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City Cast Pittsburgh
City Cast Pittsburgh episodes
- CMU Miami, Bleak Budgets & Duquesne Light’s Strike
Carnegie Mellon University is opening a new campus in Miami, thanks to a $3 billion gift from hedge fund manager Ken Griffin. It's the largest single donation ever made to a U.S. university. Host Megan Harris, executive producer Mallory Falk, and contributor and City Paper Managing Editor Colin Williams discuss the school's Florida expansion (spring breaaaaaaak forever), Griffin’s status as a GOP megadonor, and why so many colleges are opening branch campuses in the Sunshine State. Plus, Mayor Corey O’Connor just released his proposed city budget — long story short, our finances are still looking pretty bleak — paid parental leave is one step closer to reality in Allegheny County, and a long-lost candy bar gets resurrected just in time for Halloween. And in our members-only bonus segment, we take you on a tour of former Steelers coach Mike Tomlin’s truly massive virtual city in Minecraft.
Notes and references from today’s show:
- Carnegie Mellon University Announces Historic $3 Billion Gift from Ken Griffin, Pioneering a New Model for Higher Education [CMU]
- Carnegie Mellon to open Miami campus after multibillion-dollar gift from hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin [Post-Gazette]
- Hedge Fund Executive Gives $3 Billion to Carnegie Mellon in Largest-Ever Gift [New York Times]
- Billionaire investor Ken Griffin calls on Harvard to embrace ‘Western values’ [Reuters]
- Pittsburgh's Point Park University exploring potential partnership and location in Florida [KDKA]
- Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor proposes 2027 budget that raids reserves but avoids tax increase and layoffs [TribLive]
- Rec center roulette: Critical Pittsburgh facilities suffer from uneven funding [TribLive]
- Allegheny County’s paid parental leave approved by health board, moves to council [WESA]
- Long-forgotten Clark candy bar variation returns [TribLive]
- PODCAST: PA Candy Trivia! How Pennsylvania is Your Halloween Haul? [City Cast Pittsburgh]
- Duquesne Light Company and union fail to reach agreement, strike begins [WTAE]
🏡 Get more from City Cast Pittsburgh when you become a City Cast Pittsburgh Neighbor. You’ll enjoy perks like ad-free listening, invitations to members-only events, and more. Join the City Cast Pittsburgh Neighbors program!
👋 Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 412-212-8893 or email [email protected]. We’re also on Instagram!
💌 You can get more Pittsburgh news delivered right to your inbox by subscribing to the City Cast Pittsburgh morning newsletter.
🥁 Looking to advertise on City Cast Pittsburgh? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads.
Learn more about the sponsors of this Thursday, October 1st episode:
The Frick Pittsburgh
P3R
Pittsburgh Opera
Visit Athens Ohio
43 min - Your Guide to October 2026 in Pittsburgh
October in Pittsburgh is packed with things to eat, see and do — from campy musicals and a pizza opera to the Pittsburgh Art Book Fair and the (maybe?) final Living Dead Weekend at Monroeville Mall. We’ve also got fall house tours, family-friendly trolley adventures, a food hall to try, and a few ideas for getting out of town. Plus, host Megan Harris wants your vote on where she should spend a few days away: the Finger Lakes, Cuyahoga Valley, New River Gorge, Cumberland, or somewhere else within driving distance of Pittsburgh. Help!
Looking for more things to do? Check out our massive lists of local fall festivals and haunted houses.
Notes and references from today’s show:
- Meet some of our new colleagues at their upcoming events. City Cast Pittsburgh’s audience development manager Emma Honcharski is a co-director of the annual Pittsburgh Art Book Fair on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, and creative producer Boen Wang is accompanying his wife Grace, a poet and visual artist, for a reading from their debut book Holly at City of Asylum on Oct. 12.
- Glamping in State Parks [PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources]
- PODCAST: How Pgh Became the Roller Coaster Capitol of the World [City Cast Pittsburgh]
👋 Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 412-212-8893 or email [email protected]. We’re also on Instagram!
💌 You can get more Pittsburgh news delivered right to your inbox by subscribing to the City Cast Pittsburgh morning newsletter.
🏡 Get more from City Cast Pittsburgh when you become a City Cast Pittsburgh Neighbor. You’ll enjoy perks like ad-free listening, invitations to members-only events, and more. Join the City Cast Pittsburgh Neighbors program!
🥁 Looking to advertise on City Cast Pittsburgh? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads.
Learn more about the sponsors of this Thursday, October 1st episode:
The Frick Pittsburgh
P3R
Pittsburgh Opera
Visit Athens Ohio
42 min - Pittsburgh’s Best Fall Frights, From Terrifying To Totally Tame
How scared do you actually want to be this Halloween? Pittsburgh has plenty of options! Whether you want chainsaw-wielding killers chasing you through a haunted house or you’d rather stick to haunted history and mini golf, we’ve got something for you. Host Megan Harris and creative producer Marla Kauffman are rounding up the region’s best fall frights from the truly terrifying haunts — like Crawford School of Terror and Portals of Fear — to the not-so-scary return of ScareHouse, quirky Halloween events, and family-friendly fun. Plus, which haunted attraction has bars inside, where you can explore a creepy old mine, and why sometimes for a haunted house, the devil is truly in the details.
Check out even more of our recs for haunted houses and Halloween fun, plus our mega-list of fall festivals, Oktoberfests, and autumn activities.
👋 Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 412-212-8893 or email [email protected]. We’re also on Instagram!
💌 You can get more Pittsburgh news delivered right to your inbox by subscribing to the City Cast Pittsburgh morning newsletter.
🏡 Get more from City Cast Pittsburgh when you become a City Cast Pittsburgh Neighbor. You’ll enjoy perks like ad-free listening, invitations to members-only events, and more. Join the City Cast Pittsburgh Neighbors program!
🥁 Looking to advertise on City Cast Pittsburgh? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads.
Learn more about the sponsors of this Wednesday, September 30th episode:
The Frick Pittsburgh
P3R
Pittsburgh Opera
Visit Athens Ohio
35 min - Riverfront Trails Expand, Exercise for Beginners & Tim Burton Takeover
Have you ever been enjoying a bike ride along the riverfront, only for the trail to end abruptly? Good news! The city is planning to close some longstanding gaps along the Three Rivers Heritage Trail. Host Megan Harris, executive producer Mallory Falk, and creative producer Boen Wang explain which sections are getting extended (including a particularly harrowing stretch between the Strip District and Lawrenceville) and what it all has to do with a railroad company. Plus, we share beginner tips and tricks for braving the hills and exercising outdoors in Pittsburgh and recommend some events for the week ahead, including a trip into the Tim Burton-verse and storytime for adults.
Notes and references from today’s show:
- “City partners with CSX to connect, expand Three Rivers Heritage Trail” [🔒 Post-Gazette]
- Map of proposed trail projects [Friends of the Riverfront]
- “Restaurants, Party Barges & Bathrooms on the Riverfront” [City Cast Pittsburgh]
- “Bike Pittsburgh's Best Kept Secrets” [City Cast Pittsburgh]
- “Adam Voith Author Visit” on Sept. 30 [Poetry Lounge]
- “Week Without Driving” from Oct. 1-8
- “House of Burton” from Oct. 1-31 [Mixtape]
👋 Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 412-212-8893 or email [email protected]. We’re also on Instagram!
💌 You can get more Pittsburgh news delivered right to your inbox by subscribing to the City Cast Pittsburgh morning newsletter.
🏡 Get more from City Cast Pittsburgh when you become a City Cast Pittsburgh Neighbor. You’ll enjoy perks like ad-free listening, invitations to members-only events, and more. Join the City Cast Pittsburgh Neighbors program!
🥁 Looking to advertise on City Cast Pittsburgh? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads.
Learn more about the sponsors of this Tuesday, September 29th episode:
The Frick Pittsburgh
P3R
Pittsburgh Opera
Visit Athens Ohio
33 min - Create Your Own Pittsburgh Food Tour
Looking for your next fall getaway? What about a curated road trip with lots of tasty stops and local history? Our state's tourism site includes six official culinary trails with themes like maple, bread, and charcuterie. Food historian Mary Miller, the mastermind behind several of our state trails, joins host Megan Harris to share her inspiration and offer tips for designing your own food crawl, tour, or trail.
👋 Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 412-212-8893 or email [email protected]. We’re also on Instagram!
💌 You can get more Pittsburgh news delivered right to your inbox by subscribing to the City Cast Pittsburgh morning newsletter.
