Arts and Culture journalism and criticism is thriving in Philly thanks in part to the Broad Street Review - which just received a citation from the Philadelphia City Council in honor of its 20 year anniversary. Two of the people responsible for this publication’s success  join me today. Alaina Johns has been editor-in-chief of Broad Street Review since 2018. She is a Philadelphia-based journalist and cultural critic covering our region since 2007. Associate Editor Kyle Hiller is born and raised in West Philadelphia. He practices Restorative Yoga, is a hobbyist DJ, and is the author of the 2016 novel The Recital. They talk about their work and the critical role of arts journalism in today's society.

Listen on Apple, Spotify, and iheart 

ALSO LISTEN TO:

Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 

Follow us on BlueSky:

Tracy Hunt is a husband, father, hardworking attorney,  a Business Law Professor at DelVal University, and a Democratic candidate for Congress in PA-01. He joins The Signal to talk about why he recently left the Republican Party, his views on a wide range of policies, and why he believes he can bring pragmatic and effective representation to Washington at a time when it is sorely lacking.

Listen on Apple, Spotify, and iheart 

READ:

ALSO LISTEN TO:

Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 

Follow us on BlueSky:

Lucia Simonelli is an Italian-American whose upbringing instilled a great appreciation for public services such as public education, public transportation, public parks, and more. Born in Landsdale, she has lived, travelled and worked around the globe, before settling down in Quakertown. Politically, she has worked to make change both inside and outside of government, from serving as a scientific advisor in the United States Senate, working on energy and climate policy, to organizing with the Upper Bucks United Indivisible Chapter. Now, she is running in the Democratic congressional primary in May for a chance to unseat incumbent Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick. Could Lucia be PA-01’s AOC?

I’ll be speaking to each of the candidates on this podcast to give listeners a chance to get to know them better. 

Listen on Apple, Spotify, and iheart 

READ:

ALSO LISTEN TO:

Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 

Follow us on BlueSky:

On this episode of the signal I welcome Rob Strickler. Rob is a political outsider who is running in the Democratic Party congressional primary in May for a chance to unseat incumbent Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick. We discuss his blue-collar upbringing in Levittown, his political awakening, and why he thinks he is the best person to represent Pennsylvania’s first congressional district.

I’ll be speaking to each of the candidates on this podcast to give listeners a chance to get to know them better. 

Listen on Apple, Spotify, and iheart 

READ:

ALSO LISTEN TO:

Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 

Follow us on BlueSky:

Back in December I read an article Laura Beers published in The Conversation where she compared White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s press conference on the so-called truth about the good news of the state of the economy under President Trump’s stewardship to the repeated pronouncements of the Ministry of Plenty in George Orwell’s ‘1984.’ This led me to pick up and read her book Orwell's Ghosts: Wisdom and Warnings for the Twenty-First Century. Beers is a professor of British history at American University whose writing has appeared in the New Republic, Washington Post, CNN, among other publications. She joined me today to speak about her book and the enduring value of Orwell's insights for modern society, especially under this new Trump Regime.

Listen on Apple, Spotify, and iheart 

READ: 

ALSO LISTEN TO:

Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 

Follow us on BlueSky:

Welcome to the first episode of season 4 of The Signal from the Bucks County Beacon. Today, Kevin Mahoney sits down with Cyril Mychalejko, the editor-in-chief of the Bucks County Beacon, to talk about what the New Year has in store for The Beacon. We also take a look back at some of the most significant stories published in the Beacon in 2025. 

We’re going to need independent, community supported progressive media in the weeks, months, and years ahead. There could not be a better time to take a moment to head over BucksCountyBeacon.com and click on the Support the Beacon button and become a supporter. You can become a monthly entry-level supporter for as little as $1/month. Or, jump right in as a regular supporter for just $5/month, or a yearly supporter for at little as $50/year. Or, you can drop a one-time donation to help keep the Beacon’s critical lens focused and sustainable. Just go to BucksCountyBeacon.com, click on the Support the Beacon button and become a supporter today.

Listen on Apple, Spotify, Google and iheart 

READ:

Follow us on BlueSky:

On this week’s episode of the Signal we welcome back Bucks County’s Steve Nolan. Steve spent 30 years in the military and 25 years as a mental health professional. He is the author of the 2020 book American Carnage, An Officer’s Duty to Warn, and today Steve is here to warn us again about the MAGA-fication of the military and How Pete Hegseth is running Trump’s Department of War.

Listen on Apple, Spotify, Google and iheart 

READ: 

ALSO LISTEN TO:

Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 

Follow us on BlueSky:

Malcolm Burnley is a staff writer for The Philadelphia Citizen. He has been a journalist in Philadelphia since 2013, contributing to outlets such as Philly Mag, WHYY, and Politico Magazine. Five days before the election he published, “What a Bucks County Sheriff's Race Can Tell Us about U.S. Politics.” He joins us today to talk about that race which Democratic challenger Danny Ceisler won handily, the Blue Wave that washed away so many other Republican officeholders in Bucks County on Election Day, and what this may signal for the midterms in 2026.

Listen on Apple, Spotify, Podbean and iheart 

ALSO LISTEN TO:

Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 

Follow us on BlueSky:

Megan Goodwin is senior editor for Religion Dispatches, nerd-in-chief at Feral Nerd Consulting, and media & tech consultant for The Crossroads Project. Goodwin is the author of Abusing Religion: Literary Persecution, Sex Scandals, and American Minority Religions (Rutgers 2020). With Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst, she cohosted Keeping It 101: A Killjoy’s Introduction to Religion Podcast; and their first co-authored book, Religion Is Not Done With You, is now available through Beacon Press. Her next project is tentatively entitled Cults Incorporated: The Business of Bad Religion.

Megan, who grew up in Yardley where she attended St. John the Evangelist Grade School and later graduated from Archbishop Egan High School, joins The Signal to talk about her scholarly and journalistic work covering religion. She explains why religion – and specifically white Christian Nationalism – are topics each of you should care about, whether you are religious or not. 

Listen on Apple, Spotify, Podbean and iheart 

ALSO LISTEN TO:

Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 

Follow us on BlueSky:

Garen Meguerian is a civil rights, free speech lawyer, with 30 years of experience, practicing in the state and federal courts in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Since 2016, Garen has volunteered with grassroots groups, primarily in Chester County, to preserve democratic institutions. He joins us today to raise the alarm about the threats against Pennsylvania's independent judiciary and the importance of the PA Supreme Court’s retention election on Nov. 4. In this conversation, Garen explores the implications of misinformation, gerrymandering, and the role of the judiciary in protecting voting rights, reproductive rights, and environmental protections in the commonwealth. 

Listen on Apple, Spotify, Podbean and iheart 

READ:

ALSO LISTEN TO:

Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 

Follow us on BlueSky: