Radio Times

Guests: Sister Mary Scullion, Mariana Chilton, Maria Quinones-Sanchez

Philadelphia remains the poorest major U.S. city. Nearly 26 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Philadelphia Research Initiative recently released a report that says poverty is impacting Hispanic communities, children and working age adults. Some experts say that the school system, low-paying jobs, food insecurity and lack of affordable housing has made life difficult for many Philadelphians. SISTER MARY SCULLION, President and Executive Director of Project HOME, MARIANA CHILTON, Director of the Center for Hunger-Free Communities and is Co-Principal investigator of Children’s HealthWatch, and Councilwoman MARIA QUINONES-SANCHEZ discuss policy changes that can reduce the high poverty rates in the city.

Guests: John O’Connor, Leonard Burman

A House vote on the final version of the Republican tax bill is slated for Tuesday, followed by a Senate vote Wednesday, following months of revisions. Republicans, including the President, claim that it’s the biggest tax cut in history that will put more money in the pockets of the middle class. Opponents claim the biggest beneficiaries will be the richest Americans and big multinational corporations. Today, we’ll be joined by LEONARD BURMAN, an economist with the non-partisan Tax Policy Center. He’ll walk us through the bill and fill us in on how it will affect you and the economy. But first, we’ll hear about how the tax bill will specifically impact New Jersey residents when we speak with JOHN O’CONNOR, reporter for WNYC.

Guests: Dánica Coto, John Collins, Joshua Ashley Klayman, Angela Walch

Puerto Rico is still struggling to return power to residents three months after the category 4 Hurricane Maria hit. The lack of power has forced many people to leave the island for the U.S. mainland–130,000 so far. While the official death toll from the storm is 62 people, researchers believe the actual number is far higher. We start out this hour, checking in on Puerto Rico’s recovery with Associated Press reporter DÀNICA COTO. Then, the price of the Bitcoin has been skyrocketing lately, with people around the world clamoring to invest in the mysterious digital currency . In fact, the cryptocurrency app Coinbase was downloaded twice as much as Instagram last week. JOHN COLLINS, former head of policy at Coinbase joins us this hour, along with JOSHUA ASHLEY KLAYMAN of the Wall Street Blockchain Alliance Legal Working Group and ANGELA WALCH, law professor at St. Mary’s University, to talk about the rise of Bitcoin.

Guests: Shauna Shames, Anthea Butler, Christopher Nicholas

It’s been a tumultuous week in politics. In a surprising victory, Democrat Doug Jones defeated Republican Roy Moore in the Alabama special Senate election. The Republicans are still working on reconciling their tax plan and getting the votes needed to pass it. And, sexual harassment allegations continued to shakeup Congress, Statehouses, and even the White House. This hour, we’ll talk about what the Alabama election says about the Democratic and Republican parties and their strategies ahead, the impact of #metoo movement on politics, and the final version of the tax plan. Marty’s guests are SHAUNA SHAMES, assistant professor of political science at Rutgers-Camden,  ANTHEA BUTLER, associate professor of religious studies and Africana studies at the University of Pennsylvania and CHRISTOPHER NICHOLAS, Republican political consultant and president of Eagle Consulting Group.

Guests: Malcolm Harris, Jeffrey Jensen Arnett

What makes a Millennial? This group of people has often been described as lazy, coddled, accused of delaying the important milestones of adulthood. But MALCOLM HARRIS’ new book Kids These Days: Human Capital and the Making of Millennials argues that it is the American form of capitalism of the past three decades that has created difficult economic conditions for those born between 1980 and 2000. His book details the social and economic conditions that have led to a generation that has not yet achieved the success of their parents. Harris joins us, along with JEFFERY JENSEN ARNETT, Clark University professor of Psychology and author of Emerging Adulthood.

Guests: Joseph Smith, Cindy Bass, David Oh

We’ll begin today’s show discussing the results of the special election for Senator of Alabama when we speak with JOSEPH SMITH, chair of the Political Science department at the University of Alabama. Then, how a bill about regulating restaurants in Philly became a debate about bulletproof partitions at corner stores, and their effect on race relations in the city. Councilwoman CINDY BASS has introduced a new restaurant licensing bill tto address the problem of nuisance corner stores and joins us to explain. Councilman DAVID OH will tell us why he opposes the bill and why store owners worry that they will be forced to take down the barriers.

Guests: Michael Moreland, John Culhane

The Supreme Court heard arguments last week in the Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission case. This is the case involving a Colorado baker who refused to make a cake for a same-sex couple’s wedding citing his moral objections to gay marriage and his First Amendment rights. The justices are now wrestling with whether LGBT anti-discrimination rights supersede the cakemaker’s rights to freedom of expression and free exercise of religion. We’ll talk about the legal questions being debated, the oral arguments and the potential ramifications with Villanova University law professor MICHAEL MORELAND and Delaware Law School professor JOHN CULHANE.

Guests: Katie Meyer, Hazim Hardeman, Tom Nichols

We begin today’s show with a conversation with WITF’s KATIE MEYER about the Pennsylvania state budget and its implications, particularly the effort to expand gambling in order to make up for shortfalls. And we’ll hear about the anti-abortion bill before Harrisburg legislators. Then, we’ll meet HAZIM HARDEMAN, Temple University’s first ever Rhodes Scholar. He’ll join us to talk about his North Philadelphia upbringing and what his plans are going ahead. Lastly, we’ll talk about the political strategy known as “whataboutism.” The President uses this strategy as do many politicians and pundits. We’ll find out about the roots of this tactic, and how it’s gaining momentum in the social media age. TOM NICHOLS, Sovietologist and professor at the U.S. Naval War College joins us to explain the practice and give us his take on its rise.

GUESTS: RONNIE POLANECZKY, AUDREY (DEE) COCCIA & MAUREEN DEVANEY

Daily News columnist, RONNIE POLANECZKY, has been writing a series about aging parents of intellectual and developmental disabled adults. The series, called Falling off the Cliff, takes us through several stories of families who struggle with reporting incidents of incompetence or abuse from caregivers. Some families are having difficulty finding  employment, housing and medical services for their disabled children. They also can have anxiety about what will happen to their children when they die. In this hour, we talk with Ronnie about her findings. We’re also joined by AUDREY (DEE) COCCIA and MAUREEN DEVANEY,co-founders and co-executive directors of Vision for EQuality, Inc., who have advocated for over 30 years for their own intellectual and developmental disabled adult children and many others.

Guests: Bobby Allyn, Adam Valen Levinson

ADAM VALEN LEVINSON is on a mission to bridge the world’s cultural and ideological divisions through humor. His new travel memoir, The Abu Dhabi Bar Mitzvah Levinson writes about his decision to travel throughout the Middle East as a Jew in order to counter the fear that 9/11 provoked in so many Americans. Levinson joins us on the show today to talk about his laugh filled adventures and why Americans shouldn’t be scared of the world. But first, we’ll get an update on the imprisonment of Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill, who was just denied bail for charges of violating probation. WHYY’s BOBBY ALLYN tells us the latest.