🏡 Get more from City Cast Pittsburgh when you become a City Cast Pittsburgh Neighbor. You’ll enjoy perks like ad-free listening, invitations to members-only events, and more. Join the City Cast Pittsburgh Neighbors program!
🥁 Looking to advertise on City Cast Pittsburgh? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads.
Learn more about the sponsors of this Monday, September 28th episode:
Carnegie Library
The Frick Pittsburgh
P3R
Pittsburgh Opera
Visit Athens Ohio
21 min - ‘Your City Could Be Better’: How One Oregon City is Lowering Energy Costs — Presented By City Cast Pittsburgh
What’s a seemingly small project in Pittsburgh that’s made a big difference? In the Oregon suburb of Tualatin, a drinking water pipe has just been fitted with a seamless electrical turbine, so that an existing utility can now have a dual purpose. David is joined by Nic Westendorf, Tualatin’s deputy public works director, to talk about the power of thinking local, using existing tools, and looking ahead to a sustainable future to inform what we do today.
Is there something your city is doing that we should be talking about? Email David now!
We’re also on Instagram: @yourcitycouldbebetter
Looking to advertise on Your City Could Be Better? Check out our options.
21 min - UPMC Yields to Trump, County Bans Big Data Centers & Goodbye Millennial Gray?
UPMC just placed a decade-long moratorium on gender-affirming care for patients under 19 and agreed to pay the federal government $950,000 as part of a settlement with the Department of Justice. Host Megan Harris is with City Cast contributors Sophia Lo and Colin Williams to talk about what comes next. Plus, we're debating whether Pittsburgh Paint Company's 2027 color of the year truly counts as a departure from Millennial Gray, discussing a new ban on large-scale data centers on county property, and bemoaning the influencer stunt that led the Star Wars vending machine on a cross-country journey.
And in our members-only bonus segment, Colin shares what he learned about the future of journalism on a recent trip to Germany — and the successes that could be duplicated here in Pittsburgh.Notes and references from today’s show:
- UPMC to pay DOJ nearly $1M, agrees to 10-year moratorium on gender-affirming care for trans youth [WESA]
- Under pressure from Trump, UPMC canceled a trans patient's scheduled top surgery [City Paper]
- Pittsburgh Paints' 2027 Color of the Year calls for homeowners to 'recalibrate' [WESA]
- Sophia's Color Swatches
- A Behind-the-Scenes Look at How PPG Paints Decides Its Color of the Year [Architectural Digest]
- Orange Era [n+1]
- Allegheny County Council unanimously bans large data centers on county property [TribLive]
- Pa. approves steep rate hikes for 2027 Pennie health insurance plans [TribLive]
- "Star Wars" vending machine visits Los Angeles [Axios Pittsburgh]
👋 Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 412-212-8893 or email [email protected]. We’re also on Instagram!
💌 You can get more Pittsburgh news delivered right to your inbox by subscribing to the City Cast Pittsburgh morning newsletter.
🏡 Get more from City Cast Pittsburgh when you become a City Cast Pittsburgh Neighbor. You’ll enjoy perks like ad-free listening, invitations to members-only events, and more. Join the City Cast Pittsburgh Neighbors program!
🥁 Looking to advertise on City Cast Pittsburgh? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads.
Learn more about the sponsors of this Friday, September 25th episode:
Carnegie Library
The Frick Pittsburgh
Hazelwood Local
35 min - A Warrant, a Budget & Pittsburgh’s Missing $250M
Former Mayor Ed Gainey is under investigation and facing allegations of improper contracts, questionable financial decisions, and potentially misleading information in bond documents. No charges have been filed, but the details revealed this week in a newly unsealed search warrant follow a pattern of rumors we've been hearing for years. Host Megan Harris is with the Post-Gazette's Hallie Lauer to talk about the many nonprofits, vendors, and city employees who've been implicated, what we know about what's real, and the very serious consequences if Pittsburgh deceived its creditors — plus what Mayor Corey O’Connor faces as his first budget deadline approaches on Wednesday.
