Radio Times

Guests: Jim Kenney

Today Marty sits down with Philadelphia Mayor JIM KENNEY. Marty and the Mayor will discuss Philadelphia’s status as a sanctuary city and what that means under a Trump administration. They’ll also talk about the affordable housing crisis in the city, the high poverty rate, the opioid crisis and the attempts to clear out the heroin encampments in North Philly, the rising hunger rate, Amazon’s passing on locating their HQ2 here, the work of District Attorney of Larry Krasner, and more.

Guests: Jonathan Kauffman, Judy Wicks

Yogurt, brown rice, tofu, soy sauce — a lot of American’s modern mainstream foods were born of the counterculture of the 1960s, popularized by hippies interested in alternatives to processed cuisine. The day before Thanksgiving, we’ll take a look at how the 60’s impacted what we eat today, as well as our attitudes about food ethics, health, and industrialized farming. Guest host Mary Cummings-Jordan is joined by JONATHAN KAUFFMAN, food writer and author of Hippie Food: How Back-to-the-Landers, Longhairs, and Revolutionaries Changed the Way We Eat, and JUDY WICKS, a local activist, entrepreneur and founder of the White Dog Café.

Guests: Jason Jay, Rachel Swarns

As Americans sit down to feast with family and friends this week and share food around the table, many people plan to avoid any talk of politics or social issues. But, JASON JAY, says we shouldn’t shy away from meaningful conversations about tough, thorny issues. We’ll talk with Jay, a senior lecturer at MIT, about his book, Breaking Through Gridlock: The Power of Conversation in a Polarized World. And what if someone says something really offensive – like a racist remark or slur? RACHEL SWARNS, who covers race and relations as a contributing writer for the New York Times, will talk about how to confront someone in your life who crosses the line.

Guests: Sigrid Veasey, Ilene Rosen, Lauren Hale

Getting a bad night’s sleep feels awful. And in recent years we’ve learned that there are far more serious health effects from long-term sleep deprivation other than feeling cranky, cloudy, and achy. There are links to Alzheimer’s, memory impairment, obesity, depression, even cancer, and diabetes. And enough Americans are sleep-deprived that the CDC calls sleep deprivation a major public health crisis. This hour, we talk about why Americans aren’t getting enough sleep and what all those restless nights do to our minds, bodies, and lives. We’re joined by University of Pennsylvania sleep experts SIGRID VEASEY and ILENE ROSEN. And we’ll also be joined by LAUREN HALE, a professor and preventive medicine researcher at Stony Brook University on the racial sleep gap.

Guests: Anita Kumar, Nicholas Fandos, Kelly McBride

President Trump was in a foul mood this week, according to several accounts. With the midterm losses sinking in, the impending investigations that the Democrat-controlled House will launch, the Mueller probe still ongoing, bad PR from his Paris trip, and internal White House power squabbles, this should come as no surprise. This hour we’ll talk about the Trump’s bad week, dysfunction in the White House, what Democratic oversight in the House will mean for Trump, the Mueller investigation and more with ANITA KUMAR, White House correspondent for McClatchy News and NICHOLAS FANDOS, congressional reporter for The New York Times. But first, we’ll talk about the ruling on CNN’s lawsuit against President Trump to restore White House correspondent Jim Acosta’s press pass. KELLY McBRIDE, senior vice president at The Poynter Institute, joins us.

Guests: Kirk Bloodsworth, Kwame Ajamu, Helen Prejan

Being sentenced to death row for a crime you did not commit is a fate most of us cannot comprehend. But this is exactly what happened to our two guests and why they are speaking out across the country against capital punishment as members of Witness to Innocence. KWAME AJAMU was sentenced to death as a 17-year-old in 1975, was released from prison in 2003 and exonerated in 2014. KIRK BLOODSWORTH was the first ever death row inmate to become exonerated based on DNA evidence. They join us along with anti-death penalty activist and author, Sister HELEN PREJAN, who is most well-known for writing the book Dead Man Walking.

Guests: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Judy Melinek

Today, we meet writer NANA KWAME ADJEI-BRENYAH. His debut book is a collection of short stories and the critics are writing rave reviews and has been called a “ new and necessary American voice.” He is the son of immigrants from Ghana and his writing mixes satire with surrealism dealing with racism, commercialism, identity, violence and family. He joins Marty to read from his book, talk about his approach to fiction and how working at the mall helped him become a writer. But first: A social media fight has broken out between the NRA and physicians over a paper calling for a public health approach to reducing gun violence. The gun group told the doctors to stay in their lane…. And the doctors responded with their critique and the hashtag #ThisIsOurLane. Joining Radio Times is forensic pathologist JUDY MELINEK.

Guests: Mike Felker, Anna Stormer, Patrick Dugan

Veterans Day was Sunday so we thought we’d talk with a couple military veterans about their experiences serving and returning to civilian life, and about what they see as the most pressing needs for America’s troops coming home. MIKE FELKER was a U.S. Navy hospital corpsman in the Vietnam War and a member of Veterans For Peace. Felker is outspoken on matters of war, gun control, and shares to his experiences being queer and a veteran. PATRICK DUGAN is a Captain in the US Army Reserve and served in Iraq. He’s the chief judge of the Philadelphia Veterans Court, which provides a holistic approach to aiding veterans who are in the criminal justice system, such as drug treatment and mental health services. And we’ll also speak with a military spouse who works with women veterans. ANNA STORMER is a trauma counselor and program manager of the Women Veterans Center in Philadelphia.

Guests: Helen Gym, Earlene Bly, Mark Price, Melissa Bova

Hourly workers in the hotel, retail and fast-food industries cope with unpredictable schedules. They often get little notice about the hours and days they will be working. This makes budgeting, balancing school or a second job, and caring for a family challenging. The Fair Workweek bill before Philadelphia’s City Council would require employers to give workers their schedule two weeks in advance, compensate them for last minute changes, and provide them opportunities to work more hours.  With the vote on the bill planned for the end of November, we thought we’d discuss the Fair Workweek legislation, how inconsistent hours impact employees, what it would mean for business owners, and look more broadly at the state of low-wage workers in the city.  Our guests include HELEN GYM, Philadelphia City Councilwoman, EARLENE BLY, hotel housekeeper and labor organizer, MARK PRICE, Keystone Research Center labor economist, and MELISSA BOVA, vice-president for the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association.

Guests: Kelly Ditmar, Dawn Teele, Anthea Butler, Madeleine Deane

This week’s midterm elections were record-breaking and historic for female candidates, with at least 100 women elected to the House of Representatives and a wave of victories for women across the country. South Dakota and Maine elected their first female governors, and Tennessee elected its first female Senator. Four women — Madeleine Dean, Mary Gay Scanlon, Chrissy Houlahan, and Susan Wild —were elected to the House in Pennsylvania, a state that previously had an all-male Congressional delegation. Nation-wide, voters supported diverse candidates, electing the first Muslim women and the first Native American women in Congress.  Soon-to-be Representative Ayanna Pressley was the first woman of color voted into Congress in her state, Massachusetts. Is 2018 the Year of the Woman? And what will happen when this new crop of female politicians step into office? We’re joined by KELLY DITTMAR, political science professor at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, DAWN TEELE, political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and ANTHEA BUTLER, professor of Religious and Africana studies at the University of Pennsylvania to discuss. We’ll also hear from MADELEINE DEANE, who was just elected to represent Pennsylvania’s 4th Congressional District in the House.