CitizenCast

Milwaukee, WI Mayor Cavalier Johnson won reelection in 2024 with 80 percent of the vote. "Those are Vladimir Putin levels," joked Larry Platt.

"The difference is, Putin's still looking for the other 20 percent!" said Michael Nutter.

Asked why he decided to devote his life to public service, Johnson said, "I fell in love with helping people in my community. I mean, the key word in 'progressive' is progress. And mayors get stuff done. It's truly where the rubber meets the road in cities."

From youth workforce development programs ("Ten-year-olds were being recruited to steal cars, here") to rejecting partisanship for the good of the city ("Bringing the RNC to Milwaukee in 2024 was a purely business decision") to his efforts to grow the population of Milwaukee to a million people, Johnson is out earning that 80 percent each day.

"We have an awful lot of people who listen to this podcast that we hope will one day run for office," said Kasim Reed.

"Right, I think it's important for the people to see their reflection in this office," said Johnson. "It's a powerful thing. It's all about service."

As cities go, so goes the nation!

On this episode of Citizen WURDs with Dr. James Peterson, Kerry Woodward joins the show to chat with Peterson about the new law that mandates every PA student take personal financial courses in high school.

On this episode of Guest Commentary, City Council has one chance to get rideshare taxation right, says an urbanist and strategist. His solution combines the ideas of Parker, Uber and economics 101.

Utilities are outpacing inflation. Governor Josh Shapiro has launched a new watchdog in PA to scrutinize the spiraling prices. Ali Velshi explains.

When two Bucks County teenagers leaped to their deaths from a quarry cliff in 1983, they left a quiet suburban community in shock. "That kind of thing doesn't happen here," people thought. Then it happened again.

On a special episode, we talk with the author of the original 1984 Philadelphia magazine article Over the Edge. We talk about the details of this forty-year-old story, about mental health issues and how journalists can write about the topic responsibly.

On this episode of Integrity Icon, Faith Harris is the Director of Social Service and Operations at the City's Division of Criminal Justice. She advocates for young people to get the justice and care they need. Come celebrate her and her fellow Integrity Icon winners on June 3. RSVP here.

Missing firearms, a no-bid contract, stalled reforms: Why are Rochelle Bilal's fellow pols still standing by her?

Partisan tension, pandemic learning loss, cell phones everywhere, and the AI takeover of everything. On this special episode we dive into the modern challenges of teaching in Philadelphia in this award-nominated story by Ben Seal.

This bill in Hawaii (which embraces a strategy known as "Corporate Power Reset") is meant to sidestep Citizens United and the dark money it injected into our democracy. Other states are taking notice. Ali Velshi explains.

Is the now inevitable election of Democratic Socialist Chris Rabb to Congress part of a trend that should have us asking: Where have all the serious people gone?