Citizencast

The AI revolution is upon us, and it will certainly have an impact on local governance. “Let’s have an open conversation about its use,” says this week’s podcast guest, Rochelle Haynes, Managing Director of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Works Cities initiative at Results for America.  “A lot of fears out there are about losing jobs,” she continued. “But we need to show people that this is about making your job more effective. The human touch is still needed. AI is just the tool to [streamline] the data and priorities for cities.” Join us for an episode of How To Really Run A City about what local leaders are doing to take advantage of the coming technology and, as Mayor Reed says, “really move the needle” on focused, effective governing.  As cities go, so goes the nation!

On this episode of Guest Commentary, we look at Trump’s health secretary purging the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee (including a renowned CHOP immunologist). He claimed they were in the pocket of the pharmaceutical industry. But who is really conflicted?

On this episode of Guest Commentary, a Philly-born scientist explains what is actually at stake for the town she loves

The US makes up 80% of the entire world's biomedical research. Donald Trump's slashing of NIH funding is setting the country on track for a "lost generation of scientists." The amount of money being taken from cancer research alone, is 18x smaller than the proposed tax breaks for the top .001% in Trump's budget bill. Ali Velshi explains. 

The winds of Philadelphia politics often follow those of the Big Apple. Will the showdown between the old pol Cuomo and the socialist Mamdani foreshadow change here?

Almost no Black people on No Kings Day. Almost no White people on Juneteenth. Citizen writer Malcolm Burnley asks, can we show up together before it’s too late?

On this episode of Guest Commentary, we hear from the president of The Community Grocer, who says the fed’s proposed $300 billion SNAP rollback would hurt hungry Pennsylvanians and erase $5.3 billion in economic benefit

Crime and poverty have plagued Philadelphia since William Penn’s day. Philly gun violence interrupter Mazzie Casher has historic yet modern solutions. He visits with Citizen writer Malcolm Burnley to discuss some of them.

A South Carolina woman is held in jail without bond for 22 days following a natural miscarriage. It took 13 months for her to finally be cleared by a jury. Ali Velshi breaks down why this moment is "the most dangerous chapter of the post-Roe era."

Cherelle Parker’s budget boiled down to jobs versus housing. Did she and City Council make the right bet?

Philadelphia’s first “school street” pilot closed its dropoff and pickup street to vehicular traffic. It was as great as you might imagine. Diana Lind tells us why.

On a special interview edition of Big Rube's Philly, Reuben Harley visits with the iconic Bumi Fernandez-West about the event that has started summer in the city for the last fifty years: Odunde.

Legendary law professor, Temple dean and First Deputy City Solicitor Carl Singley joins James Peterson for a special CitizenWURD episode about the enormous amount of executive orders coming from Donald Trump.

Ali Velshi breaks down the escalating situation in Los Angeles and details the dangers of federalizing a state's National Guard.

For the second time in three years, the School District of Philadelphia was defrauded out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. What’s really going on?

While Washington implodes and other cities resist, Riverside, CA Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson is moving ahead with an ambitious tech agenda — and battling youth homelessness in her city. “I feel positive about the direction California is taking,” says Riverside, CA Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson, our guest this week on How To Really Run A City. In the wake of reduced support from Washington, D.C., she optimistically declares, “We’ll find our way forward. We’ll keep fighting.” In this episode, former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed joins guest host Scranton, PA Mayor Paige Cognetti, fresh off a stunning primary win.  “I think a local leader’s superpower is empathy,” Reed says. “You have to feel what they feel.” “You can’t ever lose that feeling of being a constituent yourself,” Lock Dawson concurred.  Join us for a special episode about being a woman in office, mirroring the best qualities of your citizens and building a vibrant, growing city despite the politics in Washington.  As cities go, so goes the nation!

Grammy award-winning Philadelphia guitarist Randy Bowland shaped Hollywood’s next breakout star in his iconic Sinners role

A memorial that’s part shiva, part reunion, part performance and part open house

What can you do to preserve democracy? Ali Velshi draws on the history of resistance and civil disobedience to demonstrate the small things anyone can do to resist the backslide into authoritarianism. 

On this episode of Citizen WURDs, James Peterson sits down with Jennifer Boisseau and Theresa Byrd, the Hair Nerds, who use their hairstylist skills to restore dignity and bring joy to patients at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia