The Week in Philly from KYW Newsradio

Over the last several days, Hurricane Fiona has pummeled Puerto Rico. Despite the storm's destruction, the island remains resilient, and, according to Dr. Michelle Carlo, the people there are eager to get back on their feet. Carlo, the medical advisor for the nonprofit humanitarian organization Direct Relief, checks in from the San Juan region with a first-hand account of the destruction, and prov...

Guess what? For as divided as the United States has become, polls show that most Americans agree: our democracy is at risk. So why do we have such a hard time getting along? Saint Joseph's University Professor of Political Science Dr. Susan Liebell takes a look at the health of democracy in America, and explains why she thinks the country has reached a crossroads, especially as tensions grow betwe...

The Fed is coming! The Fed is coming! At least its next meeting is. What should we expect? In his weekly check-in, Philadelphia economist David Fiorenza forecasts how the November midterm elections could impact the Fed's handling of another round of interest rate hikes. Plus, why, in the face of inflation, does retail spending remain strong? And what are the takeaways from some noteworthy import p...

NASA wants to go back to the moon. We are still waiting for the launch of Artemis I, which had to be scrubbed a couple of times, but they are going to try again soon. This is a bold and exciting initiative, and we wanted to learn more about it, so we asked Dr. Karen Masters, Professor of Astronomy and Physics at Haverford College to come on the podcast and talk about Artemis. 

With the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, there has been a lot of focus on the British monarchy in the United States. From news articles to social media to wall-to-wall coverage on the cable news channels, America is fascinated by the monarchy. And of course, events around the royal family like royal weddings get fawning coverage in the US. When you think about it, isn't that kind of odd? The United...

Artificial intelligence is becoming more and more prevalent every day, in every part of our lives. That includes in the world of medicine. AI has helped advance medical care in a lot of ways, but is there a point that's too far? Professor Sam Hodge teaches Law and Anatomy at Temple University. He talks with us about how AI is being used, from the exam room to the operating room, and some of the le...

If you're online at all, you've probably seen a ton of political ads going into the midterm election - maybe even for candidates outside of your district. What's the logic behind these ad campaigns? How detailed can their targeting get, and how are candidates using that targeting? Andrew Arenge, Director of Operations for the University of Pennsylvania's Program on Opinion Research and Election St...

As gas prices go down, people seem less worried about inflation. How much are the two connected? We check in with Philadelphia economist David Fiorenza on that and how much more the Federal Reserve could increase interest rates to control inflation. Plus, we're at a 3-month unemployment low, the Jersey shore saw good profits from Labor Day Weekend, and is the housing market finally starting to cor...

These are tricky times in the United Kingdom. The country is dealing with an energy crisis, and the face of the monarchy, Queen Elizabeth II, just passed away. But such are the circumstances under which Liz Truss takes over as Britain's new Prime Minister. Dr. Joshua Weikert, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Civic Engagement at Immaculate University, looks back at Truss' path to...

When it comes to work, what's wrong with simply doing what's in your job description - no more, no less? Is it unreasonable for companies to expect employees to buy in to corporate hustle, and always go above and beyond? Questions like these have been getting more and more attention ever since the TikTok-inspired concept of "quiet quitting" went viral. Jennifer Rossi Long, Senior Director of West...

The Biden administration has announced its much anticipated - and much debated - student loan forgiveness program . We dig into what that looks like and the motives behind it with Dr. Sam Rosen , Assistant Professor of Finance at Temple University's Fox School of Business. We talk about who the program helps and how, what Pell Grants are and why they're important to the program, what impact it cou...

For most of the pandemic, the housing market has been out of control. Sellers have seen home values soar, while many buyers have either been forced to make insane offers, or simply put dreams of a new house on hold. Recent trends, however, suggest the tide could finally be turning, and that a course correction could be on the horizon. In his weekly check-in, Philadelphia economist David Fiorenza e...

