The Dauphin County Technical School (DCTS) Student-Run Restaurant, known as DC TASTE, offers a unique dining experience where guests can enjoy meals prepared entirely by each year’s Culinary Arts senior class.

Hear from students Michael Osborne-Griffy and Illeiona ("Illy") Johnson, both seniors at DCTS as well as Chef Claire Dacko, Culinary Arts Instructor at DCTS.

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Dr. Allison Barrett, director of bariatric surgery at Lancaster Medical Center helps us understand what causes obesity and how to fight it.

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Alexandra Hardy, a Licensed and Registered Dietary Nutritionist with Pennsylvania Nutrition Services, and Stacey Woodson, a Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist, entrepreneur, and author on nutrition and wellness talk about the differences between processed and ultra-processed foods and how to establish healthy and sustainable eating habits.

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Author Craig Chapman shares the inspiration behind his book The Resurrected Pirate which details the extraordinary life of George Lowther. Once a pirate captain who trolled the Caribbean and North Atlantic for two years, Lowther was thought to have committed suicide while marooned in 1723. However, sixteen years later he emerged from obscurity to earn a pardon from the king and commission in the Royal Navy during the War of Jenkins' Ear.

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In a time of increasing polarization, religious leaders and scholars are coming together to address one of the most pressing and complex issues in modern faith: Christian nationalism. This movement, which intertwines national identity with religious belief, has sparked deep conversations about the role of faith in public life and the risks of conflating Christianity with political power.

A discussion took place earlier this month in Gettysburg, “Hope in a Divided World: A Faithful Response to Christian Nationalism. Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, Dr. Lori Brandt Hale, Amanda Tyler, and Rev. Erin Jones joined the spark to share the impact of Christian nationalism and how people of faith can respond with hope and justice.

Listen to the podcast to learn what is Christian nationalism and why it is a concern, how it differs from a health expression of faith in public life, the historical context of religion and nationalism, including lessons from Bonhoeffer, the impact of religious freedom and democracy, and how faith communities can respond with hope, action, and advocacy.

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March 3 was World Wildlife Day, a day to celebrate and raise awareness about plants and animals that also share our planet. Conservation isn't just for one day. It's something that we all can take part in every day. Quinn Heist, Environmental Education Specialist with the Bureau of State Parks shared the importance of conservation.

Quinn: Yeah, so World Wildlife Day was created on the anniversary of the passing of CITES, which is the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species. So, it was a day that was created after that to kind of, you know, mark the importance of wildlife and, you know, the flora and fauna that we share the planet with and, to talk about the importance of conserving them.

Asia: So, Quinn, like we said, conservation it's important and it should matter to every person. How does it impact our daily lives?

Quinn:  It's important not only because plants and animals have intrinsic value, they deserve to be here just because we share the planet with them and they have just as much right to the planet as we do, but also ecological value. They provide ecological services to us. Can you imagine how hard it would be for farmers to pollinate all of their plants if they didn't have bees to pollinate them for them? Do you know, trees provide runoff assistance? So, when it rains, it doesn't take all of our soil, and you know into the rivers you know we have our roots from our trees that you know slowdown that water and provide you know storm mitigation which is really important. Conservation is just something that we need to do to maintain our planet and to you know make sure it's okay for the future.

Asia: They need us as much as we need them. Pennsylvania has a rich variety of plants and animals. What are some of the unique species that people may not realize that's here in our state?

Quinn: The wildlife of Pennsylvania is great, and its wildlife is so cool and I'm so into it because it changes seasonally, right? Right now, it's the spring, so we have Woodcock that are doing their sky dances, so you can go out and see their mating rituals where the male Woodcock, you know, tries to attract a mate. We have vernal pools, so all of the amphibians are, you know, making their down there to give birth, to lay eggs. For the future of amphibian kind. We have so many awesome things, a variety of mammal species, you know, bobcats are super awesome, black bears, so many things that are out there to explore if you just get out into nature, state parks, or even just your backyard, right? There's some awesome wildlife, even in urban environments, opossums and raccoons and fun things running around to see and to experience.

