Smart Talk: PBS’ Washington Week moderator Robert Costa

Listen to Smart Talk every weekday at 9am and 7pm on WITF 89.5 & 93.3. You can also stream WITF radio live on our website or ask your smart speaker to “Play WITF Radio.”

 

The General Election is days away and PBS will air an hour-long Washington Week special Friday at 8pm on WITF-TV.

Moderator and managing editor of Washington Week Robert Costa appears on Smart Talk Friday to discuss the election landscape and re-visit Pennsylvania voters he spoke with in 2016. Costa is also a national political reporter for The Washington Post and a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC.

Swing state analysis: What is the election forecast in Michigan?

We continue to talk with journalists in swing states about Tuesday’s presidential election. The next conversation features a Michigan election analysis with Dave Boucher, government and politics reporter with the Detroit Free Press, which is part of the USA TODAY owned network of newspapers.

PBS launches national story telling project

American Portrait is a national storytelling project aligned with PBS’s 50th anniversary celebration, and invites America to participate in a national conversation about what it really means to be an American today.

Series Producer Michèle Stephenson joins Smart Talk to discuss how the project developed.

Keira McGuire is a WITF multimedia producer and she’ll also appear Friday to talk about WITF’s original production and how people can submit stories.

Securing the food supply chain

At the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic Americans experienced some food and product shortages as a result of individuals stockpiling certain items. Toilet paper and cleaning supplies were often difficult to find, and in some cases, still are. With coronavirus cases increasing across the country and in Pennsylvania, along with colder weather on the way, some are beginning to stockpile food and other items again. Is supply a reason for concern? Andrea Karns is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing with Karns Foods and she joins Smart Talk to discuss the food supply chain.

Sec of Health Levine talks COVID; Pre-existing conditions raise mortality risk; F&M poll

Coronavirus cases are rising across the country and the case numbers in Pennsylvania are spiking, as well. On Tuesday, the state set a new single-day high of 2,751 new positive cases.

Health officials warn that this is the predicted fall surge and that the numbers will likely continue to rise. Attention is now focused on curbing the spread by limiting gatherings and encouraging face masks and social distancing.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine, MD., recommends rethinking holiday gatherings this year. Levine appears on Smart Talk Thursday to discuss this and other tactics to stem the spread.

As the world continues to battle the Coronavirus the risks and complications have become clearer.

A patients risk of dying from the virus can increase significantly as a result of pre-existing medical conditions. This is not new information, but rather knowledge that has been validated by a large, international study of COVID-19 patients.

The research findings indicate that chronic conditions like cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease, stroke and cancer can increase a patient’s risk of dying from the virus by as much as three times that of patients without any pre-existing conditions.

Penn State College of Medicine researchers participated in the study. Joining Smart Talk to discuss their findings and answer COVID-19 related questions are Dr. Paddy Ssentongo, MD, epidemiology doctoral student at the Penn State College of Medicine and research assistant professor in Penn State’s Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics.

Assisting with the study and also joining the conversation is Anna Ssentongo, MPH, Doctor of Public Health candidate and research scientist in the department of trauma at Penn State College of Medicine.

Finally, analysis of the latest Franklin and Marshall College poll before Election Day with G. Terry Madonna, Ph.D., Director of the Franklin & Marshall College Poll and Professor of Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College.

Smart Talk Wednesday; COVID survey collects extensive data; Swing state Wisconsin look-in; Trusting News

Analyzing the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic comes down to the numbers.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health reports the numbers daily: the number of positives, hospitalized, tested, deaths and so on. Data is driving our understanding of the impact and the government’s response.

In April, Carnegie Mellon University’s Delphi Research Group began collecting real-time expanded data from around the country through a survey distributed using social media outreach. To date, that survey has reached and collected information from more than one million people in the U.S.

Anecdotally, this is the largest survey ever taken in the U.S., outside of the census.

The CMU survey collects information on COVID-19 symptoms, providing county-level information about the coronavirus pandemic that is “updated continuously and available from no other source.” It has now expanded to include questions about how people are responding to public health recommendations, such as mask use, and access to COVID-19 testing.

Joining Smart Talk to detail the initiative are Zachary Chase Lipton, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Operations Research and Machine Learning, Tepper School of Business, CMU and Alex Reinhart, Ph.D., Assistant teaching Professor in Statistics & Data Science, CMU.

Also on Smart Talk Wednesday, we continue to talk with journalists in swing states about the presidential election.

Tom Zalaski, an anchor at WFRV-TV in Green Bay and host of the program Newsmakers Sunday, joins us to discuss the presidential race in Wisconsin.

