The Week in Philly from KYW Newsradio

We are seeing some awful scenes in Ukraine during Russia’s invasion, including the deaths of civilians and the bombings of buildings leading to civilian casualties. US officials including President Biden have referred to Vladimir Putin as a war criminal. Are we watching Russia commit war crimes, in real time? What constitutes a war crime, and who investigates them? And will there be any consequenc...

We’ve all made major changes to deal with COVID-19, but now that things are opening up again, will any of those changes stick around long-term? 10 years from now, are there some things we might actually want to keep? Dr. Laura A. Siminoff is the Dean at Temple’s College of Public Health and a professor of social and behavioral sciences. After two full years of this pandemic, we ask her to think ab...

There's been a lot of talk about the Joro spider. It's creepy looking, it looks like it flies, it's here on the East Coast, and it's generally considered a big bag of nope. But before you arm the nuclear football, we wanted to find out the truth about this spider. Is it dangerous? Invasive? Will we even see it here in the Philadelphia area? Dr. Christopher Tipping, Professor of Biology at Delaware...

One day it's up, the next day it's down -- why is the price of gas all over the place? Also, the federal reserve is turning its eye on interest rates. How many rate hikes are we likely to see? Every week on KYW Newsradio In Depth, Philadelphia economist David Fiorenza breaks down the biggest stories of the week and how they apply to you and me. 

The revival of Oklahoma! is on tour, playing at the Forrest Theater this month . The original, which premiered on Broadway in 1943, had an all-white cast and didn't acknowledge the fact that it's set on Native American land (before Oklahoma became a state). This revival has a diverse cast and is a stripped-down, grittier performance - but does that do enough to make up for the show's flaws? How ca...

While the cries to ban books have grown louder recently, especially in political circles, it's nothing new in the context of American history. In fact, according to Dr. Miah Daughtery, past attempts to ban books have often had the opposite effect! Daughtery, the literacy director at the non-profit NWEA, believes that narrative text serves an important function in a diverse society, and is a critic...

We are seeing a tragic humanitarian crisis unfold because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Millions of people are displaced and fleeing the country. So how can the world address this? What can be done? Dr. Lynne Hartnett, Associate Professor of History at Villanova University is on the podcast to talk about the staggering crisis in Ukraine, the reality for people fleeing the country, and the rippl...

Because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the economic screws have been put to the Russian economy. As a result, Russia is likely to default on its debt. What does that mean for the rest of the world? What are the ripple effects that we could feel here? Dr. Samuel Rosen, Assistant Professor of Finance at Temple University's Fox School of Business is on the podcast to answer those questions and talk...

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is playing havoc with world energy prices, but the ripple effects on markets don’t end there. Commodities like wheat, corn, and fertilizer are also being impacted. In the global food markets, prices are rising and countries are preparing for supply chain disruptions that could have significant effects.  John Urbanchuk, assistant professor in the Department of Agribu...

A recent report about climate change raised a lot of alarm bells about how bad the situation really is. It's called the IPCC report, it's very long and dense but the link is below. We wanted to break down the report, get the biggest bullet points, and find out how much trouble we're actually in and if there's anything we can do or any bright spots, so we called Dr. Ruth McDermott-Levy, Professor a...

Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation hearings begin on March 21st, and if confirmed, President Joe Biden's pick for the Supreme Court would become the first Black woman ever to serve on the highest court in the land. So who is Judge Jackson? What are the highlights of her career? And what should people know about Judge Jackson before the hearings start? Lisa Tucker, Associate Professor of Law at t...

Inflation is a problem right now. And recently, there's been a lot of talk and speculation that some companies have been using inflation as a front to simply raise prices to improve profits. So is this happening? How would we know for sure, if it is? Dr. Subodha Kumar, Paul R. Anderson Distinguished Professor of Marketing and Supply Chain Management at Temple University’s Fox School of Business is...

Every week we take a look at the economy in this pandemic with Philadelphia economist David Fiorenza and break down the economic news people need to know in their own lives. This week, we're digging into the jobs numbers. Unemployment decreased to 3.8%! The consumer price index went up significantly, the highest we've seen it since 1982. Gas prices are... down just a bit? What's going on there? An...

COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer have been available for kids 5-11 for a few months now, but a couple of recent studies about the vaccines' effectiveness has sounded some alarms. We asked Dr. Jennifer Hamilton, Professor of Family, Community and Preventative Medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine to come on the podcast and dig into the studies, talk about what was found, and get proper con...

We have seen incredible and heartbreaking images and videos from Ukraine during Russia's invasion. A lot of the information is coming from people simply posting to social media. So how do war zones change when anyone with a phone can become a war correspondent? Does that fact have an impact on how states wage war, and the wartime decisions they make? What does Russia's crackdown on social media me...

The COVID-19 pandemic has been hard on everyone’s mental health, but it has hit communities of color and the Black community disproportionately hard. So why are some communities in America impacted differently than others? Why is there a stigma about mental health and reaching out for help? What is the true mental health cost of this pandemic, when all is said and done? And what options are out th...

For people entering the job market for the first time, what does the landscape look like after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic? What's expected of workers right now? What are employers looking for? We asked these questions to Jennifer Rossi Long, Senior Director of West Chester University’s Twardowski Career Development Center.

Two years into the pandemic and shopping has changed dramatically. The Global data intelligence company Morning Consult is out with a state of retail and e-commerce report that looks at how people are shopping, and what they expect from their shopping experience right now. Claire Tassin, Retail and E-Commerce Analyst for Morning Consult talks about what's changed since early on in the pandemic, wh...

Unemployment fell to 3.8% in February and we got an outstanding jobs report -- 678,000 new jobs. What happened, and what does the report mean for the economy moving forward? Economist David Fiorenza is on the podcast to talk about the economic news of the week and why it matters.

In an instant, the pandemic dramatically altered the way we work. Two years later, how many of these changes are here to stay? SAP Global Vice President of Field Transformation and Readiness Rae Kyriazis examines what workforce dynamics might look like moving into the future, and why the pressure will be on employers to attract and retain talent. Could this be the end of the traditional corporate...

Lawyers didn't want the case. The odds were historically long. So how did the families of victims in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre land a $73 million settlement with companies that insured Remington Arms, the manufacturer of the gun used in the shooting? "Brilliant lawyering," says Saint Joseph's University's Dr. Susan Liebell. From strategy to circumstances, she breaks down the factor...

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has already taken a massive toll on human lives and families, it's affected how society functions in eastern Europe, it's captured the attention of governments and private industry -- and the economic effects have only started to ripple out. For this episode, we are zeroing in on the economic fallout of the war. It starts with gas prices, but the invasion will hit more...

President Joe Biden will deliver his State of the Union address on Tuesday night. What should we expect to hear? How much has the message changed given the Russian invasion of Ukraine? How much impact does the State of the Union have? And when did the address first become a speech? Dr. Courtney Michelle Smith, Professor and Chair of History and Political Science at Cabrini University is on the pod...

The CDC is changing masking recommendations, and it’s part of a sweeping change in how the center measures COVID-19 in communities. The new metrics still look at case rates, but also now take new hospitalizations and hospital capacity into account. Montgomery County office of public health medical director Dr. Richard Lorraine talks to KYW Suburban Bureau Chief Jim Melwert on In Depth about what t...

Nearly 65% of the United States' population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, which puts us middle of the pack worldwide. But while America is lagging behind several other first-world countries, there are plenty of low-income nations that could use more help. Dr. Joe Amon is the Director of Global Health at Drexel University's Dornsife School of Public Health, and explains why vaccinating the...