The Jawncast from KYW Newsradio

This week, we’re sharing an episode from another Audacy podcast, Something Offbeat , that’s guest-hosted by our own Sabrina Boyd-Surka . Madison Square Garden Entertainment has used facial recognition technology to keep some fans out of Rockettes shows, Knicks games, and other events at its properties in recent months. But not just any fans -- attorneys who work for firms with pending litigation a...

Dogs have a lot of skills that humans don’t, which makes them great at certain jobs. The Penn Vet Working Dog Center trains dogs for search and rescue, law enforcement, and scientific research - like sniffing out COVID-19. Sabrina Boyd-Surka visits the center, as well as a few of its graduates at the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office and New Jersey Task Force 1 . We get to see what a working dog...

The Underground Railroad carved a path through the Philadelphia region. Harriet Tubman and other abolitionist leaders made their base here for several years. And yet, in 2023, we can’t seem to agree on the best way to recognize that history . This week, as we celebrate Black History Month, Sabrina Boyd-Surka dives into some stories that might not have been in your textbooks and examines what it re...

If you’ve ever seen a woman with a box of candy on her head walking around the streets of Philadelphia - that’s Candyianna, the Philly Candy Lady. She’s a local icon, singing songs with candy-related lyrics and joking with everyone she meets. What made her want to live this life? In some ways, it didn’t feel like a choice. This week, Sabrina Boyd-Surka gets to know the Philly Candy Lady - her wild...

Two sites in South Jersey could hold the key to creating a more accurate narrative surrounding Martin Luther King Jr.’s beginnings as a civil rights leader. So why has it been such a struggle to get these places properly recognized? Local activists Patrick Duff and Linn Washington Jr. have been working together for years to try to get the State of New Jersey to budge, but they keep running into ro...

Most people know it as the “Citywide,” and over the years, there have been many imitations and iterations. But at Bob and Barbara’s Lounge on South Street, a shot of Jim Beam bourbon and a 12 oz. can of Pabst Blue Ribbon lager essentially goes by one name: “the special.” Where did this legendary bar come up with the idea for such an iconic pairing? How have they managed to keep the cost ($4) down...

If you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan, you know one thing: you HATE the Dallas Cowboys. Even if you don’t follow football but you live in Philly, you might have a negative impression of Dallas without knowing why. As the Eagles and the Cowboys gear up to face each other on Christmas Eve, we teamed up with the Texas Wants to Know podcast to see if we can get to the bottom of this rivalry. When did it...

What’s the toughest part about being a podcast about interesting and unique stories in Philadelphia? It’s impossible for us to cover every single one! As 2022 comes to a close, Sabrina Boyd-Surka and Brian Seltzer look back on a handful of their favorite stories that didn’t make the podcast, from an unconventional emotional support animal to an absolutely insane gastrointestinal achievement. Join...

It’s rare to see a Black or brown ballerina on stage, but not at Philadelphia’s Chocolate Ballerina Company, where all the dancers are people of color. They’re performing their own take on a holiday classic this month - “The Nutcracker: Dipped in Chocolate." Sabrina Boyd-Surka sat in on a rehearsal to find out how they put their own twist on the story and why it means so much to young dancers of c...

Alex Du is Vietnamese and was raised Buddhist. So how in the heck did the 45-year old real estate investor end up becoming the de facto ringleader for one of Philadelphia’s most iconic Christmastime traditions? Each year, during the winter holiday season, the 1600 block of South 13th Street, where Alex and his family have lived for decades, turns into an electric and eclectic display of seasonal c...

Daniel McClellan was a pioneer, pitching the first perfect game of record in the Negro Leagues. How, then, is it possible that his grave went unmarked for more than half a century? This is a question Brian Seltzer answers on a visit to Eden Cemetery in Delaware County, where McClellan is buried. We also learn about the history of Eden itself, the factors that contributed to it becoming the first B...

In 1968, 19-year-old Michael Crescenz left his parents and 5 brothers to fight in Vietnam. He never made it home - instead he gave his life to save his fellow soldiers. Michael was the only Vietnam veteran from Philadelphia to receive a Medal of Honor, but his story represents countless others who died in battle with no one left to tell their stories.  Sabrina Boyd-Surka  talks with Michael’s brot...

