The Week in Philly from KYW Newsradio

The Phillie Phanatic has held down the job as the Phillies mascot for more than 40 years. But now a feud between the design firm behind the mascot and the Phillies organization means that suddenly, the future of the Phanatic could be a question mark. This week on the podcast, KYW Newsradio's Paul Kurtz breaks down what makes the Phanatic unique in the universe of baseball mascots, and Peter Wakiyama, a partner at Pepper Hamilton's intellectual property department helps us understand what's actually happening, why the two sides are fighting, and what the odds are that 2020 ends up being the Phanatic's last season in Philadelphia.

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Years ago, Nick Renn, a South Jersey funeral director, began giving tours of funeral homes to high school classes learning about grief. Nearly a decade later, he continues to give tours and teaches students about his profession. But one thing that has changed since the tours began is the effects from the opioid epidemic. He says now about 30% of the average business for many funeral homes in the area are overdose deaths. This week on the podcast, KYW In Depth host Carol MacKenzie and producer Charlotte Reese get a tour of Sweeney Funeral Home in Burlington County and see what the opioid crisis looks like through the eyes of a funeral director.

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On Monday, Iowans in Philadelphia got the chance to participate in their state's caucus from a thousand miles away. A room in a University of Pennsylvania residence hall transformed into Philadelphia's first ever Iowa caucus satellite location, where fourteen Iowa Democrats tried to convince each other to upgrade their presidential preference -- while a lot of curious Philadelphians watched. This week on KYW In Depth, Andrew Kramer reports back from the first Iowa caucus in Philadelphia, and David Thornburgh, President and CEO of the Committee of Seventy talks about the outsized impact young voters could have on the 2020 election.

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In 1945, Ernie Gross came one hour away from being murdered in the Dachau death camp. Don Greenbaum was an American soldier sent to liberate him. 75 years later, they're among the last surviving people who are able to tell the story of what they did and what they saw.

KYW In Depth is a KYW Newsradio Original Podcast. You can subscribe to the podcast on the Radio.com app, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. 

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The Mariner East Pipeline system goes across 17 counties of Pennsylvania, carrying natural gas liquids past neighborhoods and schools. Some residents of Delaware and Chester Counties say issues like water contamination have been happening ever since construction started. This week on the podcast, KYW In-Depth producer Charlotte Reese went to talk to people in Thornbury Township, Delaware County who say their lives have changed ever since the work on the pipeline started in their back yards.

KYW In Depth is a KYW Newsradio Original Podcast. You can subscribe to the podcast on the Radio.com app, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. 

 

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Prohibition went into effect in America 100 years ago, and the City of Brotherly Love tested the ban on alcohol to its limits. Philadelphia responded to the 18th Amendment with thousands of speakeasies, bathtubs full of gin, a wave of organized crime, and public officials who looked the other way. This week on KYW In Depth, the Beer and Booze Broz take over the podcast to tell uncorked stories of prohibition in Philadelphia.

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Philadelphia's Mummers parade is in the national spotlight again for all the wrong reasons after two Mummers wore blackface on New Year's Day. The racist display was quickly and roundly criticized by Philadelphia officials and Mummer representatives alike, but some Philadelphians say the parade is now more trouble than it's worth. This week on KYW In Depth, we take a look at the roots of the parade and Mummer traditions, and ask how the Mummers plan to move forward without repeating the mistakes of the past.

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One of the most devastating things a person can go through is the death of a loved one, especially if it's because of an act of violence. When someone is murdered in Philadelphia, families often don't know where to turn. The people at the Anti Violence Partnership of Philadelphia are there to help navigate the court system, connect grieving families with counseling, or even just provide emotional support in a court hearing. This week on KYW In Depth, we meet two of the people whose job it is to help when no one else is there.

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This week, Philadelphia's major broadcast, print, and digital media outlets came together in an unprecedented show of unity after certain reporters, including KYW Newsradio's own Kristen Johanson, were excluded from a press conference at the Philadelphia District Attorney's office. This week's episode is the story behind that incident.

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Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf granted clemency this year to 8 people serving life sentences. One of those people is David Sheppard. He's 54 years old, and in 1992 he was one of four people convicted of the robbery and murder of Thomas Brannan, a pharmacy owner in Overbrook. Sheppard served 27 years in prison before he was given his freedom. But after an email from the Lieutenant Governor accusing Delaware County's District Attorney of trying to hold up his clemency and a social media post by Kim Kardashian West, Sheppard found himself suddenly in the middle of a war of words on the national stage.

KYW In Depth is a KYW Newsradio Original Podcast. Subscribe to the podcast on the Radio.com app, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. 

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