 

Smart Talk Tuesday; Striving for equity in education and all eyes on Florida race

Achieving, or at the very least improving, equity in education is the goal set by the Pennsylvania Department of Education when they set to work to create an equity toolkit for schools, teachers, and families.

The Equitable Practices Hub was two years in the making and began with the premise that equity in Pennsylvania’s education systems has not been realized, but there is a path forward. The goal is to eliminate barriers within the educational system to make it fairer and more impartial to all students.

Joining Smart Talk to help define equity in education and describe the Equitable Practices Hub are Nikole Hollins-Sims, Ed.D., special advisor on equity to the Pennsylvania Department of Education and Dana Milakovic, PsyD., Office of Safe Schools, Pennsylvania Department of Education. Also, on the program is Steve Gerhard, Ed.D., Governor Mifflin School District superintendent to share how the hub is used in their school district.

Over the next few days, Smart Talk will feature conversations about the presidential election with journalists from swing states.

On Tuesday’s program, we’ll hear from Mary Ellen Klas, Tallahassee (Capital) Bureau Chief for the Miami Herald.

Mary Ellen Klas is the Tallahassee Bureau Chief for the Miami Herald

With information overwhelming social media users, it’s important for media organizations to ensure their listeners/viewers/readers can trust their reporting. Questions like, “How do people decide what news is trustworthy?” or “How can journalists influence what users consume and share?” have come up repeatedly at public forums with WITF journalists.

To help answer those questions, WITF is taking part in the Trusting News project and joining Smart Talk to offer perspective is WITF Multimedia News Director Tim Lambert.

PASSHE unveils plan to consolidate; Poll-watcher rules; Latino survey finds many struggling

Declining enrollments at the 14-member Pennsylvania System of Higher Education universities has resulted in plans for a significant shake up of the system.

PASSHE plans to integrate six of its universities into two regional combinations as part of a strategy to slow down their financial losses.

Under the plan, Edinboro, Clarion and California University of Pennsylvania will be combined into one regional University and Bloomsburg, Lock Haven and Mansfield will be combined into another.

PASSHE Chancellor Dan Greenstein appears on Smart Talk Monday to offer details.

Also, the Trump Administration wants poll watchers to observe at Pennsylvania voting locations on Election Day next Tuesday. It’s been described as an effort to ensure voting is conducted legally and without fraud.

Pennsylvania has rules in place for what observers can do on Election Day.

WITF reporter Emily Previti covers elections and answers questions on Monday’s program. If voters have a concern at the polls reference poll watching, the nonpartisan election protection coalition is 866-OUR-VOTE

Finally, an immigrant rights group has released a study aimed at providing a snapshot of the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on Latinos.

Make The Road Pennsylvania says it found a majority of those polled are struggling to get by during the pandemic and as a result, less likely to vote.

Anthony Orozco, WITF Latino Communities Reporter and Report For America Fellow appears on Smart Talk to discuss the findings.

Smart Talk Friday: Shapiro on the ballot for Attorney General and Smucker for reelection in the 11th District

WITF’s Election 2020 coverage on Smart Talk continues Friday when we’re joined by Incumbent Republican Congressman Lloyd Smucker who is running for reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives in the 11th Congressional District.

The 11th District includes all of Lancaster County and the southern half of York County. Democrat Sarah Hammond is also on the ballot and she appeared on Smart Talk Wednesday.

Also on Smart Talk Friday is Democrat Josh Shapiro who is running for reelection as Pennsylvania Attorney General. Republican Heather Heidelbaugh, Libertarian Daniel Wassmer, and Green Party candidate Richard Weiss are also on the ticket. Interviews with Hammond and Heidelbaugh can be heard at WITF.org/elections, while Wassmer and Weiss did not respond to invitations.

As a reminder to our listeners, these conversations with candidates are designed to explore where the candidates stand on issues so that voters have information to assist them when deciding which candidates they will vote for.

These conversations are happening earlier than in past election years because so many voters are voting by mail.

 

Hammond running for U.S. House and Garrity for Treasurer

WITF’s Election 2020 coverage on Smart Talk continues Wednesday when we’re joined by Democrat Sarah Hammond, who is running for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 11th Congressional District.

The 11th District includes all of of Lancaster County and the southern half of York County. Incumbent Republican Congressman Lloyd Smucker is also on the ballot. He is scheduled to appear on Smart Talk Friday.

Also on Smart Talk Wednesday is Republican Stacy Garrity who is running for Pennsylvania Treasurer. Other candidates on the ballot are incumbent Democratic Treasurer Joe Torsella, Libertarian Joe Soloski and Green Party candidate Timothy Runkle. Both Runkle and Torsella appeared on Smart Talk and their interviews can be heard at WITF.org/elections.

