That’s History

Doylestown therapist Edie Weinstein puts the squeeze on people by giving free hugs. She’s part of an international movement of huggers that connects people through cuddly contact.    

Guests: Alex Pareene, Julian Zelizer As the US House of Representatives votes on articles of impeachment against President Trump, we’re going to take a step back and look at how the current proceedings compare to the other moves to impeach past presidents. Andrew Johnson was the first president to be impeached, largely because of improper public behavior. Richard Nixon resigned before being impeached, although the evidence suggests that he would have been removed from office had the process played out. And most recently, Bill Clinton was impeached by the House, but not removed from office by the senate, for lying to Congress about sexual indiscretions. Today we’ll compare the rationale and process of impeachments past to the present one, as well as the politics that surround the move to impeach. Our guests are ALEX PAREENE of The New Republic, and Princeton University professor of history, JULIAN ZELIZER.

Philadelphia is using evocative public art to promote the largely underused Navy Yard as a place where people can live, work and play. So far, the art installations have drawn thousands of people. Can the Navy Yard weave itself into the fabric of the city? Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Jacob Adelman explains.

Guest: Carmen Maria Machado Domestic abuse tends to be viewed as a problem between heterosexual couples. Less attention has been given to violence in same-sex relationships. For Philadelphia writer Carmen Maria Machado, this “archival silence” was one of the driving forces behind her new memoir, In the Dream House, about an abusive relationship she had with a woman writer.  Machado’s memoir is winning wide praise, like her previous short story collection, Her Body and Other Parties, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. She comes in today to talk about her writing on personal trauma and her use of different genres and styles to give voice to it.

City Hall stepped away from the politics of the last two decades when it changed Philadelphia’s 10-year tax abatement. PlanPhilly’s Jake Blumgart explains the controversy behind the tax break on new construction and the meaning of its reform.

Guests: Nicolas O’Rourke, Stephanie Lampkin , Eugene DePasquale On this week’s Regional Roundup; Mary will speak to the new director of the Pennsylvania Working Families Party NICOLAS O’ROURKE. The party had success in the Philadelphia City Council race in electing Kendra Brooks in November, and will continue to nominate candidates on the political left throughout the state. We’ll also hear about Delaware’s often-unacknowledged history as a slave state and subsequent forms of racial violence that have plagued the state. STEPHANIE LAMPKIN director of the Jane and Littleton Mitchell Center for African American Heritage in Wilmington, is undertaking a new project called Unequal Justice in Delaware – Rewriting the Narrative and she’ll join us to tell us why highlighting this history is so important. Then, Mary talks with Pennsylvania Auditor General, EUGENE DePASQUALE about a his recent report detailing the high cost of climate change that will face the commonwealth and the Berks Family Residential Center.

SpaceX will coat one side of a satellite to reduce brightness interference when observing from Earth. They inted to test one unit on the next deployment. There will be thousands of Starlink satellites joining the already tens of thousands of pieces of space junk. We need to develop a plan to clean up and fast! The European Space Agency will test a ‘space grab’ tech to start to clean up space. ‘Clear Space-1’ is designed to reach a dead satellite, grab it, and drag it down into a fiery re-entry destruction. So it’s slow and expensive, but it’s an emerging business as the future will certainly see an enormous increase in satellites. Anniversaries of note: 116 years ago on Tuesday, December 17, 1903, the first powered flight by Orville Wright, although it only traveled 12 feet. On this date in 1972, Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan becomes the last human to walk on the moon. It was just 66 years from the Wright brothers first powered flight to the last human on the moon!

Guests: Ross Baker, Margaret Taylor, Andrea Bernstein The House Judiciary Committee debated amendments to two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump on Thursday. Assuming the committee votes for impeachment, the next step is a full House vote sometime next week, and then, again assuming the House approves the articles of impeachment, the Senate takes up the impeachment question in January. This hour, we discuss the Judiciary Committee hearings, the evidence, and the arguments with ROSS BAKER, professor of political science at Rutgers University and MARGARET TAYLOR, a fellow at the Brookings Institution. Then, we discuss what Rudy Giuiliani has been up to in Ukraine and his involved in the Ukraine pressure campaign with ANDREA BERNSTEIN, co-host of the Trump Inc. Podcast from WNYC and ProPublica.

