Radio Times

Guests: Jane Golden, Meg Saligman, Nathaniel Lee

Spread out across the Philadelphia are around 3,800 murals, the world’s largest mural collection, works like Common Threads, Love Letter, The Peace Wall, Dr. J, and Reaching for a Star.  But preserving all these paintings on aging buildings weathering sun and rain is a challenge.  In this hour, we look at what it takes to preserve Philadelphia’s murals.  We’ll talk with the Mural Arts Program executive director JANE GOLDEN, renowned mural artist MEG SALIGMAN, and staff artist and muralist at the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program NATHANIEL LEE about mural restoration, how to pick which murals to conserve and why it’s worth the investment.

Guests: Susan Sorenson, Renee Norris-Jones, Jeannine Lisitski, Krista Dahl-Campbell

Guns are used in roughly half of domestic violence homicides in this country.  But even if a gun isn’t fired, it can still be used to threaten, bully, or beat an intimate partner.  Researchers are just beginning to understand how prevalent the nonfatal use of firearms in domestic violence is, and the lasting physical and psychological scars it leaves behind.  To start off our hour, producer Debbie Bilder talks with SUSAN SORENSON, a University of Pennsylvania social policy professor, about her new paper on nonfatal use of guns in intimate partner violence.  Then, Marty talks with RENEE NORRIS-JONES, a domestic abuse survivor and advocate, JEANNINE LISITSKI, executive director of Women Against Abuse, and Lieutenant KRISTA DAHL-CAMPBELL, with the Philadelphia Police Department’s Victim Services Unite about tackling domestic abuse in our region.

Image: Joshua Rhodes

Guest: Blanche Wiesen Cook

We'll talk with author BLANCHE WIESEN COOK about her new book Eleanor Roosevelt, The War Years and After 1939-1962. The biography is the third and final volume, taking the reader through World War II, FDR’s death, the founding of the UN, and Eleanor Roosevelt’s death in 1962. The book portrays Roosevelt as a modest and self-deprecating woman whose experiences during the war years shaped her into a visionary and role model for generations to come.

Guests: John Rafferty, Jeff Brady

In this hour, Marty continues her series of one-on-one interviews with candidates for statewide office when she speaks with Republican candidate for Attorney General of Pennsylvania, JOHN RAFFERTY.  Rafferty has served as State Representative of Pennsylvania’s 44th district since 2003.  Then, protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota by Native American groups and others continue.  Last week, over 100 demonstrators were arrested after clashes with police.   The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe says that the pipeline crosses sacred land and a spill could contaminate drinking water. We’ll get an update on the pipeline and the protests from NPR correspondent JEFF BRADY.

Guests: David Morris, Eric Fair, Mary Roach

On today’s edition of Radio Times in Review; we’re going to talk about soldiers and war. First, we’ll listen to a portion of Marty’s conversation with Marine infantry officer and journalist DAVID MORRIS in which they discussed the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder.  And, we’ll play some of Marty’s talk with ERIC FAIR, who worked as an interrogator at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.  His memoir Consequence details some of the more horrific tactics used in prisoner interrogation and the remorse he’s felt for employing them. We’ll also hear from MARY ROACH.  She’s known for finding unusual science in unusual places.  In her book Grunt, she focused on the weirdest uses of science within the military.

Guests: Dick Polman, James Peterson, Joe Watkins, and Kelly Dittmar

Has there ever been an election season like this one? In a special edition of Radio Times, in front of a live studio audience, Marty will break down the fiercest Election Day match ups with some of her favorite political watchers: ‘National Interest’ blogger for Newsworks DICK POLMAN, JAMES PETERSON, host of the WHYY podcast "The Remix", MSNBC commentator JOE WATKINS, and Rutgers University political scientist KELLY DITTMAR.

Guests: Dotty Brown, Paul Horvat and Catherine Reddick

The glow of the holiday lights on Philadelphia’s Boathouse Row attract a lot of attention each year. But the series of boathouses actually houses a rich and complex history including a game of “architectural one-upmanship,” a battle by women to get access to the water and the regattas of today. In this hour of Radio Times, we’ll talk about Boathouse Row, a historic site on the east bank of the Schuylkill River, just north of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We’ll be joined by rower DOTTY BROWN, author of Boathouse Row: Waves of Change in the Birthplace of American Rowing and a longtime reporter and editor at Philadelphia Inquirer. And we’ll talk about how rowing changes lives with rower PAUL HORVAT, the Commodore of the Schuylkill Navy, who has been rowing since high school at St. Joe’s Prep, and CATHERINE REDDICK, co-Founder of Philadelphia City Rowing, an organization that seeks to empower local public school students through the sport of rowing.

Image: Jeffrey Vinocur

Guests: Jim Saksa, Richard Painter, Page Pate

We’ll get the latest on the SEPTA strike, the negotiations and SEPTA Key, the transit agency’s long-awaited new payment technology. We’ll be joined by JIM SAKSA, a reporter for PlanPhilly, a project at WHYY. Then, we’ll talk about the newest developments in Hillary Clinton’s private email server investigation as well as FBI Director James Comey’s controversial decision to announce new revelations so close to the election. We’ll be joined by RICHARD PAINTER, former ethics lawyer for George W. Bush who has filed a complaint against Comey for his email disclosures, and by Atlanta-based attorney PAGE PATE who says Comey did the right thing.

Guests: Harriet Levin Millan and Michael Majok Kuch

In 1988, with their village under attack, a 5-year-old boy was left behind instead of following his mother and baby brother out of their hut. The startled little boy eventually ran into the bush and hid in a tree for two days. Thus begins How Fast Can You Run, the new book by HARRIET LEVIN MILLAN, based on the harrowing real-life story of MICHAEL MAJOK KUCH, one of the so-called “Lost Boys” of Sudan. After fleeing his burning village, Kuch joins a group of boys who manage to avoid wild animals and soldiers, and are eventually rescued and taken to a series of refugee camps and finally to one in Northern Kenya. In 2000, due to Kuch’s determination, they are selected to join the 4,000 refugees the United States will allow to seek asylum. Both Millan and Kuch will join us in studio to talk about the writing of the book, Kuch’s life as a refugee, his resettlement in Philadelphia, and his 2010 reunion with his mother, after two decades of separation. Kuch has since returned to South Sudan and now works in the office of the President. Together they created a fund that reunited several Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan with their mothers. She teaches creative writing at Drexel University and is the prize winning author of three books of poetry.

Guests: Jayda Pugliese, Kimberly Clarke

Many teachers enter the profession full of optimism, energy and excitement to impart their love of learning to classrooms full of children. But tight budgets, a lack of supplies and large student to teacher ratios can wear down even the most determined educator. In this hour we’ll be joined by a group of teachers who are succeeding in the classroom. Mary will talk with JAYDA PUGLIESE, a fifth-grade science and math teacher at Andrew Jackson School in South Philadelphia. More than 80% of Pugliese's students showed at least one year's growth in math skills during the teacher's first year at Andrew Jackson, and many of her students work above grade level. She recently won the prestigious Milken Educator Award, which comes with a $25,000 cash prize. She is the first recipient in Philadelphia since 2007. We’ll also talk with KIMBERLY CLARKE, an ESL Kindergarten Teacher at 10th & Green Elementary School in Reading, PA. She was honored earlier this year with an Award of Excellence from the Reading Education Association.