The Week in Philly from KYW Newsradio

We're still dealing with big unemployment numbers, and now more companies have announced intentions to lay off thousands of workers. Will job eliminations by Disney and several major airlines finally be enough to convince congress to pass a relief bill? David Fiorenza, Associate Professor of Practice at the Villanova School of Business joins KYW in Depth to break down the news of the week and expl...

While you'd hope that public health decisions made during a pandemic are a hundred percent based on science, there's some concern in America right now that politics have played an outsized role in the pandemic response and guidance from places like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. How does the world of public health feel about this?  Dr. Resa Jones, associate professor and departmen...

The trade relationship between the U.S. and China has gotten its fair share of headlines during the Trump presidency, but lately the trade war has been overshadowed by a different fight entirely -- over tech companies, apps, and data collection. Dr. Kevin Fandl, Associate Professor of Legal Studies at Temple University's Fox School of Business joins KYW In Depth to talk about the status of the tra...

Holistic forecasting isn't something that a lot of people are familiar with, but it could be extremely helpful in identifying and reacting to big events or disasters like the coronavirus pandemic. Dr. Guntram Werther, Professor of Marketing and Supply Chain Management at Temple University's Fox School of Business joins KYW In Depth to break down what it is, how it's used in real life practical sce...

The Breonna Taylor case down in Kentucky has been in the news for months. Breonna Taylor was an African American woman who was shot and killed by police in her apartment. We just had a grand jury charge one of the three officers involved in this case, but none of the charges actually are connected to Taylor's killing. So what happened? Why wasn't anyone charged for killing Breonna Taylor? And what...

America looks like it's in the middle of a K-shaped recovery right now. The people who weren't really affected all that much by the pandemic are doing much better. The people who were hit the hardest are doing worse. David Fiorenza, Associate Professor of Practice at the Villanova School of Business joins KYW in Depth to break down the consequences of a K-shaped recovery, as well as the new unempl...

We all have a story we grew up with about our background, ancestry, or ethnicity. But how true is that story? Dr. Anita Foeman, Department of Communication and Media at West Chester University had a hunch that a lot of people would be surprised if they took an ancestry DNA test -- and she was right. Dr. Foeman joins KYW In Depth to break down how she started the DNA Discussion Project at West Ches...

Healthcare is a constant concern in America and even more so during the coronavirus pandemic. There's a lot of uncertainty around healthcare right now -- it's a pivotal election year, the fate of the Affordable Care Act is not clear, and now, doctors are speaking out against some changes proposed for Medicare in 2021 that deal with how doctors are compensated. Two of the doctors in the effort were...

The coronavirus pandemic is causing many of us to slow down and take a harder look at what we do day to day. And the results? They're not always good. A lot of people feel like they can’t get a handle on their to-do lists, and there's that nagging feeling that you should be getting more done. Dr. Kelly McClure, Associate Professor and the Chair of Undergraduate Psychology at La Salle University jo...

Dr. Michael Mina is an epidemiologist at Harvard University. And he says we need to build a new way of testing if we want to get a handle on the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. His plan? Use the mighty power of the federal government and the wallet of the Department of Defense to produce virus tests on a macro scale. Dr. Michael Mina joins KYW In Depth to break down what's wrong with ho...

A vast majority of parents surveyed by U.S. News & World Report say that high schools in America need to do a lot more to teach essential financial literacy skills to students. Why are we bad at teaching financial literacy in this country, and what can we do to reverse course? Beverly Harzog, personal finance and credit card expert for U.S. News & World Report joins KYW In Depth to talk ab...

Before the coronavirus pandemic, a group of scientists in Philadelphia were studying human resilience in the face of stress. Then March 2020 and COVID came, and with it came opportunities to collect field data and try to help people deal with their lives turning upside down. Dr. Ran Barzilay, M.D., Ph. D. is a physician scientist at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Assistant Professor at the U...

