Radio Times

Guests: John Wetzel, Lauren Fine, Tyrone Jones, Jennifer Storm

Pennsylvania has the highest number of juvenile lifers in its prisons. But with the Supreme Court ruling that mandatory life sentences for juveniles are unconstitutional, many of the 506 lifers could be up for parole.  So far, four men have been released.  This hour, we’ll talk about juvenile justice, the new sentencing hearings and the challenges of reentry for people who essentially grew up behind bars. Our guests include JOHN WETZEL, Pennsylvania Corrections Secretary, LAUREN FINE, co-director of The Youth Sentencing and Reentry Program, and TYRONE JONES , a juvenile lifer who was recently paroled after serving 43 years in prison.  We’ll also hear about victims concerns with the resentencing hearings from JENNIFER STORM, Victim Advocate for Pennsylvania.

Guests: Joleen Greenwood and Jay Greenspan

In this hour of Radio Times, Radio Times producer Elizabeth Fiedler sits down with JOLEEN GREENWOOD, a family sociologist at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. She's an identical twin who is studying how being part of a pair impacts a twin’s life from childhood, through young adulthood and into older age. Then, the number of babies born addicted of opioids in Pennsylvania has increased dramatically in the last fifteen years. The rate has gone up 250 percent according to a recent report that looked at the numbers of infants who required treatment in hospitals.  Tremors, poor feeding, diarrhea and constant crying are some of the symptoms these babies suffer while going through withdrawal.  Marty talks JAY GREENSPAN, a pediatrician and chairman of the Nemours/Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University at the increase in opioid-addicted infants and what can be done to help them.

Guests: Brendan Nyhan, Norm Ornstein and Paul Waldman

After the candidates walk off the debate stage, the spotlight turns to the media: the talk show moderators, TV hosts, pundits and opinion writers who offer their analysis. In this hour of Radio Times, we’ll examine the media coverage of the first presidential debate. Was the analysis fair and full of substance? Did the candidates’ one-liners and barbs produce more headlines than their proposals? And we’ll ask if any of this actually changes voters’ minds. Marty will talk with BRENDAN NYHAN, a professor at Dartmouth College who’s also a contributor to The New York Times’ The Upshot blog and with NORM ORNSTEIN, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a contributing editor at The Atlantic, who’s also co-author of "It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism." And we'll be joined by PAUL WALDMAN, a weekly columnist and senior writer for The American Prospect who also writes for the Plum Line blog at The Washington Post and The Week.

Guests: Nicole Perlroth, Richard Forno

Last week Yahoo announced that 500 million accounts had been hacked – consumer names, email addresses, phone messages, passwords and birth dates were stolen. It is one of the biggest security breaches in history. We’re been seeing a lot more cyber attacks on companies, individuals and the government in recent years. So who is behind them and what can consumers do to protect ourselves online? Mary Cummings-Jordan talks with NICOLE PERLROTH, technology reporter who covers cybersecurity for the New York Times and RICHARD FORNO, co-director of the University of Maryland’s Center for Cybersecurity.

Guests: Kelly Dittmar, Michael Hagen

In this hour, we’ll discuss Monday nights presidential debate, the first of the general election. We’ll be joined by two local political science professors; KELLY DITTMAR of Rutgers University and MICHAEL HAGEN of Temple University.

Guest: Colson Whitehead

Host Mary Cummings-Jordan talks with prizewinning, bestselling author COLSON WHITEHEAD, and his recent novel The Underground Railroad, about Cora and Caesar, two slaves who go make a bid for freedom from the antebellum South.  The book was chosen as a 2016 selection for Oprah’s Book Club. Tonight, Whitehead will be at the Free Library of Philadelphia.

Guests: Sam Wang, Chris Borick

This year’s election cycle has defied any that has come before.  To try and understand it all, one place where we look for solace is in election polls.  We’ve seen these elusive numbers shift on an almost weekly basis, adding to the confusion of what exactly is happening.  In this hour of Radio Times, host Mary Cummings-Jordan discusses political polling, how it’s conducted, how accurate polls are in predicting the outcomes of an election, and why the 2016 cycle has bucked conventional logic. We’re joined by SAM WANG,  professor of neuroscience at Princeton University.  He developed the Princeton Election Consortium which tracks a variety of polls to predict election outcomes. We’ll also be joined by professor of political science and pollster CHRIS BORICK of Muhlenberg College.

Guests: Peter Scarola and Rosemary Trout

From crispy and crunchy, to chewy and soft, we’ll talk about the science that’s involved in making great chocolate chip cookies and other baked goods. Host Mary Cummings-Jordan will be joined in studio by PETER SCAROLA, the pastry chef at R2L in Center City, who led a “chocolate-chip lab experiment” for the Philadelphia Science Festival last year and by ROSEMARY TROUT, the head of Culinary Arts & Food Science, Hospitality Management at Drexel University, where she currently teaches a class called “Food Science 154: The Science of Food and Cooking.” They’ll talk about why science is so important in pastry making and about the roles that ingredients, temperature, and time play in perfecting the culinary art.

Guests: Diaa Hadid, Matt Fisher

A million and half Muslims from around the world took part in the Hajj this year.  The annual pilgrimage to one of the Islam’s holiest sites, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, is the fifth and final pillar of the faith.  Over six days, pilgrims walk from Mecca to other holy sites and back. Along the way they perform religious rituals.  New York Times correspondent DIAA HADID performed her first Hajj this year and chronicled her experience.  Mary Cummings-Jordan talks to Hadid about her journey, the sites, the pilgrims she met, and about the religious and historical significance of the Hajj.  Then, tomorrow is the Philly Free Streets.  Ten miles of roads in Philadelphia from South Street to Fairmount Park will be closed to cars and trucks from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m and turned over to walkers and bikers.  We’ll hear about the event, Mayor Kenney’s power-walking plan and the benefits of traffic-free days from MATT FISHER, Director of Policy in the Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems for the City of Philadelphia.

Guests: Wynton Marsalis, Terry Gross, James McBride

On this week’s edition of Radio Times in Review: we’re going to listen to some of Marty’s interviews with 2015 National Humanities Medal award winners, who were honored by President Obama in a ceremony held at the White House Thursday. First, we’ll revisit Marty’s talk with jazz musician, composer, and educator WYNTON MARSALIS.  We’ll also listen to Marty’s interview with WHYY’s own TERRY GROSS. The two talked about radio, interviewing and Terry’s circuitous route to being one of public radio’s premier personalities.  Lastly, we hear from author JAMES McBRIDE, who’s written several books including the National Book award-winning novel The Good Lord Bird.