Solving the housing crisis with ... shipping containers?
Atlanta, Georgia recently turned 40 giant steel boxes into temporary studio apartments. Could this be a solution to our affordability crisis?
Feb 26, 2025•7 min•Season 1Ep. 1585
CitizenCast
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.
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Episodes
The Black, gay, Shabbat-observing, tap shoe-wearing Philadelphian running for judge
Leon King, former commissioner of the Philadelphia prison system, is seeking a seat on the Court of Common Pleas — for a fifth time. Empathy is what he's campaigning on. Hear this special audio edition with a reading by Malcolm Burnley.
Feb 25, 2025•7 min•Season 1Ep. 1584
Burying manuscripts to keep them from Russian soldiers
Volodymyr Vakulenko hid his journal beneath a tree in his yard. The pages detailed the Russian invasion of his home country, Ukraine. Vakulenko was afraid he would not live to see the manuscript published -- a fear that tragically came true. On this week's Velshi Banned Book Club, Ali Velshi speaks with Ukrainian author and journalist Yaruslov Trofimov, who wrote No Country For Love, which explores Russia's attempts to wipe out Ukrainian literature and history.
Feb 24, 2025•14 min•Season 1Ep. 1583
Does Philly need our own ... DOGE?
While DOGE slashes and burns the federal government, what’s the way forward for local Democrats? Larry Platt suggests let's make government really work efficiently.
Feb 21, 2025•7 min•Season 1Ep. 1582
Wanted: voters who shower after work | 2
Panelists Patrick Murphy (former congressman and Army Under-Secretary) and Batya Ungar Sargon (author of Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America's Working Men and Women) are joined by moderator Ali Velshi for an insightful conversation into how things went so wrong with working class voters in 2024. Part 2
Feb 20, 2025•18 min•Season 1Ep. 1581
More random applause, please
Let’s clap for each other. Because the country is on fire and the bucket brigade needs to start somewhere, right? Why not random applause?
Feb 19, 2025•9 min•Season 1Ep. 1580
Wanted: voters who shower after work | 1
Panelists Patrick Murphy (former congressman and Army Under-Secretary) and Batya Ungar Sargon (author of Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America's Working Men and Women) are joined by moderator Ali Velshi for an insightful conversation into how things went so wrong with working class voters in 2024.
Feb 18, 2025•21 min•Season 1Ep. 1579
Finding home at Tio Pepe
Unhurried and authentic, Tio Pepe Portuguese restaurant has gotten more popular even as Portuguese folks leave Northeast Philly. One Portuguese Philadelphian recorded what she loves most about this authentic slice of home.
Feb 17, 2025•6 min•Season 1Ep. 1578
Is Larry Krasner in trouble?
District Attorney Krasner has a shifting zeitgeist and a credible challenger in former Judge Pat Dugan. On this interview special, Larry and Dugan chat about what he sees wrong in the city, and what he would do to change things as Philly's new DA.
Feb 14, 2025•13 min•Season 1Ep. 1577
Can you raise $10 million in a day?
IWSS Festival panelist Piper Stege Nelson accomplished just such a feat for local nonprofits during Amplify Austin Day. And she thinks it's an idea that Philly really should steal.
Feb 13, 2025•14 min•Season 1Ep. 1576
What is "accountable" AI?
Wharton’s new foray into studying Artificial Intelligence is Accountability AI Lab. Malcolm sits down with Kevin Werbach, a Wharton professor (and fellow podcaster) who leads the lab, to ask exactly what is accountable AI?
Feb 12, 2025•15 min•Season 1Ep. 1575
Growing more wealth with WealthMore
The financial planning app WealthMore aims to advise non-affluent investors — especially women and people of color. "This is the one area of our lives, where we ask the average American to be both the 'patient' and the 'doctor,'" its founder says. WealthMore is trying to change that.
Feb 11, 2025•7 min•Season 1Ep. 1574
Welcome, Camericans!
Donald "The Conqueror" Trump has set his eyes on land expansions that nobody asked for and nobody wants. Canadian-born Ali Velshi breaks down what it would actually mean for Canada to join the United States. "Canada wouldn't be the 51st state, it would be states 51 through 60, at the very least." And if you think those states would be conservative-leaning, you don't know Canada.
Feb 10, 2025•6 min•Season 1Ep. 1573
Cities under siege
On the podcast this week, our hosts welcome Tom Henkey, who served for six years as Chicago's Senior Emergency Management Coordinator. His recounting of the Chicago 2011 blizzard that trapped hundreds of cars on a major thoroughfare is harrowing. In the wake of weather-related emergencies all across the country, Henkey is a timely and knowledgeable guest to join our hosts. And remember, as cities go, so goes the nation!
