KYW Newsradio interviewed Castor and asked about the historic nature of the task ahead of him, his legal strategy, and why he thinks that President Trump shouldn't be held responsible for the riot at the Capitol on January 6.

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