Mikhail Gorbachev's leadership of the U.S.S.R. represented a defining moment in Russian history. On the heels of his passing at 91, how will the last Soviet leader be remembered? The answer to this question probably depends a lot on where you're from in the world, says Dr. Mark Schrad, Professor of Political Science and Director of Russian Area Studies at Villanova University. While Gorbachev drew...

War. Gas prices. Inflation. Recession fears. 2022 has thrown a lot at us, and there's still fourth months to go. How have these developments affected travel and hospitality ? Morning Consult travel and hospitality analyst Lindsey Roeschke explains what's happening in the industry, and how these trends could impact you - the consumer. Interested in reading more about Morning Consult's findings afte...

Nursing is an incredibly hard job in the best of times. For the last few years, nurses have been facing significant stress, burnout, and political opposition on top of their normal jobs. These are challenging times for the profession, so we wanted to know if the last couple of years have changed how hospitals and healthcare providers recruit nurses. How have nursing schools adjusted the ways they...

It has been a year since the US officially pulled out of Afghanistan. When the US left, thousands of Afghans left as well, some settling in the United States. Many had to leave in the middle of the night, possibly with a bag, some just the clothes they were wearing. We wanted to talk about what the last year has been like for the people who resettled here in America. What kind of challenges have A...

More big news about the Federal Reserve tackling inflation came down, is the worst over or will there be more to come? Unemployment filings went down a bit and the labor market keeps chugging along. The GDP estimates got a little more positive than the last time we chatted about them. Could we be looking at a positive number in the third quarter? And what is student loan debt forgiveness going to...

The US response to the monkeypox outbreak continues to hit snags, as access to vaccines, ability to find treatments, and even getting appropriate care in the doctor's office can be anything but a sure thing. So where are we in the timeline of this outbreak? Have we learned anything from the coronavirus pandemic that should have helped us respond to Monkeypox? And why is there still so much red tap...

We're about to start another pandemic school year, but this time COVID vaccines are available to everyone over 6 months old. Plus, a new omicron-specific booster is on the way. Should you get your kids vaccinated or boosted now, or wait for the new booster? How important is it to vaccinate younger kids who haven't been getting as sick? Ross McKinney, Jr., MD, a pediatric infectious disease expert...

The Inflation Reduction Act, the big package passed by Democrats in Congress and signed into law by President Biden addresses a lot of issues, and that includes healthcare. This law is going to have a noticeable effect on a lot of Americans' healthcare costs, and we wanted to know exactly what that will mean, so we asked Dr. Robert Field, Professor of Law and Professor of Health Management and Pol...

"I know from all the time that I have spent in the prisons, that there are women who are absolutely both legally and factually innocent of the crimes that they've been convicted of," says Dr. Jill McCorkel, founder of The Philadelphia Justice Project for Women and Girls, a nonprofit organization working to end the mass incarceration of women in the United States. Right now, McCorkel and the Philly...

Whether because of the pandemic or Russia's invasion of Ukraine, supply chain issues have sent major ripple effects through the global economy. According to Philadelphia economist David Fiorenza, companies are starting to make savvy adjustments, which he says is good news. This week, David also takes a look at a couple other key economic trends, from inflation to the housing market. Plus, he forec...

We have been paying a lot of attention to the January 6th Committee investigating the insurrection at the Capitol. With a break until the hearings resume in September, we wanted to take stock of what we have learned so far. But since the last hearing there have been so many developments on multiple fronts connected to former President Donald Trump like the FBI searching Mar-A-Lago, and connected t...

Some of the biggest and most impactful items in the Inflation Reduction Act deal with the environment, sustainability, and trying to mitigate climate change. So what are they? Is it going to work? Do we have enough time to stop the acceleration of climate change before it's too late? We asked Dr. Samantha Chapman, Professor of Biology at Villanova University and Co-Director of the Center for Bio-D...

The Inflation Reduction Act was passed by Democrats without a single Republican vote in the House and Senate and signed into law by President Biden. It deals with climate change, healthcare, taxes and more -- and it's such a large and wide ranging piece of legislation that we needed some help to really understand of what this law does and what it doesn't do. We asked friend of the podcast Dr. Scot...