Pittsburgh is known as a cloudy and rainy city, but this summer has been unseasonably dry. Climate and forestry scientists say the change in climate could mean more severe wildfires in places like Western Pennsylvania, where there are large forested areas. Wildfire expert and Penn state professor of geography and ecology Alan Taylor joins us to talk about the risks our forests could face over the next decade and what can be done to get ahead of the problem. NOW HIRING: If you’re looking for a fu...
Aug 29, 2022•13 min
It's the Friday news roundup! The team is embracing its love for the Pittsburgh potty. This week, hear all about a free transportation pilot program for some residents on the North Side; where you can see a tiny home in Pittsburgh this weekend made from totally repurposed materials; and how Duquesne is hoping to woo Lebron James’ son, Bryce. And don’t forget: CITY CAST IS HIRING: If you’re looking for a full-time, temporary audio job, then we’ve got the project for you. Apply to work with the Ci...
Aug 26, 2022•18 min
Host Morgan Moody is adjusting her gears and facing her fears today with a pedaling lesson from a pro, Black Girls Do Bike founder Monica Garrison. The group started as a local effort to build a community of women of color who love to bike, and it’s grown to have over 100 chapters worldwide. This weekend, the international collective is expecting hundreds of members from the U.S. and abroad to meet in Pittsburgh for PedalPGH, Pennsylvania’s biggest bicycling race with 10-, 25-, 40-, or 62-mile t...
Aug 25, 2022•15 min
Median home prices have tripled in Lawrenceville and surrounding communities over the last decade, forcing many residents out — particularly people of color. So in 2019, the city tried something new: inclusionary zoning, which put strict rules on new development. The city tested out the policy in Lawrenceville, then expanded it to Bloomfield and Polish Hill. Advocates say it’s helping, or it could, with enough time, but now the ordinance is being challenged in federal court. We’re with Dave Brei...
Aug 24, 2022•13 min
Five people have died in custody at the Allegheny County Jail this year, putting it on track for the deadliest year in recent memory. County Executive Rich Fitzgerald announced a new contract with the National Commission on Correctional Health Care to look into what happened, but there’s almost no transparency about the process. Brittany Hailer, the director for the Pittsburgh Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, joins us again to talk about the last time the NCCHC stepped in, how it helped (and ...
Aug 23, 2022•12 min
Thousands of plant-loving Pittsburghers will gather on the North Side this weekend for the eighth annual VegFest — a summer celebration with rescue animals, local artists, vendors, and of course, killer food (that doesn’t kill). City Cast Pittsburgh’s resident vegetarians, Francesca Dabecco and Mallory Falk, are with VegFest co-founder Leila Sleiman to talk about how this event has grown and what fun is in store for this Saturday. Learn more and buy your VIP swag bag here: https://pittsburghvegf...
Aug 22, 2022•15 min
It’s the Friday news roundup! The team is talking about how a new executive order from Gov. Wolf could help protect kids from conversion therapy, and why two former Pa. judges were ordered to pay $200 million to victims of a “kids-for-cash” scheme. Plus, with an immersive psychedelic conference in town, when could tripping for science become legal? As always, our Friday shows are powered by great local (and national) journalism. This week, check out: Marley Parish in the Pennsylvania Capital-Sta...
Aug 19, 2022•16 min
In the year following the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, Pittsburgh has welcomed more than 700 Afghan evacuees. The non-profit Jewish Family and Community Services has helped many of them get settled in their new homes, but they’re still facing issues within the U.S. immigration system. City Cast’s Morgan Moody speaks with Ivonne Smith-Tapia, the Director of Refugee and Immigrant Services at JFCS, and Zubair Babakarkhail, an Afghan journalist and interpreter, about where things stand one year out...
Aug 18, 2022•18 min
Jasmine Green — aka Black Girl Absolute — wants young people struggling with depression and anxiety to know they’re not alone. That’s what inspired the visual artist, poet, and mental health advocate to start writing the book “A Field Guide for Blue Girls.” She joins City Cast to talk about putting pen (and paint) to paper during her time as the first-ever recipient of the Exposure Tongue River Artist/Activist Residency, and how her experience as an artist informs her work as the education direc...
Aug 17, 2022•15 min
For decades now, Pittsburghers have been told we have the most bridges of any city in the world. And it makes sense — they dot our landscape by the hundreds. Butttt it turns out, that long-held point of pride isn’t true. And like, it’s not even close. Historian and author Mark Houser is here to talk about our past prominence and current failures, plus what we can glean from the federal database keeping track of it all. Check out his wonderful book “MultiStories: 55 Antique Skyscrapers & the ...
