Citizencast

On another episode of Evening WURDs, Dr. James Peterson sits down with Nicholas Esposito to dig deeper into a Citizen article he wrote titled, Is Another Trash Day The Best Way To Clean Philly? 

Connor Barwin’s City-funded $21 million revamp of Vare Recreation Center shows what Rebuild could accomplish. So why did ReBuild fall so short of its overall target?

The Washington Post is experimenting with a new slogan. Rather than "Democracy Dies in Darkness," it would be "Riveting Storytelling for All of America." Ali Velshi's guest this week is Nobel Prize winner Maria Ressa. "Without journalism, you have no democracy," she says of this precarious new stage for American journalists.

Commitment to excellence, human dignity, and an unwavering pursuit of justice are how we live up to the ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King, explains Dr. James Peterson.

A feminist NFL star who loves to do good for Philly kids out of the limelight? Yup. Listen to why Jalen Hurts is our 2024 Citizen of the Year.

On the latest episode of our How To Really Run A City podcast with esteemed former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and former Philly Mayor Michael Nutter, we are joined by two special guests. First, Mary Ellen Wiederwohl, President and CEO of Accelerator for America, the nation's preeminent city "do tank," and our dynamic new partner on this podcast. Second, Kansas City, Missouri Mayor Quinton Lucas, known affectionately to Kansas Citians as "Mayor Q." Lucas rose from experiencing homelessness to running Kansas City and he came into office with ambitious, fresh ideas. "I think good mayors find a way to remove barriers," Lucas told our hosts. Join us for this episode of hope that American cities can move the needle on economic mobility forward. And also a little discussion about the age-old rivalries of sports teams and BBQ recipes.  As cities go, so goes the nation!

On this episode of Big Rube's Philly, Reuben Harley visits with Jamar Blackshear of Halal Fitness LLC to talk about his rise as a fitness star after paying his debt to society, about his pro bono work with kids, and of course, about his world-famous burpees.

With the 76 Place debate behind us, let's get down to actual neighborhood and city planning and make a decision about the Roundhouse. It has a lot of potential.

Third-party fact checkers were axed from Meta for being "biased and overly politically correct." Ali Velshi speaks with two of those fact-checkers about the real threats facing social media in this new era.

In this interview special, Elijah Wald, South Philly author of the book behind "A Complete Unknown" discusses what the film missed, compares Bob Dylan and Taylor Swift and makes thought-provoking points about today's pop antiheros. 

A lifelong Eagles fan asked the NFL to open the stadium for away games for years, but the plan to open the Linc to everyone for the Super Bowl is a fail

Meet our Youth Citizen of the Year, who at just 15, has given 79,000 pairs of socks to vulnerable Philadelphians through his 501(c)(3) Socks for the Streets.

... but remember diversity, equity and inclusion. Longtime university president Elaine Maimon mourns the attack on the ideas — and very words — that are so vital to our democracy.

Birthright citizenship is "an integral part of repudiating this nation's history of slavery," Ali Velshi explains. "To undermine [it], would be a return to some of our nation's darkest days." From slavery to the Chinese Exclusion Act of the nineteenth century, the 14th Amendment has been a remedy to our most discriminatory impulses. 

Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia made concessions radically affordable. Another miss by Mayor Parker and City Council in the run-up to 76 Place ...

"There's a writer for the Atlantic in 1894 who said, 'Every two years one party is obliterated, and then two years later, the other party is obliterated,' so I'm not saying this isn't the beginning of some grand realignment, but it might [simply] be the peak of a new cycle." Author Jon Grinspan put forward this observation in the second part of our opening panel at the 2024 Ideas We Should Steal Festival.

When it comes to deeply polarized politics in America, we've been here before. In this two-part event from our Ideas We Should Steal Festival 2024, Larry chats with MSNBC's Ali Velshi and author Jon Grinspan, who wrote "Age of Acrimony." Velshi and Grinspan explain that the solutions to our acrimonious future can be found in our past.

Citizen contributor and Evening WURDs host Dr. James Peterson starts a new segment called Evening Stories. On this episode, he and guest Ann Smith discuss the importance of "The Danger Of A Single Story," by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

This book is a "clear commentary on how society pushes women to their breaking point, pits them against one another, and then abandons them," Velshi says as he invites author Paula Hawkins onto the show to discuss the banning of her novel in Ron DeSantis's Florida.

On this year's final episode of How To Really Run A City, we thought listeners could use a good laugh. Larry Platt takes us through the year's funniest moments, from how former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed gets his gangsta lean on to former Philly Mayor Michael Nutter's "drugged up" call-in from his car. This year we had randy guests, mayors incognito and a dead tree in Wilmington, Delaware that just won't be removed.   "It's all good! This is the podcast, this is what we do," Larry said, chuckling after guest Devin Cotten of Cleveland's Universal Basic Employment pilot called our hosts..."old." Join us for this special episode that tries not to take 2024 too seriously.