You know what they say — all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. And science seems to confirm that statement, with findings that play is as important for adults’ emotional health as it is for children’s development. But what exactly counts as play? Who engages in it — and why is it so important? On this episode, we explore some of those questions. We’ll hear stories about rediscovering play as an adult, which animals play and why, and meet a reverend in her 70s who still jumps double dutch. Also heard on this week’s episode: Psychologist Kathy Hirsh Pasek explains why play is so important for children’s social and neurological development. Harvard Kennedy School lecturer David Eaves on why he uses the game Werewolf — also known as Mafia — in the classroom, and what it has to teach us. Reporter Nina Feldman investigates the lack of playgrounds in different neighborhoods, and what that means for the kids who live in them. Reverend Malika Lee Whitney discusses her love for double dutch, and her program Double Dutch Dreamz, and how it’s improved both physical health and community bonds in Harlem.

‘Tough on crime’ policies instituted in the 1980s to address the crack epidemic disproportionately affected African Americans. With the rise of the opioid crisis, attitudes about punishment have largely shifted. Now, people struggling with addiction are treated more like patients who need treatment than criminals who deserve jail time. But Asbury Park Press reporters Shannon Mullen and Austin Bogues explain why vestiges of the crack epidemic remain in drug enforcement today — and still hurt black people.

Guest: Craig Whitlock, Peter Lucier Why have we been in Afghanistan for 18 years? People born in the year of the U.S. led invasion are now old enough to serve in America’s longest war. CRAIG WHITLOCK, investigative reporter for The Washington Post, recently published a lengthy series of articles that pull the veil back on the lack of planning, mismanaged money, conflicting strategies, and cynical politics that has prolonged the conflict for almost two decades with no victories to claim, and countless deaths. Based on confidential materials, hundreds of interviews with current and former officials, and hard data, Whitlock’s report has been dubbed The Afghanistan Papers and he joins us this hour to talk about his what he uncovered in his reporting. We’ll also talk with a Marine veteran who served in Afghanistan, PETER LUCIER, to get his reaction to the report.

Salman Rushdie’s new novel, Quichotte is inspired by the Cervantes’ classic but set in America as a modern road trip. Sam DuChamp, a second-rate author of spy thrillers, creates a Don Quixote-like character who’s obsessed with television and falls in love with an Oprah-like TV star. He begins a quest across America to win her love with his imagined missing son as Sancho, and encounters racism, opioid, guns, Mastodons and a talking cricket. Salman Rushdie joins us today to talk about his fourteenth book, a darkly satirical adventure story within a story.

A 2018 federal farm bill removed hemp from a list of controlled substances and cleared the way for farmers to grow the plant. Some Pennsylvania farmers have started the process, hoping hemp will be a cash crop. But why is hemp farming regarded as risky? WITF’s Rachel McDevitt tells the story of one farmer who is growing hemp in Lancaster County.

Last week, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro charged State Representative Movita Johnson-Harrell with stealing $500,000 from her own charity. She is the latest in a long string of Pennsylvania politicians charged with corruption. Why do elected officials keep getting in trouble? And what’s being done to correct the behavior?

Natural gas was supposed to bridge our energy needs until we built up our capacity for cleaner fuels. So why aren’t we any closer to relying on renewable energy? StateImpact Pennsylvania’s Susan Phillips explains how Pennsylvania, a state that hardly produced any natural gas 20 years ago, became the nation’s second largest natural gas producer.

Guests: Bob Fernandez, Kate Shaw, Kathryn Ott Lovell, Erica Smith Fichman On this week’s Regional Roundup; why is the cost of Pa’s colleges so high? We’ll get the answer when Mary talks with The Philadelphia Inquirer’s BOB FERNANDEZ, and with KATE SHAW, executive director of Research for Action, a non-profit educational research organization in Philadelphia. Then, we’ll learn about the declining rate of trees in Philadelphia over the years, and the city’s plan to add more green to the cityscape. Joining us will be KATHERYN OTT LOVELL, commissioner of Philadelphia’s Department of Parks and Recreation, as well as Community Forestry Manager ERICA SMITH FICHMAN.

