CitizenCast

On this episode of Guest Commentary, Philadelphia once led the country on keeping rents down. The director of our city's Rent Control Coalition says we can do it again.

Last Friday, Citizen co-founder Larry Platt was inspired to write an article, in part, due to the banning of "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" by an Iowa school district. On this episode of #velshibannedbookclub, MSNBC host and Citizen board member Ali Velshi speaks with Imani Perry, author and professor of African American Studies at Harvard. They discuss the legacy of Maya Angelou's seminal nove...

The canceling of books by Elizabeth Gilbert and Buzz Bissinger are examples of a new American mantra: Free speech for me, but not for thee

Ahead of the premiere of KELCE on September 12, we hear from the filmmakers and listen to the film's new trailer

On this episode of Guest Commentary, Center City businesses return to the office and vacant spaces become residences. Branding us an "urban doom loop" just isn't accurate.

On this episode of Ideas We Should Steal, a group called Taking Ownership PDX is preserving Black wealth in Portland through housing reparations by helping Black homeowners repair their homes

In light of Donald Trump and his co-defendants being booked (and then released) in Atlanta last week, MSNBC host and Citizen board member Ali Velshi dissects how the bail system spares the wealthy while heavily disadvantaging the poorest of Americans

A Philadelphia police shooting has left a young man dead and exposed a false narrative from officials. How long do we wait for justice?

What are the arguments FOR banning books in America? MSNBC host and Citizen board member Ali Velshi sits down with Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, a nonprofit dedicated to the freedom to read and write. They dissect some of the most prevalent arguments for banning books and demonstrate why the pros of free ideas vastly outweigh the costs. 

On this episode of Big Rube's Philly, Big Rube chats with Liz Bench of Penny Wise Thrift Shop. Big Rube is a fashion forerunner and through-and-through Philadelphian revealing the best spot for thrifting in the city. Hint: It's outside city limits.

In an excerpt of Live to See the Day, a new book about surviving poverty in Kensington, a teenager pleads for his high school to stay open

Very few texts have been such a lighting rod for interpretation, counter-interpretation and misinterpretation as the American Constitution. This week, MSNBC host and Citizen board member sits down to discuss this polarizing document with professors and authors Akhil Reed Amar and Jeffrey Rosen. 

On this episode of Memo to Madam Mayor, Larry asks do you want to create a pathway to the middle class? Then forget student loans. Medical debt is where it's at.

With George Santos in the news again, MSNBC host and Citizen board member Ali Velshi reviews his scandalous rise and how it represents one more lethal blow to shame in politics.

Benefits Data Trust's CEO — an AI advisor to the president — on what we must remember when using machines to deliver human services

On this episode of Ideas We Should Steal, Mini on-street parks called parklets in cities like Chicago build community and help businesses thrive. So why doesn't Philly have more?

On this edition of #velshibannedbookclub, MSNBC host and Citizen board member Ali Velshi invites to the show Marjane Satrapi, author of "Persepolis." This bestselling graphic novel explores revolution in Iran and comes to the conclusion that being brainwashed is a choice. Many Iranians, Satrapi observes, are now choosing freedom. 

Hip Hop culture officially turns 50 today. Here, a longtime fan and scholar commemorates the occasion with physics

In this episode of Citizen of the Week, Pastor Buddy offers local kids a safe haven and a path to hope through boxing and prayer. His annual "Rock the Block" party is on Saturday

On this episode of #velshibannedbookclub, MSNBC host and Citizen board member Ali Velshi chats with Benjamin Alire Saenz, author of "Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe." This book is one of Time Magazine's 100 Best Young Adult Novels Of All Time and has landed on several banned book lists for its portrayal of LGBT+ issues in the Hispanic community. 

I spoke with Dena Driscoll, volunteer chair of Fifth Square Political Action Committee and a member of the Citizen's Generation Change Philly. I asked her if some of the more effective strategies from Oslo, Norway could be used to combat traffic deaths here in Philly. Her answers surprised me.

In the wake of Donald Trump's third indictment and his position as leading Republican nominee, MSNBC host and Citizen board member Ali Velshi begs the listeners to help him understand just what the hell is going on here.

A Meek Mill-inspired bipartisan bill in Harrisburg revisits state probation reform. The progressive ACLU prefers enduring, not solving, the problem.

In our next episode of How To Really Run a City, Mayor Michael Nutter asks, "You know about the handshake, right? You gotta get up in that web. You gotta own the handshake." Mayor Kasim Reed agrees, saying that Nutter once also taught him an ancillary move: One hand on the shoulder while the other clasps the hand.  Get insider tips, like the anatomy of the mayoral handshake, from these former two-...

What a change a couple of years make. MSNBC host and Citizen board member Ali Velshi ponders the hypocrisy of the Republican Party's new approach to mail-in ballots. Once demonized as the reason for Trump's election loss, Republicans are now pinning their hopes on voting by mail.