Notes and references from today’s show:
- Gainey administration may have rigged Pittsburgh’s contract-bidding system, unsealed search warrant says [Post-Gazette]
- ‘We are sounding the alarm’: Mayor says the city’s financial picture is far more dire than previously known [Post-Gazette]
- PODCAST: Can Pittsburgh Afford the NFL Draft? (with Jake Pawlak) [City Cast Pittsburgh]
- PODCAST: Does Mayor Gainey Have Any Regrets (with Ed Gainey) [City Cast Pittsburgh]
- PODCAST: Is Pittsburgh Going Broke? (with Rachael Heisler) [City Cast Pittsburgh]
👋 Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 412-212-8893 or email [email protected]. We’re also on Instagram!
💌 You can get more Pittsburgh news delivered right to your inbox by subscribing to the City Cast Pittsburgh morning newsletter.
🏡 Get more from City Cast Pittsburgh when you become a City Cast Pittsburgh Neighbor. You’ll enjoy perks like ad-free listening, invitations to members-only events, and more. Join the City Cast Pittsburgh Neighbors program!
🥁 Looking to advertise on City Cast Pittsburgh? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads.
Learn more about the sponsors of this Thursday, September 24th episode:
Carnegie Library
The Frick Pittsburgh
Hazelwood Local
33 min - Pittsburgh’s Flock Camera Problem
Allegheny County the most Flock cameras and automated license plate readers in PA, according to crowdsourced data. Host Megan Harris is with Axios Pittsburgh's Ryan Deto to discuss how exactly these cameras work, why they're so controversial, and whether the state legislature could end up regulating or even outright banning them. Plus, they explain the difference between Flock cams and other tech used for parking tickets and toll violations.
Notes and references from today’s show:
- Allegheny County tops Pa. in Flock cameras [Axios Pittsburgh]
- The Growing Fight Over Flock Cameras [Axios Pittsburgh]
- Pittsburgh Parking Authority: “We don’t use Flock” [Axios Pittsburgh]
👋 Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 412-212-8893 or email [email protected]. We’re also on Instagram!
💌 You can get more Pittsburgh news delivered right to your inbox by subscribing to the City Cast Pittsburgh morning newsletter.
🏡 Get more from City Cast Pittsburgh when you become a City Cast Pittsburgh Neighbor. You’ll enjoy perks like ad-free listening, invitations to members-only events, and more. Join the City Cast Pittsburgh Neighbors program!
🥁 Looking to advertise on City Cast Pittsburgh? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads.
Learn more about the sponsors of this Wednesday, September 23rd episode:
Carnegie Library
The Frick Pittsburgh
Hazelwood Local
20 min - Can $25M Make Smithfield Cool Again?
In the midst of Downtown’s larger $600 million makeover, Smithfield Street’s been waiting its turn. Crews are breaking ground today on the first of dozens of small projects, including sidewalk repairs, better lighting, landscaping, and more. It’s unlikely the historic 10-block stretch will ever return to its heyday, but can it be something we all use and enjoy again? Host Megan Harris is with freelancer Adam Smeltz and Public Source’s Stephanie Strasburg to talk about Smithfield’s past and present — and mostly who and what it’ll serve next.
This episode originally aired January 8, 2025.
Notes and references from today’s show:
- What’s the Future for Pittsburgh’s Smithfield Street? [Pittsburgh Magazine / Public Source]
- Work begins soon to reimagine Smithfield Street in Downtown Pittsburgh [Post-Gazette]
- $25 million project to make Smithfield Street more pedestrian friendly to begin soon [Post-Gazette]
👋 Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 412-212-8893 or email [email protected]. We’re also on Instagram!
💌 You can get more Pittsburgh news delivered right to your inbox by subscribing to the City Cast Pittsburgh morning newsletter.
🏡 Get more from City Cast Pittsburgh when you become a City Cast Pittsburgh Neighbor. You’ll enjoy perks like ad-free listening, invitations to members-only events, and more. Join the City Cast Pittsburgh Neighbors program!
🥁 Looking to advertise on City Cast Pittsburgh? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads.
Learn more about the sponsors of this Tuesday, September 22nd episode:
Carnegie Library
The Frick Pittsburgh
Hazelwood Local
30 min
About City Cast Pittsburgh
From the publisher's feed
Join Megan Harris and the City Cast Pittsburgh team every weekday morning for a fast-paced daily news podcast that will get you talking and make you question what’s going on here in Western…
Pennsylvania. City Cast Pittsburgh is a smart new way to connect with neighbors in the Steel City you know and love. Add us to your feeds and subscribe to our daily newsletter, at pittsburgh.citycast.fm today!
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