The Why: Philly Explained

Hospital chaplain Camille Turner says the pandemic has taken away one of her most important tools of the trade: physical touch. Early on, her instinct to hug just proved too strong. But now, she’s tapping into something she calls “creative resilience” to find new ways to comfort her patients — even if it’s as simple as singing a song.

Guest: Camille Turner, Chaplain at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

How is online learning going in Philadelphia’s public schools? With the typical tools, like standardized tests, off the table this year, Superintendent William Hite says he’s thinking about success differently than usual. But as parents and teachers start to consider what school will look like this fall, there will be more pressure on the school district to come up with new systems to measure it.

Guest: WHYY education reporter Avi Wolfman-Arent

In this bonus episode, The Why’s Annette John-Hall talks to Asbury Park Press reporter Mike Davis about his bout with COVID-19 — and the cautionary tale he took from it. (Hint: Do not take this virus lightly.)

Pennsylvania has one of the least funded public health departments in the country, making it more difficult to contain the coronavirus. Suddenly in need of contact tracers, the state finds itself with a barebones staff of nurses to do that work. When their job is done right, those nurses say they prevent disease outbreaks — so it’s harder to see the important role they play. Now, the governor wants to create a “civilian corps” to fill the void.

Guest: Aneri Pattani, Spotlight PA

Black Philadelphians are dying from COVID-19 at a disproportionately high rate. Part of the problem: There’s not enough testing being offered in lower income neighborhoods in the city, where more people of color live. Now, Black churches are partnering with Black doctors to fill the gaps — a concept that has deep historical roots in other disease outbreaks in the city and in the civil rights movement.

Guest: Chris Norris, WHYY’s Community Contributors and Engagement Editor

In the next installment of our series Why didn’t I go there?, The Why co-host Shai ben-Yaacov and his 9-year-old son take a virtual tour the Wagner Free Institute of Science. Hear the story behind its large collection of ancient fossils and extinct and endangered animals that show the evolution of life on Earth. And get to know the “gentleman scientist” from Philadelphia who founded the museum, and whose love of collecting rocks, shells and other specimens started during another disease quarantine in the early 1800s.

If you could explore a spot in the region right now, where would you go? Send us a voice memo at [email protected].

Guest: Susan Glassman, executive director, Wagner Museum

Every day, state and county governments release data about new COVID-19 cases and deaths. Watching big swings in numbers can make it seem like things are getting a lot worse, or a lot better. But problems in gathering and reporting that data mean they don’t give us the full picture of how the pandemic is going. Here are some key things to keep in mind when you hear COVID-19 numbers.

Guest: WHYY/PlanPhilly data reporter Ryan Briggs

More than 1.5 million people have filed for unemployment in Pennsylvania — more than any other state except California. Gov. Tom Wolf is under pressure to get people back to work, while trying to bring the pandemic under control in a state that has seen widely different impacts from county to county. Today, we examine how Pennsylvania lawmakers are navigating that balance — and political divisions — especially when there isn’t enough testing available for the coronavirus.

Guest: WHYY politics reporter Katie Meyer

150 years ago this week, Philadelphia was the site of a historic, but little-known march celebrating the ratification of the 15th Amendment giving black men the right to vote. The march was led by prominent civil rights leaders like Frederick Douglass, Lucretia Mott and Philly’s own Octavius Catto. Today, we’re taking a break from pandemic coverage to tell the story of the march and explore its place in the long fight for voting rights in America.

Guest: Dan Biddle, author of “Tasting Freedom: Octavius Catto and the Battle for Equality in Civil War America”

So far, more than 130 incarcerated people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Philly’s four jails and at least one inmate has died. That’s more than the number of cases in every state prison in Pennsylvania combined. Now, the ACLU is suing the Philly jails for their handling of the pandemic, which may mean they have to release more inmates.

Guest: Max Marin, reporter for WHYY’s Billy Penn