The Pennsylvania Office of the State Treasurer serves as the custodian of more than $100 billion in Commonwealth funds, and is responsible for the receipt and deposit of state monies, investment management and oversight of all withdrawals and deposits from state agencies.

As a reminder to our listeners, these conversations with candidates are designed to explore where the candidates stand on issues so that voters have information to assist them when deciding which candidates they will vote for.

These conversations are happening earlier than in past election years because so many voters are voting by mail.

 

Smart Talk Tuesday; Torsella runs for a Treasurer repeat and COVID death effects ripple through families

Tuesday’s Smart Talk will include the Democratic incumbent and candidate for Pennsylvania Treasurer Joseph Torsella who joins us to discuss his record and priorities before the November election.

State Treasurer Joe Torsella and Gov. Tom Wolf.

The Pennsylvania Office of the State Treasurer serves as the custodian of more than $100 billion in Commonwealth funds, and is responsible for the receipt and deposit of state monies, investment management and oversight of all withdrawals and deposits from state agencies.

Other candidates on the ballot for Treasurer are Republican Stacy Garrity, Libertarian Joe Soloski, and Green Party Timothy Runkle, who appeared on the program on September 22. You can hear that conversation at witf.org. Garrity is scheduled to join Smart Talk later this week, however, Soloski did not respond to invitations.

A death in the family is devastating. A COVID-19 death is equally so and researchers looked into how a pandemic death, in particular, impacts a family.

In a study of kinship networks in the United States, the Penn State University researchers found that approximately nine surviving close family members will be affected by each death from the virus.

Appearing on Smart Talk to share more details on their findings is Ashton Verdery, Ph.D., associate professor of sociology, demography and social data analytics at Penn State University.

With information overwhelming social media users, it’s important for media organizations to ensure their listeners/viewers/readers can trust their reporting. Questions like, “How do people decide what news is trustworthy?” or “How can journalists influence what users consume and share?” have come up repeatedly at public forums with WITF journalists.

To help answer those questions, WITF is taking part in the Trusting News project and joining Smart Talk to offer perspective is WITF Multimedia News Director Tim Lambert.

 

Smart Talk Monday: Foreign interference in the election and Ahmad running for Pa. Auditor General

U.S. intelligence agencies say that Russia, China and probably Iran are trying to interfere with the 2020 presidential election. A recent poll found 59 % of Americans believe foreign governments are trying to interfere.

One of the strategies used to disrupt the election process is to promote information that isn’t true about the candidates or news in the U.S.

The Alliance for Securing Democracy is a bipartisan transatlantic national security advocacy group formed in July 2017 with the stated aim of countering efforts by Russia to undermine democratic institutions in the United States and Europe.

On Monday’s Smart Talk, we are joined by Jessica Brandt, head of policy and research for the Alliance for Securing Democracy and a fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Also on Monday’s show, the Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania Auditor General Nina Ahmad, joins us to discuss priorities before the November election.

The Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General is the chief fiscal watchdog of the commonwealth. It is responsible for using audits to ensure that all state money is spent legally and properly.

Other candidates on the ballot are Republican Tim DeFoor, Green Party candidate Olivia Faison, and Jennifer Moore representing the Libertarian Party. DeFoor appeared on the program October 5th. You can hear that conversation at witf.org. The other candidates have not responded to our invitations to appear.

 

Smart Talk Friday: Heidelbaugh for Attorney General and EPA sued over Pa. not meeting Chesapeake cleanup goals

WITF’s Election 2020 coverage on Smart Talk continues Friday with a candidate running for statewide office.

Heather Heidelbaugh is a Republican running for Pennsylvania Attorney General. The Pittsburgh-area attorney is on the ballot with incumbent Democrat Josh Shapiro, Libertarian Daniel Wassmer, and Green Party candidate Richard Weiss.

Conversations with candidates are designed to give voters an opportunity to hear where candidates stand on the issues before this fall’s election.

Also, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and others are suing the federal Environmental Protection Agency saying EPA failed to require Pennsylvania and New York to develop plans to reduce pollution in the bay under two agreements.

According to CBF, Pennsylvania’s plan to meet the 2025 goals in the Chesapeake Bay Clean Water Blueprint contains improvements over past plans. However, it says the state will meet less than 75 percent of its 31 million-pound nitrogen-reduction commitment, and the plan is underfunded by more than $300 million dollars a year.

The Susquehanna River that runs through Pennsylvania is the largest source of fresh water that empties into the bay.

Appearing on Friday’s Smart Talk to explain the court action is Chesapeake Bay foundation President William Baker.