Thinking about buying a telescope as a gift this holiday season? Consider these three easy guidelines: 1) Start simple; a telescope that is easy to use will get used more often. 2) Don’t buy a telescope based on the supposed magnification. Instead, go for the largest aperture you can afford, while also considering portability. You may want to transport your telescope to an area with darker skies. How big and heavy a telescope are you willing to carry? 3) Consider a refractor versus a reflector: One uses lenses, the other uses mirrors to gather light from dim objects and create an image that is then magnified by the eyepiece. Typically, you can get a ‘bigger’ reflector scope (larger aperture) than a refractor scope for the same price. Refractors are better for “low surface brightness” objects such as nebulae, galaxies, and comets and refractors are better for pinpoint light sources such as stars, planets, or the moon. For more details, check out Derrick Pitts’s tips for purchasing a telescope. And if you already have a telescope, check the evening sky this week between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m., where Saturn and Venus cavort low in the West. In the Eastern morning sky, Mercury and Mars are visible between 6:30 and 6:45 a.m.

Guests: Darcy Lockman, Claire Kamp Dush If you are living with a significant other, who does the laundry? Who cooks dinner? Who drives the kids to soccer practice? Who cuts the grass? Dividing up the chores equally can be key to a healthy relationship. But, despite the fight for gender equality, studies have shown that women are still doing the bulk of the household duties including childcare, even when they are working outside the home. In same-sex couples, chores are divvied up more equitably. This hour, we look at the division of household labor, the strain unequal duties can put on relationships, and how to divide housework fairly. Our guests are CLAIRE KAMP DUSH, a professor at Ohio State University and DARCY LOCKMAN, a clinical psychologist and the author of All the Rage: Mothers, Fathers and the Myth of Equal Partnership.

Being a dentist can be a lonely job. Your patients don’t want to be there — and even if they did, it’s not like they can talk with their mouths open. Most dentists are solo practitioners, and many feel isolated. And, even though oral health is very important to our overall well-being, dentistry is totally separate from the rest of medicine. But there is a very active Facebook group where dentists can talk shop, connect with each other, ask for help, complain, and compare notes. So — what’s worrying dentists? In this episode, we look at some of the forces that are disrupting and changing dentistry. We hear about the rise of SmileDirect — and why brick and mortar dentists and orthodontists are upset about the new mail-order system. We learn about the skyrocketing cost of dental school, and what it means for future dentists. And we find out what advancements are changing the field, from startups to cutting-edge tech. Also heard on this week’s episode: We talk with health care reporter Mary Otto about the rise of dental therapists, and what they have to do with economic inequality. Otto also discusses the dentistry-medical divide. She is the author of “Teeth: The Story of Beauty, Inequality, and the Struggle for Oral Health in America.” We call up internist Neda Frayha to find out how primary care providers tackle the issue of oral health. How often do they ask their patients about whether they’re seeing a dentist? Reporter Will Stone takes us to the University of Washington in Seattle, where surgeons and dentists are using technology to revolutionize how we reconstruct the mouth. Nobody likes going to the dentist — but a new start-up is trying to change that. Matthew Schneeman reports on a new startup called Tend. Their tagline: “Look forward to the dentist.”

Being a dentist can be a lonely job. Your patients don’t want to be there — and even if they did, it’s not like they can talk with their mouths open. Most dentists are solo practitioners, and many feel isolated. And, even though oral health is very important to our overall well-being, dentistry is totally separate from the rest of medicine. But there is a very active Facebook group where dentists can talk shop, connect with each other, ask for help, complain, and compare notes. So — what’s worrying dentists? In this episode, we look at some of the forces that are disrupting and changing dentistry. We hear about the rise of SmileDirect — and why brick and mortar dentists and orthodontists are upset about the new mail-order system. We learn about the skyrocketing cost of dental school, and what it means for future dentists. And we find out what advancements are changing the field, from startups to cutting-edge tech. Also heard on this week’s episode: We talk with health care reporter Mary Otto about the rise of dental therapists, and what they have to do with economic inequality. Otto also discusses the dentistry-medical divide. She is the author of “Teeth: The Story of Beauty, Inequality, and the Struggle for Oral Health in America.” We call up internist Neda Frayha to find out how primary care providers tackle the issue of oral health. How often do they ask their patients about whether they’re seeing a dentist? Reporter Will Stone takes us to the University of Washington in Seattle, where surgeons and dentists are using technology to revolutionize how we reconstruct the mouth. Nobody likes going to the dentist — but a new start-up is trying to change that. Matthew Schneeman reports on a new startup called Tend. Their tagline: “Look forward to the dentist.”