When Philadelphia sports teams win big and fans celebrate in the streets, you're going to see people trying to climb poles. Street light poles, sign poles, traffic light poles, it really doesn't matter. Even the city greasing the poles downtown doesn’t stop people. In fact, the tradition of climbing a greased pole in Philadelphia goes beyond the Phillies and the Eagles - there’s been an annual com...

One woman is looking to overcome mental health issues that have troubled her for years. Another wants patients and clinicians alike to better understand a progressive approach to treatment. As Brian Seltzer  reports, ketamine is the connection for Marie and Dr. Sophia Brandstetter, the founder of the Ko-Op, a ketamine-assisted psychotherapy clinic in Graduate Hospital. Hear how both hope the power...

Mia Ormes had an idea to deliver healthy, plant-based soups and stews to new moms. But starting a business on her own was an overwhelming challenge. So she applied for Drexel Food Lab ’s Good Food Accelerator Program, where she worked with students to develop her recipes and get her business, Tribu, off the ground. Sabrina Boyd-Surka talked with Mia and visited the Food Lab to see what goes into f...

Figuring out college is hard enough as it is. Add being housing insecure or homeless to the mix, and the challenge seems almost unimaginable. But for some college students in the Philadelphia area, this obstacle was their reality - until they found help. The Jawncast’s Brian Seltzer talks to a group of local students about their experiences with housing insecurity and homelessness, and explores ho...

Kennett Square and a few other nearby towns grow 60% of the country’s mushrooms, and they’re very proud of that fact. The town hosts a mushroom festival every year. There’s even a play going up at People's Light in Malvern about mushroom workers. How did the center of America’s mushroom industry get to be in Philadelphia’s backyard? Sabrina Boyd-Surka takes a deep dive into the world of fungi farm...

Do ghosts exist? It’s a question that’s been asked over and over again throughout modern history. But as impossible as it is to pin down an answer, that doesn’t stop people like John Levy from trying. When he’s on the clock, John is a Philadelphia police officer. In his spare time, he’s a paranormal investigator. Brian Seltzer , John McDevitt , and Holli Stephens join John on a spooky season ghost...

One of the biggest complaints in Philadelphia is that there’s a ton of trash on the streets. But it’s not all complete junk. The Philadelphia Dumpster Divers are a group of found-object artists who are giving that trash new life. This week, Sabrina Boyd-Surka attends a Dumpster Divers junk exchange and finds out why these people are so into trash - and she discovers that dumpster diving does more...

Find a color more Philly than green. C’mon. We dare you. Think about it: The Eagles. The Phillie Phanatic. Our street signs. All the parks. The Schuylkill River! From how it’s worn to how different shades are made and where to find them,  Brian Seltzer  takes you on a colorful journey that explores how green is a defining part of Philadelphia’s identity and heritage. To learn more about where Phil...

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These days, we might take it for granted that we live in a city with state of the art healthcare. But there was a time when we didn't even have hospitals in America. This week, Sabrina Boyd-Surka visits the first chartered hospital in the nation: Pennsylvania Hospital, established in Philadelphia in 1751. We hear what health care looked like in the 18th and 19th centuries - from a surgical amphith...

Theme restaurants. Big-box retail. Grandiose indoor urban entertainment centers. These were catchy commercial real estate trends of the mid- to late-1990s, and The Walt Disney Company wanted in. Philadelphia, meanwhile, was on the cusp of a major economic renaissance following years of financial woes. Ed Rendell, then the city’s mayor, ushered in this turnaround, and he wanted Disney.  What did th...

Imagine being a teenager in high school and sharing a house with the biggest basketball star on the planet. This was the life Dave Richman lived for a few months in 1965. That winter, Dave’s father, 76ers founder and owner Ike Richman, pulled off a stunning trade to bring Wilt Chamberlain back to Philadelphia to play for the recently-formed Sixers. A lot of people know the story of Chamberlain’s i...

If you’ve never lived in a neighborhood that was lit up by neon sign after neon sign, welcome to Len Davidson’s Philadelphia. Len grew up in a different era in Northeast Philly, when soda fountains and pharmacy counters were the norm. He’s trying to preserve a piece of that time at the Neon Museum of Philadelphia , where he’s collected over a hundred signs from businesses that have mostly died out...