CitizenCast

On the podcast this week, our hosts welcome Tom Henkey, who served for six years as Chicago's Senior Emergency Management Coordinator. His recounting of the Chicago 2011 blizzard that trapped hundreds of cars on a major thoroughfare is harrowing. In the wake of weather-related emergencies all across the country, Henkey is a timely and knowledgeable guest to join our hosts. And remember, as cities...

WURD Radio's Dr. James Peterson sits down with Citizen staff writer Courtney DuChene to discuss the complicated history of, and thorny solutions to, the infamous Roundhouse.

In this Guest Commentary, the former Dean of Temple Law School worries that it may be too late to save what is great about America. But we must persevere if we want to keep what is left.

How do we celebrate Black History Month when our government is seeking to erase everything it stands for? Dr. James Peterson of WURD Radio takes on the issue.

This past weekend, Donald Trump's tariffs targeting Mexico and Canada began. Both countries promised to retaliate with tariffs of their own. This is how it will cost you.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s confirmation grilling makes you wonder whether his iconoclastic father would have voted for his own son. 

On this episode of Big Rube's Philly, Reuben Harley visits with Kevin Harris, aka K.Vaughn, to explore his journey from coming up in West Philly to joining the Navy to becoming a fashion guru whose scarves are nationally renowned. 

Ain't No Back to a Merry-Go-Round is a documentary about a little-known milestone in the Civil Rights Movement that centered on an amusement park in Glen Echo, Maryland. The film will be screened here in Philly on February 6.

Should PA become the tenth state to opt into the Restaurant Meals Program, offering SNAP beneficiaries access to restaurant meals? We think this is definitely an idea to steal.

... they start carrying out law enforcement functions. "This is important," Ali Velshi explains this week as he discusses the role and limitations of the U.S. Posse Comitatus Act.

With Trump targeting cities, how should Philly respond? By lessening our dependence on D.C. through innovative growth policies. This way, we'll stand a fighting chance.

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, kno...

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.