Listen to the podcast to hear the full conversation. 

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David Grann, New York Times bestselling author is back with another book, The Wager:  A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder. For March 17, The Spark brought an exclusive conversation between Grann and WITF alum and current NPR’s Scott Detrow about this epic true story that has captivated readers everywhere. During this discussion, you’ll hear how Grann approached research, the narrative, and the questions at the heat of the wager.

Listen to the podcast to hear the full conversation.

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On this week's edition of The Spark Weekly;

Logan Gehman and Dan Nephin of LNP/Lancaster Online will discuss last Sunday’s crash of a small plane shortly after takeoff from Lancaster Airport which injured 5.

also, on the program.

The weather has been warming up and spring is getting closer. Planting a tree improperly, especially burying the root flare too dee or planting in a hole that’s too small, can lead to the tree’s death or stunted growth. Erica Jo Shaffer shared a breakdown of the common pitfalls to avoid when planting a tree.

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Upper Allen Township is celebrating 175 years in 2025. Tim Wendling, Assistant Township Manager, joined The Spark to share more about this milestone.

What is the history of the Upper Allen Township and how it came to be?

"So back in 1766, Allen Township was formed from East Pennsboro. And then that encompassed what is currently Monroe Township, Upper Allen Township, and Lower Allen Township. And then in 1825, Monroe Township separated and became its own. Then in 1850, the remaining land was split between Upper and Lower Allen Township. So, 1850 is really the founding date of Upper Allen Township. Now we're up to about 24 ,000 residents. And we're just really excited about celebrating this 175th anniversary with the whole."

How has the township changed over the years?

" So early farming was a huge thing here in Upper Allen Township. Since then, throughout the 1800s- early 1900s, there were some whiskey distilleries. They were trading whiskey through Baltimore and down through Philadelphia for groceries, hardware, dry goods, things like that. But since then, Upper Allen Township has really become a balance of residential, commercial, and industrial development, along with some farmland. So, we're trying to preserve that farmland, while still accommodating all of the residents that want to live here. We're one of the fastest growing areas in the state."

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The Ideas of March is March 15, a day in the Roman calendar that became infamous for the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. Jacob Sider Jost, Associate Professor of English at Dickinson College, joined The Spark to share more about the Ides of March.

Where did the phrase, beware the Ides of March, where did that come from?

 "Beware the Ides of March is a line from Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar… And so, Shakespeare wrote, he wasn't the first to write a tragedy on this topic, but he wrote a tragedy about the assassination of Julius Caesar, and it's really two tragedies because it's the story of Caesar and his death, and then the sort of greatest conspirator Brutus, and then he dies at the end of the play."

 What was the reasons behind the plot to kill him?

"Rome had for the couple of centuries up to the life of Caesar had been a Republic, and it had a Senate, and it had some things that sound a bit like modern American democracy, but it was basically an oligarchy, a powerful elite of inherited senators sort of dominated Roman political life. But it was unstable. There were power struggles through the first century BCE where individuals tried to sort of take full power in Rome. And when Julius Caesar came back to Rome in that fifth decade BCE, he had just defeated Pompey, who was another sort of general fighter. And it looked to the conspirators that Caesar was going to take over, become a single ruler just in himself, become an emperor, and abolish the republic. Now, in the end, that's what happened. His grandnephew Augustus Caesar took over, became emperor, and the Roman Empire went for hundreds of years after that. But that's what the conspirators were trying to prevent. They were trying to keep Rome a republic."

 Why do you think Julius Caesar’s assassination still captures people’s imaginations hundreds of years later?

"It's been performed on multiple stages in multiple countries and has been with us for almost, you know, over 400 years. And so, the language of Shakespeare and the power of the story keep people coming back to Julius Caesar in the Ides of March."

Listen to the podcast to hear the entire interview.  

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