How would the US change if every car on the road was electric? What would the country look like? It sounds like wishful thinking, but the American Lung Association wanted to play it out. So they put out the Road to Clean Air report. It focuses on a nationwide shift to electric cars, looking into the future a few decades -- and they found some really interesting benefits. Paul Billings, National Se...

One of the common refrains of the coronavirus pandemic is that "we're all in this together." But new information is making it clear that we're not all being affected by the pandemic in the same ways. Minority communities are being hit much harder. Dr. Robert J. Blendon is the Richard L. Menschel Professor Emeritus of Public Health and Professor of Health Policy and Political Analysis at the Harvar...

Labor unions and politics have gone hand in hand in America for decades. But after decades of declining union power in the country, how is organized labor fitting into the 2020 election? Which side will unions take? And, is modern day organized labor powerful enough to even make a difference ?  Dr. Laura Bucci, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Saint Joseph’s University joins KYW In Dept...

US housing starts took a tumble in August. 860,000 people filed for first time unemployment benefits last week. It's looking like there might not be another coronavirus relief bill before the election. David Fiorenza, Associate Professor of Practice at the Villanova School of Business joins KYW in Depth to break down the news of the week and explain what it means for the health of our economy. See...

Most of the popular talk about life in outer space has centered on Mars. That is, until a few days ago, when astronomers reported an exciting discover on Venus. So, what did they find? Why is it a sign of life? What could life on Venus even look like? And why haven't we checked there until now? Dr. Eric Jensen, Professor of Astronomy at Swarthmore College joins KYW In Depth for a fascinating conve...

The US Dollar is the world's reserve currency. We've been hearing a lot in financial reports about the dollar being weak or strong day to day or month to month, but what does that actually mean? How important is it? And could the idea of the dollar being the world's reserve currency change? Dr. Amir Shoham, Associate Professor of Finance and International Business at Temple University's Fox School...

Many families are spending a lot more time together this year than ever before because of the coronavirus pandemic. But now that parts of the country are open again and people are trying to get out of the house -- what does that mean for kids who have gotten used to spending all this time at home with their families? Dr. Yesenia Marroquin, clinical psychologist at the Children's Hospital of Philad...

Scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory had a eureka moment. They discovered something that helps explain the varied symptoms of COVID-19, and why ventilators don't always help the sickest patients. And it may send the search for treatments in a whole new direction. Dr. Dan Jacobson, Chief Scientist for Computational Systems Biology at Oak Ridge National Laboratory joins KYW In Depth to br...

There's a lot of talk in Pennsylvania politics about legalizing recreational marijuana as a way to help close the budget gap. In an earlier podcast, we talked about what that could mean for criminal justice reform in the commonwealth. Today, we're tackling what it would mean for Pennsylvania's pocketbook. How would it work? How much money would legal weed bring in? What would stores look like? Wha...

Kids are going back to school, but for most students that includes at least some amount of at-home or virtual learning as the pandemic continues. And if a young child is learning from home, that means a parent or somebody has to be home to help them. In a lot of families, this puts a tremendous amount of strain on the status quo, and sometimes one of the parents even has to quit their job to take...

We are less than 2 months away from the Presidential Election and that means we are getting a constant stream of polls. National, state, likely voters vs registered voters -- the amount of information is pretty staggering. But, the polls and pollsters got criticized pretty soundly after the 2016 election when Donald Trump surprised many people to win the presidency. Can we trust the 2020 polls aft...

19 years ago, Philadelphia Police Sergeant Greg Masi was sent to New York City. America had been attacked, two planes had just flown into the Twin Towers, and Philadelphia wanted to help New York. At Ground Zero, Sgt. Masi found thousands of people working together to rescue survivors, and to recover victims. He experienced sights and smells he'll never be able to forget. And he says that even tho...

Another week of wild headlines in the economy to talk about. Tech stocks are on fire, until they aren't. Are massive unemployment numbers the new normal in America? And proof that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in the US, there's a new COVID-19 store in the King of Prussia Mall. David Fiorenza, Associate Professor of Practice at the Villanova School of Business joins KYW in Depth to...