Feb 07, 2025•54 min•Season 1Ep. 1572
Diving into the Roundhouse
WURD Radio's Dr. James Peterson sits down with Citizen staff writer Courtney DuChene to discuss the complicated history of, and thorny solutions to, the infamous Roundhouse.
Feb 06, 2025•17 min•Season 1Ep. 1571
Is America a failed democracy?
In this Guest Commentary, the former Dean of Temple Law School worries that it may be too late to save what is great about America. But we must persevere if we want to keep what is left.
Feb 05, 2025•6 min•Season 1Ep. 1570
Black history in the headwinds of hate
How do we celebrate Black History Month when our government is seeking to erase everything it stands for? Dr. James Peterson of WURD Radio takes on the issue.
Feb 04, 2025•8 min•Season 1Ep. 1569
This is how Trump's new tariffs will cost you
This past weekend, Donald Trump's tariffs targeting Mexico and Canada began. Both countries promised to retaliate with tariffs of their own. This is how it will cost you.
Feb 03, 2025•6 min•Season 1Ep. 1568
Would RFK vote to confirm RFK, Jr?
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation grilling makes you wonder whether his iconoclastic father would have voted for his own son.
Jan 31, 2025•11 min•Season 1Ep. 1567
Breaking into the fashion industry ... one scarf at a time
On this episode of Big Rube's Philly, Reuben Harley visits with Kevin Harris, aka K.Vaughn, to explore his journey from coming up in West Philly to joining the Navy to becoming a fashion guru whose scarves are nationally renowned.
Jan 30, 2025•14 min•Season 1Ep. 1566
The first interracial civil rights protest
Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round is a documentary about a little-known milestone in the Civil Rights Movement that centered on an amusement park in Glen Echo, Maryland. The film will be screened here in Philly on February 6.
Jan 29, 2025•7 min•Season 1Ep. 1565
Using restaurants to fight food insecurity
Should PA become the tenth state to opt into the Restaurant Meals Program, offering SNAP beneficiaries access to restaurant meals? We think this is definitely an idea to steal.
Jan 28, 2025•6 min•Season 1Ep. 1564
Sending active troops to the border becomes illegal when ...
... they start carrying out law enforcement functions. "This is important," Ali Velshi explains this week as he discusses the role and limitations of the U.S. Posse Comitatus Act.
Jan 27, 2025•7 min•Season 1Ep. 1563
City, save thyself
With Trump targeting cities, how should Philly respond? By lessening our dependence on D.C. through innovative growth policies. This way, we'll stand a fighting chance.
Jan 24, 2025•8 min•Season 1Ep. 1562
Let's talk about this second trash day
On another episode of Evening WURDs, Dr. James Peterson sits down with Nicholas Esposito to dig deeper into a Citizen article he wrote titled, Is Another Trash Day The Best Way To Clean Philly?
Jan 23, 2025•19 min•Season 1Ep. 1561
Where art thou, ReBuild?
Connor Barwin’s City-funded $21 million revamp of Vare Recreation Center shows what Rebuild could accomplish. So why did ReBuild fall so short of its overall target?
Jan 22, 2025•7 min•Season 1Ep. 1560
Journalism, billionaires and "preemptive obedience"
The Washington Post is experimenting with a new slogan. Rather than "Democracy Dies in Darkness," it would be "Riveting Storytelling for All of America." Ali Velshi's guest this week is Nobel Prize winner Maria Ressa. "Without journalism, you have no democracy," she says of this precarious new stage for American journalists.
Jan 21, 2025•10 min•Season 1Ep. 1559
How to be the MLK of American democracy
Commitment to excellence, human dignity, and an unwavering pursuit of justice are how we live up to the ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King, explains Dr. James Peterson.
Jan 20, 2025•11 min•Season 1Ep. 1558
Why Jalen Hurts is our Citizen of the Year
A feminist NFL star who loves to do good for Philly kids out of the limelight? Yup. Listen to why Jalen Hurts is our 2024 Citizen of the Year.
Jan 17, 2025•7 min•Season 1Ep. 1557
Baby Qs and BBQs
On the latest episode of our How To Really Run A City podcast with esteemed former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and former Philly Mayor Michael Nutter, we are joined by two special guests. First, Mary Ellen Wiederwohl, President and CEO of Accelerator for America, the nation's preeminent city "do tank," and our dynamic new partner on this podcast. Second, Kansas City, Missouri Mayor Quinton Lucas, known affectionately to Kansas Citians as "Mayor Q." Lucas rose from experiencing homelessness to runni...
Jan 16, 2025•53 min•Season 1Ep. 1556
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