MetroFocus: The Podcast

Exploring Hate "Missing Generations": The New York Exhibition Ensuring New Yorkers Never Forget The Holocaust In the midst of the seeming resurgence of antisemitism around the world and the ignorance about the basic facts of the Holocaust that survey after survey demonstrate, there’s a new exhibition in the New York area focused on not only the horrors of the Holocaust but also the resiliency of t...

A documentary tells the inspiring story of former Arizona Congressperson Gabby Gifford’s recovery process after she was shot in the head during a 2011 assassination attempt. Gabby Giffords, who at the time was a rising star in the Democratic party, suffered significant brain damage. Through the help of her team of doctors, the support from her husband, U.S. Senator Mark Kelly, and most importantly...

What makes a good life? This question is at the heart of a new book from “Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most” by three Yale faculty members—Miroslav Volf, Matthew Croasmun and Ryan McAnnally-Linz—and is named after their highly sought-after undergraduate course, the most popular class at Yale. The question of what makes a good life is inherent to the human condition, asked by people a...

"How Far Do You Want To Go? Lessons From A Common-Sense Billionaire" New York City is full of rags-to-riches stories but few have a story to tell quite like billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis. Born in Greece, Catsimatidis immigrated to Harlem as a baby and eventually dropped out of college to work full-time in the grocery business. Today that business, which includes the Gristedes chain of...

Chasing The Dream: PepsiCo & Robin Hood Report How Their Partnership Transformed The Lives of More Than 35,000 Young Women in The Bronx The Bronx is home to the city’s highest concentration of people living in poverty, with 1 in 3 women lacking the proper resources to support themselves and their families. In 2018, MetroFocus brought you a story about two organizations working together to try...

The WNET Group "Close To Home" Town Hall Series on Housing Equality (Wednesdays, April 26 - May 24, 6-7:30pm ET) What will it mean for America if its vibrant cities and towns are remade as enclaves where only the wealthy can thrive? How do campaigns for housing equality amplify moral calls for racial and economic justice? How is housing activism today informed by ancestral wisdom about settler col...

Antisemitism and Holocaust misinformation and denial are spreading rapidly across social media. As TikTok captures the vast majority of eyeballs amongst Gen Z audiences in the U.S. and globally, a creator with a built-in distribution platform with millions of followers - hopes to raise awareness on the issue and ensure young people understand the truth about what really happened during the Holocau...

Peril & Promise - What's Holding Up Climate Progress in New York City? Local Law 97, part of New York City’s Climate Mobilization Act of 2019, is one of the country’s boldest climate laws, with half a dozen other municipalities pursuing similar models. Its goal is to cut carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2050 by setting increasingly stringent limits on the city’s big...

"Bet on Black: The Good News About Being Black In America Today" In the new book “Bet on Black,” attorney, television and podcast host, Eboni K. Williams, delves into some of the cornerstones of leading a first-class Black life, ranging from knowing one’s history to understanding the power of representation to investing in the sometimes-challenging processes of success. She joins MetroFocus to dis...

Every siren in New York City has a story and of the approximately 300 emergency calls made every hour, many involve people in desperate need of life-saving care. New York healthcare workers face overwhelming challenges responding to these emergencies, yet they manage to keep the city’s heart beating while juggling their own personal lives. “Emergency NYC,” a new docuseries now streaming on Netflix...

NYC's First Female Firefighter Leads The Charge to Build Monuments To Women Forty years ago, Brenda Berkman paved the way for women to join the FDNY – winning a federal discrimination lawsuit against the City of New York that made it possible for women become New York City firefighters for the first time in history. After serving 25 years in the FDNY and retiring as Captain, a career that included...

Coney Island's amusement parks are open! So MetroFocus is giving an all-access pass inside one of the boardwalk's biggest attractions - The Secret World of the Coney Island Side Show, A MetroFocus Documentary Report Sword-swallowers, fire-breathers, and “natural-borns” are just a few of the performers who make up the Coney Island Circus Sideshow. MetroFocus has your backstage pass to a community t...

Pulitzer-winning sociologist issues wake-up call to America, urging those with means to fight poverty Why is there so much poverty in America? Pulitzer Prize-winning sociologist Matthew Desmond answers that complicated question in his latest work, “Poverty, By America,” arguing this suffering persists nationwide because people of means benefit from it often without even realizing. Demond, who serv...

New York City became what it is today through the hard work, innovation, and creativity of a handful of individuals who were willing to challenge the status quo. The new documentary “Gotham: The Fall and Rise of New York” explores New York City’s history and the legacy of its six mayors from 1966-2013. Joining MetroFocus to discuss the findings of the film are the writer and director, Matthew Tayl...

Special Report: New Alzheimer's Wonder Drug - Are You Eligible? Nearly 13 million people will have Alzheimer's Disease by 2050. That's 13 million who could eventually no longer remember their families. But finally, a ray of hope in a new FDA approved drug called Leqembi, that has been shown to slow dementia and will one day save lives. So why won't Medicare cover it? Dr. Nicole Purcell, neurologis...

Re-imagining The Hollywood Classic "Some Like It Hot" For Broadway and a New Audience The hit 1959 film “Some Like It Hot,” starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, is back, this time as a Broadway musical. The new version, which critics call a “jubilant, oldfangled, crowd-pleasing musical comedy,” tells the story of two Prohibition-era musicians on the run from the mob who pose as wo...

"Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work" For as long as women have been in the workforce, “having it all” has meant “doing it all”- leaving working mothers burned out, unhealthy, and unsatisfied. Reshma Saujani, the founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, says now is the time for the workplace to “PAY UP” in her book outlining The Future of Women and Work (and Why It’s Different than You Think.) and she...

Democratic DA Claims His Own Party Is Punishing Him For Opposing Bail Reform New York’s controversial bail reform law, which took effect in January of 2020, eliminated the use of cash bail for most misdemeanors and some nonviolent felony charges, in an attempt to ensure that no one would have to sit in jail, simply because they couldn’t afford to pay their way out. Over the past few years, the law...

Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in Manhattan criminal court on Tuesday. The criminal charges Mr. Trump is facing in New York stem from three separate instances in which he and his associates are accused of making hush money payments during his 2016 campaign. Last night, the former president spoke from Mar-a-Lago in which he vowed...

Plaintiff in Chief: A Portrait of Donald Trump in 3,500 Lawsuits Unlike all previous presidents who’ve held distinguished positions in government or the military prior to entering office, Donald Trump's political worldview was molded in the courtroom. Author James Zirin offers a comprehensive analysis of the former president’s legal history that reveals his temperament, character, methods, and mor...

NYC Council Member Warns Fellow Democrats Don't Take Voters For Granted, Says Being Anti-GOP Is Not Enough Are Democrats taking voters in historically blue cities like New York for granted? Veteran Council Member Justin Brannan, who represents Brooklyn’s largely working class 43rd District, says yes. In a recent op-ed for “City & State,” he argues it’s a serious problem that urgently needs to...

A Manhattan grand jury voted on Thursday to indict Donald J. Trump - the first former president to ever face criminal charges. The specific charges remain sealed. The indictment is over former President Trump’s alleged role in paying hush money to adult film star, Stormy Daniels. What happens next? There are reports Mr. Trump is expected to surrender to authorities in New York as soon as Tuesday,...

Since the beginning of 2023, nearly 350 anti-LGBTQIA+ bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the country. One hundred fifty of these bills specifically target transgender people. Drag performances, including those aimed at educating children have also come under attack recently, with some protests even turning violent. Despite the uptick in anti-trans activity, there are many New...

Margaret Cho is a trailblazer in the world of standup comedy, and a bold and unapologetic voice on social and political matters. She has broken barriers and pushed boundaries in a career that has spanned standup, television, and film. She’s now celebrating 40 years in show business, and she’s got a lot to say these days on racism, gay rights, women’s rights, transgender rights — all topics she’s d...

CHASING THE DREAM – MAYOR ERIC ADAMS ON “THE FUTURE OF NYC HOUSING” Affordable housing, or the lack of it, is one of New York City’s most constant and pervasive issues. The need for innovative solutions to our housing problem has never been greater: perpetual rent hikes, the city’s homelessness crisis, and the never-ending fight between those who want more affordable housing and those who do not....