WITF Smart Talk Podcast

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote. 

The fight for women’s suffrage was a decades-long battle that began even before the Civil War. Reform activists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were pioneers in the movement, though neither lived to see the fruition of their work. 

Philadelphia native Lucretia Mott also played a critical role in the early movement, along with other Pennsylvania women. Wilson College alumna Hannah Patterson was involved with many progressive-era reforms including women’s suffrage, as were Erie resident Augusta Fleming and Philadelphia’s Carrie Burnham. 

Pennsylvania women’s names feature prominently in the historic record of the Suffrage movement.  After Congress approved the 19th Amendment the ratification required approval by a minimum of 36 states. Pennsylvania ratified on June 24, 1919, but it would be more than a year later for the law to pass, once Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify.  

Smart Talk Monday visits the history of women’s suffrage in the nation and Pennsylvania, with guests Amy Ensley, Director of the Hankey Center for the History of Women’s Education at Wilson College, Curtis Miner, Ph.D., State Museum Senior Curator of History, and Cathleen Cahill, Ph.D., Associate Professor of History at Penn State University.

The State Museum of Pennsylvania is hosting a changing exhibit titled Why not In PA. Campaigning for women’s Suffrage in the Keystone State. The museum is slated to reopen to the public on July 22, but visitors are asked to check the museum website to confirm before making plans. To take a virtual tour of the exhibit visit the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission YouTube channel. 

The Vote is a production from American Experience that tells the dramatic culmination story of the hard-fought campaign waged by American women for the right to vote. The four-hour documentary begins Monday, July 6, with part 1, at 9pm on WITF TV.  Part 2 of The Vote airs Tuesday, July 7, at 9pm. 

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Up until two weeks ago, the number of COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania was falling. Since then, the entire state has transitioned to Governor Tom Wolf’s least restrictive green level of coronavirus mitigations efforts meaning bars and restaurants were open, with some restrictions, and many places of business re-opened too.

However, the number of COVID-19 cases is on the rise in Pennsylvania. There were 636 new cases reported Wednesday morning.

But that number pales in comparison to states like Florida, Arizona, Texas and California where the number of cases has increased by the thousands each day.

Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine, MD, is on Thursday’s Smart Talk to describe efforts to keep Pennsylvania’s cases from increasing like those states.

Also, Pennsylvania relaxed its fireworks laws three years ago and now fireworks have become commonplace throughout the state. Many are complaining about it.

Democratic State Senator Judy Schwank wants to repeal the 2017 fireworks laws and Chief Jay Delaney, City of Wilkes-Barre – Bureau of Fire and President of the Pennsylvania Career Fire Chiefs Association agrees with that initiative. They both join us on Thursday’s Smart Talk.

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When Pennsylvania State Representative Bryan Cutler was elected two weeks ago as the 141st Speaker of the House he became the most visible and powerful member of the elected body.

Cutler, a Republican, first came to office in 2007 and represents part of Lancaster County in the 100th legislative district. He fills the speaker position that was vacated by Mike Turzai on June 15th.

Representative Cutler joins Smart Talk to share his legislative priorities and how he plans to bridge party divisions.

Many Americans agree that a transformation of modern policing is needed following George Floyd’s death while in police custody.

But that was also said following the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner in 2014. And before that in 2011 after the police-involved shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith. And the list goes on.

Will the death of George Floyd in 2020 be any different?

Pennsylvania Bar Association Diversity Officer Trent Hargrove, J.D., is optimistic it will, but he wrote an article recently in the Association’s Journal cautioning members that history is repeating itself and the legal profession is in a unique position to influence the outcome.

Trent Hargrove joins Smart Talk to share his perspective.

 

 

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“The healthiest soil is the soil that has never been disturbed.” That sentiment was made at the Pennsylvania Farm Show last January by a former state Agriculture Department official who advocates for no till practices.

But how can seeds be planted and crops grown without disturbing the soil?

The Pennsylvania No Till Alliance is made up of a group of farmers that employ planting and crop growing methods to maintain or improve soil quality and are better for the environment, including waterways.

Appearing on Tuesday’s Smart Talk to discuss no till farming (and gardening) are Jim Hershey, President of the Pennsylvania No-Till Alliance and a farmer in Lancaster County; Lisa Blazure , Soil Health Coordinator with the Stroud Water Research Center, and Steve Groff, a farmer in Lancaster County, who is a cover crop/hemp educator.

National Pollinator Week is just ending. With all the challenges facing the world today, honeybee colony collapse may not be near the top of a list of priorities.