Aug 16, 2022•15 min
ASMR is supposed to be relaxing, but for the creators behind the content, platforms like YouTube often fall well short of protecting the people who keep it so popular. Pittsburgh-based artist Lilliana Dee, aka Lily Whispers, is here to explain how she uses her day job in cyber security to help educate fellow creators on red flags like fetish mining. And stick with us to the end — Lily offered some very fun, very Pittsburgh bonus content you don’t want to miss. NOW HIRING: If you’re looking for a...
Aug 15, 2022•18 min
It’s the Friday news roundup! The team is talking about how long standing college football rivals, Pitt and WVU, are facing off for the first time in more than a decade; what the grand opening celebration of the August Wilson House means for the Hill District; and how the big bird, Giant Eagle, is using (and sharing) our shopping data, and ways that it could be targeting those who are, want to become, or don’t want to be pregnant. Check out some of the great local journalism that powered today’s...
Aug 12, 2022•23 min
Becoming a billionaire doesn’t come down to odds like the lottery—but it might be in the stars. In honor of the 103rd anniversary of Pittsburgher Andrew Carnegie's death, we take the steel tycoon's ruling planets to astrologist Maggie Negrete, aka lamamamagia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 11, 2022•14 min
For the first year since the start of the pandemic, the Pittsburgh Steelers are back at their rightful summer home in Latrobe for training camp. City Cast’s Morgan Moody and Megan Harris make the pilgrimage to talk to players and fans about the half-century long tradition at Chuck Noll Field. Fans are welcome every day at 1:55 p.m. Register for your free tickets here. And while you’re out there, check out today’s newsletter for a fun scavenger hunt of other fun ways to hang out in Latrobe. NOW H...
Aug 10, 2022•20 min
Last year, something shady happened at the nation’s first Black brew festival, but that won’t put a damper on the bigger, better version returning this year — now in a new home at 3 Crossings in the Strip District. Barrel and Flow communications and ops director Cat Bruno shares what’s on tap all this week, plus how to get the full festival experience on Saturday. Check out a full event listing here. Our newsletter is fresh daily at 6 a.m. Sign up here. We’re also on Twitter @citycastpgh & I...
Aug 09, 2022•16 min
Some foods are just quintessentially Pittsburgh, and today the City Cast team is celebrating a summertime staple: the strawberry pretzel salad. Show contributor Rossilynne Culgan recently wrote about the classic dish for Saveur Magazine and brought along a cooler full of treats created in homage of its OG flavors, including Millie’s ice cream, Mary Mac Bakehouse’s delicious cookies and Dewey’s new gose-style dessert beer. Want to make the classic local version yourself? Here’s Rossilynne’s famil...
Aug 08, 2022•18 min
It’s the Friday news roundup! The show team talks about a lawsuit that could dramatically change how Pennsylvania funds its public schools; the latest on monkeypox in Allegheny County; and some new locally-filmed movies and shows worth checking out, including a reboot of the beloved baseball classic “A League of Their Own.” As always, our Friday shows our powered by great local journalism: City Cast’s own Mallory Falk covered the school funding trial as a reporter for WHYY, and has a summary her...
Aug 05, 2022•22 min
For generations of Pittsburghers, nothing quite quenches their thirst like Turner’s Premium Iced Tea from those iconic, bright-orange cartons. And this weekend, Turner‘s is celebrating 50 years of the “champagne of Pittsburgh” with a ParTEA at the Carrie Furnaces. City Cast Pittsburgh’s Mallory Falk and Francesca Dabecco got the tea on how Pittsburgh’s most beloved beverage is made at the Turner’s facility in Penn Hills from marketing director Steve Turner. You can get tickets for the anniversar...
Aug 04, 2022•15 min
Today, we're bringing back a conversation where host Morgan Moody talks candidly about her sobriety experiences with Pittsburgh author Brian Broome. Broome wrote an award-winning memoir, “Punch Me Up To The Gods,” and you can hear him talk about his writing process at the free virtual event, A Conversation About Writing, with The Cream Literary Alliance tomorrow evening. NOTE: This conversation originally aired on January 13, 2022. And if you're looking for support in your recovery here in Pitts...
Aug 03, 2022•17 min
Knotweed, nettle, tree of heaven, and garlic mustard — if you live in Pittsburgh, odds are you’ve been exposed to these pesky plants. But what can we do to get rid of them? And what are the ecological impacts if we succeed? Mason Heberling is the assistant curator of botany at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. He says the best solution is prevention, and lacking that, a whole lot of patience. The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy recently shared a comprehensive guide to local invasive plants. Check...
