The Week in Philly from KYW Newsradio

Latest Episodes:

Term limits, adding justices, and other plausible ways the Supreme Court could change Oct 26, 2020

Show notes

For the third time in the Trump presidency, a U.S. Supreme Court Justice is being replaced. If you're on the outside looking in, the whole process can look pretty ugly and vicious. It's a lot of political fights, and long hearings that seem like they all have foregone conclusions. So was it always like this? Or is the process especially contentious today, just like everything else in our politics? Kermit Roosevelt, legal scholar and law professor at the University of Pennsylvania joins KYW In Depth to break down the history of the Supreme Court and talk about its future, including some not so far-fetched ways that the court could change in our lifetimes.

What's going on with the Philly area real estate market? Oct 26, 2020

Show notes

There's been sort of a perfect storm in real estate during the coronavirus pandemic -- the housing market has been on fire, lending rates are historically low, and people want more space for working from home. So after more than seven months into the pandemic, how's the market holding up and what's happening in the Philly area specifically?

Maria Quattrone, CEO and founder of Maria Quattrone & Associates at RE/MAX @ Home in Center City, Philadelphia checks back in with KYW Newsradio In Depth to talk about the trends in home sales and how the pandemic is changing what people are looking for in Philly metro real estate.

Liability shields, housing bubbles, and how the markets price the election Oct 23, 2020

Show notes

Seven plus months into the pandemic and first time unemployment claims are looking really rosy in COVID adjusted terms, under 800,000. Or is that number just hiding a bigger problem? One of the sticking points holding up a new stimulus package is coronavirus liability shielding for businesses. What's that all about? And we've been watching a housing market that's been absolutely on fire for months now -- is it time to start talking about a housing bubble? David Fiorenza, Associate Professor of Practice at the Villanova School of Business joins KYW in Depth to break down the news of the week and explain what it means for the health of our economy.

The Supreme Court's decision on Pennsylvania mail-in ballots, explained Oct 23, 2020

Show notes

Pennsylvania will be allowed to count mail-in ballots for this year's election that are received up to three days after November 3rd, after legal challenges made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Michael Moreland, Professor of Law at Villanova University joins KYW Newsradio in Depth to break down what the outcome means for both political parties, for voters, and the ripple effects it could have outside of election 2020.

COVID testing in the US right now is 'somewhere around a C-minus,' but some problems can be fixed Oct 22, 2020

Show notes

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to affects towns and households across the United States with no signs of slowing down, the Association of American Medical Colleges is calling for a coordinated national testing strategy to try and help get us out of this mess. Dr. Atul Grover, AAMC Research and Action Institute Executive Director joins KYW Newsradio In Depth to talk about the state of testing right now and what the AAMC wants to see going forward.

The AAMC COVID Roadmap: https://www.aamc.org/covidroadmap

Do presidential debates change minds anymore? Oct 21, 2020

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Do presidential debates even matter in 2020? Do they change anyone's mind about who they're voting for? If you showed the debate between Biden and Trump to someone 50 years ago, what would they think? Dr. Ben Berger, Associate Professor of Political Science at Swarthmore College & Executive Director of the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility joins KYW Newsradio In Depth for a fascinating look at presidential debates of the past and how both the debates and the response they've elicited have changed.

What an asteroid 200 million miles away can tell us about life, space, and the early solar system Oct 21, 2020

Show notes

NASA's OSIRIS-REx has touched down on the asteroid Bennu and successfully grabbed a sample for scientists to study back on earth. So why are they interested in this particular asteroid, and what are they hoping to learn? Dr. Harold Connolly, Jr., Founding Chair and Professor in the Department of Geology at Rowan University and Co-Investigator and Mission Sample Scientist on the OSIRIS-REx mission team joined KYW Newsradio In Depth just a few hours before the spacecraft made contact with the asteroid to talk about the mission and the secrets the team hopes Bennu wants to tell.

After the explosion, what's the future of the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery site? Oct 21, 2020

Show notes

It's been well over a year since the explosion at the former Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery in South Philadelphia. Since then, the original owner declared bankruptcy and the site changed hands. So what's going to happen to it? Harris Steinberg, Executive Director of the Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation at Drexel University joins KYW Newsradio In Depth to talk about the site and a really interesting vision for its reuse recently put out by the Lindy Institute.

Check out the Vision for the Lower Schuylkill here: https://drexel.edu/lindyinstitute/initiatives/a-vision-for-the-lower-schuylkill/

How close are we to COVID-19 herd immunity? Oct 20, 2020

Show notes

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues around the world, we're hearing more about the concept of herd immunity. We wanted to dig into herd immunity and find out exactly what it is, how it works, and what happened in other places around the world that have tried to use herd immunity as a strategy without having a vaccine. Dr. Jason Diaz, Assistant Professor in the Integrated Science, Business and Technology Program at La Salle University joins KYW Newsradio In Depth to explain everything you need to know about herd immunity.

Long term unemployment is helping to turbocharge America's inequality crisis Oct 19, 2020

Show notes

Hiding in the unemployment statistics is the rising number of people who are experiencing long-term unemployment -- they've been out of work for 27 weeks or more. Scott Deacle, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Business and Economics at Ursinus College joins KYW In Depth to talk about long-term unemployment, who it's affecting, and what it means on a macro level to an economy and on a personal level to a worker or a family.