Radio Times

Guests: Bobby Allyn, Thomas Baldino

We begin today’s show discussing Trump’s visit to Luzerne County, Pa. last night, where he stumped for Republican Senate candidate, Lou Barletta. WHYY’s BOBBY ALLYN and Wilkes University professor of political science, THOMAS BALDINO, will tell us about the visit and about the part of the state that helped Trump get elected.

Guests: Danica Coto, Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez

La Borinqueña is an Afro-Latina Puerto Rican comic book superhero whose powers — flight, superhuman strength, and the ability to control storms — are fueled by ancient crystals. EDGARDO MIRANDA-RODRIGUEZ is La Borinqueña’s creator and joins Marty today. The newest installment dives into Puerto Rican history and imagines a bright future for the island after Hurricane Maria. It’s an anthology called Ricanstruction: Reminiscing & Rebuilding Puerto Rico. In it, La Borinqueña appears alongside DC superheroes, including Wonderwoman and Superman, and it features contributions from over 100 writers and artists, including Rosario Dawson. Marty will talk with Miranda-Rodriguez about the comic books, superheroes, and Puerto Rico. But first, Associated Press reporter DANICA COTO will also join us from San Juan for an update on Puerto Rico’s recovery.

Guests: Indira Lakshmanan, McKay Coppins

President Trump’s attacks on the media have steadily grown since last year when he first called the press the “enemy of the people.” Last week a CNN reporter was banned from a White House press event and accounts of a recent meeting between Trump and New York Times editor AG Sulzberger provided further evidence of the President’s hostility to the press. This hour, we discuss the anti-press rhetoric coming from the White House, why public opinion of the news media is so low, and the challenges reporters facing covering the Trump presidency. Our guest are INDIRA LAKSHMANAN, Newmark chair of journalism ethics at Poynter, and McKAY COPPINS, a staff writer for The Atlantic.

Guests: Deborah Plant, Autumn Womack, Johnnie Hobbes Jr.

Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo,” by Zora Neale Hurston was considered too incendiary a work to publish when it was written in the 1930s. It was based on the interviews Hurston conducted with Oluale Kossula (or Cudjo Lewis) the last survivor of the last slave ship. Now after all this time, the book has been published for mass circulation. Today, Marty is joined by the book’s editor, DEBORAH PLANT, an African American literature scholar, and AUTUMN WOMACK, assistant professor of African American Studies and English at Princeton University to discuss the book’s history, Kossula’s story, and what we can learn from the words of America’s last known survivor of the transatlantic slave trade. Philadelphia-based actor JOHNNIE HOBBS, Jr. also reads poignant moments from the book.

Guests: Maria Oquendo, Matthew Nock

Suicide rates have been rising for almost three decades across all age groups, genders, ethnicities, and races. It is now the 10th leading cause of death.  Sadly, over the past century, we’ve made surprisingly little headway in reducing the number of lives lost to suicide. So why has suicide remained such an intractable problem and why do so many Americans take their lives? This hour we’ll talk with MARIA OQUENDO, professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania psychiatrist and with MATTHEW NOCK, professor of psychology at Harvard University about the science of suicide and effective ways to predict, treat and prevent it.

Guests: Mark Zandi, Mary Lovely

If you look at the US economy one way there are lots of positive signs. There is a historically low unemployment rate, solid growth, a booming stock market, and a sense of optimism among businesses about the future. But if you look at it another way, there’s trouble on the horizon, partially because of a growing trade war with tariffs on steel and aluminum and other key imports and exports. The fight over immigration and the divide between rich and poor have also put a strain on the country’s economic health. Today on the show, we’ll assess the strengths, weaknesses and future of the US economy with MARK ZANDI, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, and MARY LOVELY, professor of Economics at Syracuse and nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Guests: Richard Gordon, Jeannine Payne, Jodan Floyd

What makes an excellent principal? Today we’re going to host a roundtable of school principals in Philadelphia to hear about their schools, their management styles, and how to keep students engaged and learning. RICHARD GORDON is principal at Paul Robeson High School, and was named national top administrator by Education Drive journal for his work changing a troubled school into a thriving one. JEANNINE PAYNE, principal of Richard Wright Elementary School, won a 2017 Lindback award for Distinguished Principal Leadership. JODAN FLOYD,  principal of AMY Northwest Middle School, who was also awarded with a Lindback Award.

Guest: Mona Hanna-Attisha

Pediatrician MONA HANNA-ATTISHA was an early whistleblower in the Flint Michigan water crisis. She collected data detailing dangerous levels of lead in the blood of Flint’s residents. But city officials fought her findings, denying that the water was contaminated. In the four years since the Flint water crisis began, 15 officials have been indicted and lead levels in the city’s drinking water have declined but health issues persist for many in the community, particularly children. Hanna-Attisha writes about how the crisis unfolded, her role in exposing it and how the community is coping in a new book, What the Eyes Don’t See.

Guest: Debra McCarty

Early this month, a water main broke in Center City Philadelphia, sending 15 million gallons of water gushing out into streets and businesses and causing millions of dollars in damage.  Our guest Philadelphia’s Water Commissioner DEBRA McCARTY talks about the city’s aging water infrastructure, what the fixes are, and water quality.