Sinopsis
The Philadelphia Citizen podcast offers spoken versions of articles, deeper dives into the political, social and cultural workings of our city, explainers on the issues of our day, interviews, conversations and solutions. Lots of solutions. All to help you become a better citizen of your city.
Episodios
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Wanted: a new sport to love
08/10/2025 Duración: 04minOn this episode of Guest Commentary, we hear from a committed Phillies fan ... considering his options
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Philly loves birds
07/10/2025 Duración: 05minSince the pandemic forced people outside, birding is having a moment. In Philadelphia, it’s helping residents see their city anew.
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The day John McCain saved healthcare
06/10/2025 Duración: 06minThe late senator and presidential candidate John McCain campaigned against "Obamacare." But in the end, he saved it with a single vote in 2017 -- all because his party was bucking the "regular order" of the legislative process. Ali Velshi believes there are lessons to be learned from that dramatic moment that apply to the government shutdown of 2025.
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The incredible shrinking housing plan?
03/10/2025 Duración: 07minMayor Cherelle Parker’s signature program, H.O.M.E., will build far fewer dwellings than she once promised. Will this solve the problems that actually need solving?
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Overheard at Fitler: Speaking Truth to ... Kennedy? with Dr. Paul Offit
02/10/2025 Duración: 01h04minWhat is it like to be targeted by the nation’s highest health official for … trying to keep kids healthy? And what does it mean for America that RFK Jr. is that health official? Citizen staff writer Malcolm Burnley talks with Dr. Paul Offit, Director of CHOP’s Vaccine Education Center, about his career in science and public health.
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Philly Music Fest
01/10/2025 Duración: 12minThis annual music event presents nine shows over seven days in venues all over town to raise money for music education in schools. Come for the bands you don’t yet but will love to discover.
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Children need green spaces at school
30/09/2025 Duración: 04minIn this episode of Guest Commentary, a Temple professor speaks to the shameful statistic that a third of Philadelphia schools have no play area in place, let alone green spaces that allow students to really thrive.
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And the people won
29/09/2025 Duración: 11min"In 1983, fifty companies controlled 90% of America's media. Today, five companies control 90%." Ali Velshi points to the temporary suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! to demonstrate how an oppressive administration uses mergers to control free speech. "But Kimmel is back on the air," he says. Boycotts, sit-ins, petitions -- "these are the tools that break authoritarian power."
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Anyone feel like a Dirty Spicy Caesar Martini?
26/09/2025 Duración: 09minOn this episode of Big Rube's Philly, the iconic chef, brand marketer and photographer talks with the owner of O’Jung’s — a South Philly bar that’s changed with the times but also … hasn’t
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Detroit is back, baby!
25/09/2025 Duración: 42minWhen Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan took office in 2013, his city had just filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. Today, business is booming, crime has fallen to a 60-year low and it’s no understatement to say that Detroit is back. Mayor Duggan, now running for governor of his state as an Independent, joins former Mayors Michael Nutter and Kasim Reed, along with Citizen Co-founder Larry Platt on this episode of How To Really Run A City to roll up their sleeves and lift the hood of Detroit’s success. Join us for a powerful conversation about turning an entire city around, despite the challenges and barriers that had entrenched decades of decline. As cities go, so goes the nation!
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Richmond's secret to cutting poverty
24/09/2025 Duración: 15minCitizen writer Courtney Duchene joins Dr. James Peterson for his regular Citizen WURD segment to discuss her Ideas We Should Steal article about Richmond's dramatic success in cutting the city's poverty rates. Can Philly follow suit?
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Not the only Black engineer in the room. Anymore.
23/09/2025 Duración: 06minA Philadelphia-born mentor and longtime engineer wanted to see more young people of color enter STEM fields. He started a program in his garage — and ended up with a generation of confident scholars.
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Strongmen can't stand being mocked
22/09/2025 Duración: 11minAli Velshi takes on the web of mergers and federal threats that led to Jimmy Kimmel's show being pulled from the air.
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Jimmy Kimmel's right to satirize
19/09/2025 Duración: 07minA Temple Law professor who studies comedy and democracy explains why both are imperiled in the wake of Kimmel's suspension
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Be vulnerable
18/09/2025 Duración: 05minThis is the message from two-time Super Bowl Champ Lane Johnson -- one passed on to him by his friend, trainer and fellow mental health advocate, Jay Glazer
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The woman who could beat Josh Shapiro
17/09/2025 Duración: 06minOr at least, that's the Republicans hope. State Treasurer Stacy Garrity received the most votes of any PA candidate ever during her reelection bid last year. She may already be the Commonwealth’s most successful female politician. But is that enough?
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I know what you did last summer. And it helped.
16/09/2025 Duración: 05minA Germantown nonprofit offers Philadelphia students who’ve experienced gun violence the chance to tell their stories on the big screen. The result: healing.
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SCOTUS just punched a hole through the Fourth Amendment
15/09/2025 Duración: 10min"The right of the people to be secure in their persons." Ali Velshi explains that American colonists lived in a world where the British crown policed every aspect of their lives. The Fourth Amendment was the Founders answer to those abuses. Last week, the Supreme Court undermined that constitutional answer. "Once the Fourth Amendment is considered negotiable for one group," Velshi says, "it becomes weaker for all of us."
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Charlie Kirk and 9/11
12/09/2025 Duración: 12minA local vet, former U.S. Rep and Undersecretary of the Army, reveals what 9/11 and Charlie Kirk’s assassination tell us about the America we live in. Could this become a roadmap to unity?
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Mobile care for kids
11/09/2025 Duración: 05minAs the Birds head to Kansas City to play the Chiefs on Sunday, the Eagles’ five-time All-Pro, six-time Pro Bowler shares the city's innovative approach to get children the mental healthcare they deserve