Aug 02, 2022•19 min
Pittsburgh is on the forefront of a growing national trend — trying to understand and treat what doctors are calling “long covid.” If coughing and chronic fatigue still has you down more than 12 weeks after infection, UPMC’s Dr. Michael Risbano tells people to hang in there. “The vast majority of people will get better… but it’s going to mean some hard work.” Learn more about the Post-Covid Recovery Clinic here. Plus, city officials want your ideas for a public art project at the new Fern Hollow...
Aug 01, 2022•14 min
It’s the Friday news roundup! Today the gang is talking about the U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania who voted against legislation for same-sex marriage, just days before celebrating his gay son’s wedding; all those new “Protect Trans Kids” signs popping up in Pittsburgh neighborhoods; and the real story behind PA’s Klondike claims. Check out local author Brian Butko book about Isaly’s, available now in the Heinz History Center bookshop: https://shop.heinzhistorycenter.org/products/isalys-chi...
Jul 29, 2022•15 min
Pittsburgh might not have the most bridges in the U.S. (we debunked that claim back in a February episode), but we do have the most public staircases. One intrepid yinzer has climbed them all. Laura Zurowski, also known as Mis.Steps, takes City Cast on a field trip to one of her favorite set of steps and explains how Pittsburgh became the staircase capitol . You can sign up for a city steps walking tour with Laura or scroll through her Instagram account for lots of staircase great photos. Laura ...
Jul 28, 2022•15 min
Pittsburgh’s City Council is on their version of a summer vacation. The 9-member board is on recess until August 19th and City Cast’s Megan Harris and Morgan Moody are running down what they’ve accomplished this year, plus what legislation is waiting for them when council resumes next month. The Post-Gazette has an excellent roundup of some of these measures: https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-local/2022/07/25/pittsburgh-city-council-summer-break-agenda-stop-and-frisk-bill-airbnb-rentals...
Jul 27, 2022•19 min
Black women in Allegheny County earn significantly less than their colleagues — the wage gap between Black women and white men here is even worse than the national average. But a new campaign is trying to change that by encouraging employers to look at existing gaps in their own companies and commit to raising wages for women of color. Rochelle Jackson, founder and director of the Black Women’s Policy Center, joins us to discuss the Level Up initiative. As she says, you can’t address what you wo...
Jul 26, 2022•14 min
Last year, an officer with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police alleged another officer sexually assaulted her at home after a social gathering on city property. The public safety director chose not to fire him, and the county declined to prosecute. So on her own, she found a little-used Pennsylvania law called the Protection of Victims of Sexual Violence or Intimidation Act. In the first part of a new series, City Cast Pittsburgh, with our news partner PublicSource, looks into the incident and what ...
Jul 25, 2022•16 min
It’s the Friday news roundup! City Cast’s Morgan Moody and Francesca Dabecco chat with roving producer Meg Dalton about how worried we should be about the BA.5 subvariant; climate advocates’ plans to shut down next week’s Congressional Baseball Game if climate change legislation doesn't pass (local Rep. Mike Doyle is coaching!); and a new way to share your Yinzer preferences while properly disposing of cigarette butts around tahn. Plus, the whole team shares the best things they learned about th...
Jul 22, 2022•19 min
Pittsburgh’s first-ever Paddlesport Weekend kicks off this Friday, so to celebrate, City Cast’s Morgan Moody and Mallory Falk are testing the waters with a first-timers kayaking lesson. They’re with Christine Iksic, owner of 3 Rivers Outdoor Company (3ROC), to learn more about how she makes the outdoors more accessible through her retail store in Regent Square and riverfront outpost in Aspinwall, and how locals can dive into the city’s waterways this weekend. Paddlesport Weekend is hosted by 3RO...
Jul 21, 2022•13 min
It's kitten season in Pittsburgh, but cats can get pregnant any time — and at just four months old with up to five litters every year. That creates a lot of mouths to feed, and if they aren’t brought into a shelter as babies, they often end up in overpopulated, outdoor cat colonies. That’s where local rescues like Conquer the Colony step up to help maintain the population through trap, neuter, and return programs. Founders Erin Hartman and Kelly Kraus join us to talk about how — with a crate and...
Jul 20, 2022•16 min
Climate change is a global issue, but Pittsburgh is already feeling its effects: rising temperatures, poor air quality, extreme precipitation, flooding and drought, and even landslides. So how do we make changes on the local level? The state Department of Environmental Protection is offering local governments trainings through its Local Climate Action Program, which helps municipalities develop plans to reduce emissions and implement on-the-ground strategies like weatherizing homes, tree plantin...
Jul 19, 2022•16 min
