The Confluence

On today's program: Survivors of clergy sexual abuse may have to wait two more years for a chance to sue their abusers; the organizer of a Pittsburgh “Stop Asian Hate” protests explains why it took a mass shooting for some to mobilize; and a local theater group is using the postal service to share art with others.

On today's program: Ohio is opening up vaccines to anyone who can safely receive it, but commonwealth residents thinking of getting vaccinated in Ohio should weigh the impact of cutting the line says a bioethicist; and advocates for transgender and gender-nonconforming people are giving community members self-defense kits pepper spray and stun guns, which they say are necessary for their survival.

On today's program: More people are facing food insecurity, but Dawn Plummer at the Pittsburgh Food Policy Council says some pandemic relief programs are helping and should continue; brine wastewater from fracking can flow elsewhere, even after being injected back into the ground, which is troubling to some; and the Pittsburgh Poison Center is celebrating Mr. Yuk’s 50th birthday in a year when poisonings from sanitizer and cleaning products are on the rise.

On today's program: Infectious disease researcher Dr. Amesh Adalja talks about how although the state is nearing a million confirmed COVID-19 cases, he’s reassured by declining hospitalizations; the lead curator of a new exhibit at the Heinz History Center describes Pittsburgh’s significance to U.S. democracy; and two locals preview their book about the history of jazz in Pittsburgh.

On today's program: Legal analyst David Harris breaks down the process of jury selection for the trial of the former Minneapolis police officer facing charges for the murder of George Floyd; as the country debates a minimum wage increase, the economist who published a landmark study comparing fast food restaurant employment in Pennsylvania and New Jersey revisits his research; and we hear how working women have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

On today's program: State Sen. Wayne Fontana tells us why he’s co-sponsoring two bills to regulate 3D-printed guns, known as "ghost guns"; Kathy Humphrey, Ph.D., explains what she’s bringing to Carlow University as its next president, and the first woman of color to lead a Pittsburgh university; and the pandemic makes it more difficult to identify and support the growing number of K-12 students experiencing housing insecurity.

On today's program: The University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University are partnering to create a center to combat extremist hate; learning hubs have been a safe space for students in the pandemic, but it’s unclear if they’ll continue once students return to school; and we’ll hear how U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman is trying to balance his support for transitioning to green energy with union jobs from the natural gas industry.

On today's program: A new doula program, launched at the beginning of the pandemic, is helping moms throughout their pregnancy with in-person and virtual support; and the managing director of City Theatre reflects on the company’s year since halting in-theater performances, while looking ahead at shows to come.

On today's program: The COVID-19 pandemic, school closures, protests for racial justice, an election and the vaccination effort; reporters from the WESA newsroom explain what information we had when the state went into lockdown a year ago, how the pandemic impacted the biggest news events of the year, and they’ll discuss what has changed since then.

On today's program: Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald reflects on how prepared the county was for the COVID-19 pandemic when it hit Pennsylvania a year ago; and Casa San Jose’s health care navigator explains how the system for getting a COVID-19 vaccine doesn’t accommodate non-English speakers.