The Week in Philly from KYW Newsradio

'They DoorDashed from a ghost kitchen endorsed by a YouTube influencer.' If you don't understand that sentence, you need to learn about Gen-Z. Katie Carnevale has done some fascinating research on the Zoomers, a historically diverse generation shaped by some of the most turbulent times in recent memory. We asked Carnevale, a Media and Communications instructor at Delaware Valley University to come...

Preventive medicine means a lot of things, like getting vaccine shots and going to your doctor regularly. It's incredibly important, and that has been crystalized by the COVID-19 pandemic in a couple of key ways. We asked Dr. M. Tonette Krousel-Wood, President of the American College of Preventive Medicine to come on the podcast to talk about the challenges the pandemic brought to the field of pre...

Among the flurry of significant decisions made by the Supreme Court in the final days of its term was a 6-3 ruling in favor of a former Washington state public high school football coach who led his players in prayer. Was this case simply a matter of free speech, or does it signal a potentially deeper shift? Kermit Roosevelt, Professor for the Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsyl...

Amidst a wave of cabinet resignations, Boris Johnson decided to step down himself, bringing to an end his increasingly turbulent second term as Britain's Prime Minister. Dr. Joshua Weikert, an Associate Professor of Politics and Chair of the Department of Civic Engagement at Immaculata University, takes a look at the circumstances that led to Johnson's fall from power. He also explains the differe...

Despite a recent act of vandalism, Shofuso Japanese House and Garden continues to remain open for discovery and exploration. With its distinct design and many gardens, the Fairmount Park landmark is both a site and experience to behold. It also boasts a compelling origin story. But for as rich as the history is at Shofuso, Associate Director of Organizational Culture Rob Buscher also believes it h...

Ticket prices are through the roof. Flights are getting cancelled in waves last-minute. Crews seem short-staffed. What the heck is going on in the airline industry, and is there any relief in sight? Dr. Benjamin Altschuler is an Associate Professor at the School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management at Temple University, and takes a look at the factors fueling the current crunch on airline...

Not only did Cassidy Hutchinson's appearance before the January 6th Select Committee provide compelling theater, it also shed new light on the ways that former President Donald Trump could have helped fuel the attack on the United States Capitol. Ben Berger, Associate Professor of Political Science and Executive Director of the Lang Center for Civic & Social Responsibility at Swarthmore Colleg...

We're getting hints about GDP numbers from the second quarter, and so far estimates have us looking at the textbook definition of a recession... but is there a silver lining? Are some recessions not like the others? It's the beginning of July -- what can we say about the first half of 2022, good and bad alike? Philadelphia economist David Fiorenza is on the podcast to break down the economic news...

Throughout the country, families and communities are being torn apart by guns. Mass shootings here, a random bullet there.  The violence is so rampant and pervasive, it's hard not to feel numb to the crisis. What responsibility does the media bear to make sure we understand just how devastating the effects of guns are on American life? Dr. Jason Gravel, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at T...

Since monkeypox first appeared in the headlines several weeks ago, the number of people infected has grown. Now, we're seeing a lot of stories that bring back memories of the early days of the COVID pandemic, like problems with testing, tests not getting where they are needed, vaccines being nearly impossible to find.  The virus is also showing up in higher numbers in men who have sex with other m...

The greatest gift of the American political system? Look no further than elections, says Dr. Bill Rosenberg, Professor of Political Science at Drexel University. But what happens when the officials we elect start sowing seeds of doubt about the validity of voting outcomes? Rosenberg believes the consequences could be immense, and as a recent string of debunked election fraud accusations have shown...

The Supreme Court has been making a lot of headlines, and not just for recent decisions. Ginni Thomas is a lawyer, a political activist, and she's married to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. She's been in the news because her name keeps popping up in connection with the January 6th attack on the US Capitol, and with former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential el...

There's a lot of concern that the American economy is headed toward a recession. We have questions: How legitimate are the concerns, and what are the odds we head into a recession? What would being in a recession mean for the average American? What does it mean if you're trying to buy a house? How common is it for a recession to happen when the labor market is so tight? We asked these questions an...

COVID-19 vaccines are now available for children six months to five years old. What do parents need to know about vaccines for kids this young? Why did it take so long to get approval for this age range? What's the difference between Pfizer and Moderna for children? We asked these questions and many more to Dr. Neal Goldstein, Associate Professor of Epidemiology at Drexel University.

We want to recycle because it seems like an easy, low barrier to entry way of showing some love to the planet. Unfortunately, most of us are not doing as much good as we think we are when we recycle, because we're doing it incorrectly. Today we asked Dr. Ronald Mersky, chair of the Civil Engineering Department at Widener University about the most common mistakes people make when they recycle, how...

Initial claims for unemployment benefits dropped just a bit, but overall the numbers have been staying pretty steady. There are legitimate recession concerns on the horizon, but how unusual is it to have those recession concerns when there's also a labor market that's this hot? There's a lot of talk about a vacation from the gas tax. Is this a good idea from an economic perspective, or are there h...

The Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, upending five decades of constitutional protections for abortion, making it a state issue. For people who have been fighting to overturn Roe and Casey, is this the endgame, or one step on the road to a national ban on abortion? Has a reversal of rights like this ever happened before in the Supreme Court? What will the effects on women be from state to...

The Supreme Court issued a decision striking down a more than 100 year old New York state law dealing with who could get a permit to carry a gun in public. This has huge implications, not just in New York. What does the ruling mean? Why did the court just now decide to strike down the law, more than a century later? We asked these questions to Dr. Susan Liebell, Professor of Political Science at S...

Food banks are often the lifelines of our communities. They've seen and dealt with unprecedented need during the pandemic. And now, the pandemic is still going on but we're also seeing levels of inflation that we haven't seen in decades. So what kind of impact is that having on food banks? Fred Wasiak, President and CEO of the Food Bank of South Jersey says they hoped the need would level off and...

A bipartisan group of US Senators says they have come together on framework for legislation that will help address the gun violence crisis in the US. This comes in the wake of that tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas... which came on the heels of the racially driven mass shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo... with both these tragedies occurring alongside what has become consistent shootings...

The House Select Committee investigating the January 6th, 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol has held its first few public hearings. What have we learned? What is resonating with the American people, and what is not? Where do these hearings fit in US History? We asked these questions to Ben Berger, Associate Professor of Political Science at Swarthmore College and Executive Director of the Lang C...

The Federal Reserve hiked interest rates by a significant amount to try and tackle inflation. Recession concerns are rising. Retail sales went down a third of a percent. Homebuilding slumped in May. Put all these things together, what do they mean for the economy? What's important, and what's hype? We ask Philadelphia economist David Fiorenza.

Summer learning loss, where the long summer vacation leads to the loss of some academic skills and knowledge in students, is a real issue for just about every child, but it hits certain groups harder than others. We wanted to learn more about this learning loss and how districts, teachers and parents can try to address it, so we caught up with Lindsay Dworkin, Senior Vice President for Policy and...

Which brands do Americans trust the most? The global data intelligence company Morning Consult has released its Most Trusted Brands report, so we called Joanna Piacenza, Head of Industry Intelligence at Morning Consult to find out which brands are the most trusted in America, why, and how the list changed from last year. Find out more here: https://morningconsult.com/

Robert Kerbeck spent much of his career lying to get information from one major company or Wall Street firm and selling it to another - all while trying to build a career as an actor. He recently wrote a memoir about his journey called “RUSE: Lying The American Dream From Hollywood To Wall Street” , which is in the process of being made into a TV series. We talk with Robert about his unexpected ca...