But considering one-third of the world’s food supply depend on pollinators and more than 20% of honeybees died from colony collapse last winter, maybe it should be.

Steps are being taken to protect honeybees and other pollinators including a move by Giant Food Stores to set aside seven acres at their Carlisle headquarters for pollinators.

Joining us on Tuesday’s Smart Talk are Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Fred Strathmeyer and State Apiarist Karen Roccasecca.

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As state and local governments across the country work to enact police reforms in the wake of the George Floyd killing while in Minneapolis police custody last month, one proposal that may actually occur is defunding police departments. In most cases, defunding means moving money away from police departments and using those funds for social programs.

Pennsylvania’s largest police department is the Pennsylvania State Police. The State Police is in a unique position. That’s because many municipalities – about 1,700 of them — rely on State Police for coverage. A lot of those townships and boroughs disbanded their own police departments completely.

The concept of community policing that counts on officers patrolling a regular beat and getting to know the community has been hailed as one way to reduce racial injustice. That would seem to be difficult with State Police covering large geographic areas.

PAPost reporter Joseph Darius Jaafari has written about police funding and appears on Monday’s Smart Talk.

Also, many historians say America had the opportunity to eliminate or greatly reduce racial injustice and inequality when the Civil War ended. However, decisions made by President Andrew Johnson after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln may have led to discrimination, Jim Crow laws and violence against African-Americans and never allowed them to achieve equality.

Joining us on Monday’s Smart Talk is Prof. Matthew Pinsker, Ph.D., Dickinson College, Pohanka Chair in American Civil War History.

The House Divided Project is an initiative of Dickinson College to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the end of the Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction in America.

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Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro appears on Friday’s Smart Talk to discuss several topics.

They include police reforms, fracking and funding for child abuse investigations.

Pennsylvania is one of many state and local governments to legislate new rules and laws for police departments to adhere to in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death while in Minneapolis police custody last month. Floyd’s death has resulted in nationwide protests and calls for racial justice and equality.

The Pennsylvania House and Senate have each passed separate bills that would require employment background checks on those looking to become a police office or join another department and also improve training.

Also, a two-year Grand Jury report found there were systematic failures on the part of Pennsylvania regulators — including the Department of Environmental Protection — to guard against negative health effects of fracking at natural gas drilling sites.

Finally, Attorney General Shapiro and the Pennsylvania District Attorney’s Association are asking Congress for $1.5 billion in anticipation of an increased number of child abuse investigations after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile Angela Liddle, President and CEO of the Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance is on Friday’s Smart Talk to discuss child abuse reports being down during the pandemic and the expected increase once the state re-opens or children go back to school this fall.

 

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Last April, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the agency was going to retain a piece of legislation called the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for Particulate Matter without changes. The move has been heavily criticized by environmental advocates.

Fine particulate pollutants or particulate matter are made up of particles (tiny pieces) of solids or liquids that are in the air. These particles may include dust, dirt, soot, smoke or drops of liquid. Particle pollution has been associated with heart attacks, asthma, and respiratory problems such as inflammation, coughing or difficulty breathing.

Historically, the Lancaster, Harrisburg, and Lebanon regions have had some of the highest levels of particle pollution in the country, although there has been improvements recently.

Kevin Stewart, Director of Environmental Health at the American Lung Association appears on Thursday’s Smart Talk to explain why he thinks not updating particulate matter regulations is a bad idea.

Also, there will be Major League baseball this summer after details were worked out between team owners and players this week. The season will include 60 games, many new rules to keep players safe from COVID-19 and no fans in the stands.

Journalist Andrew Linker, who has authored books on baseball and covered baseball for decades is on Smart Talk to discuss what it may look like.

Finally, Harrisburg Senators President Kevin Kulp joins us to address minor league baseball this season and in the future.

 

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The coronavirus pandemic has changed everything about how we live and work. The impact of the disease is often put into the context of numbers, or data, to illustrate this. The Pennsylvania Department of Health publishes data every day; number of positive tests, deaths, and even recovered.

But numbers without context can be misleading. A Spotlight PA review of Pennsylvania’s Department of Health data found that while there is no evidence of data manipulation, there are certainly DOH practices that have created confusion.

Spotlight PA Reporter Sara Simon joins Smart Talk to share the findings from a review of the ‘death data.’

With summer in full swing and restrictions easing, many people are planning trips and travel.

Craig Haberle, certified travel consultant with Central Penn AAA, appears on Smart Talk to share, for better or worse, what people will experience on the road, in airports and at hotels.

Also, joining Smart Talk is Ashley Ritter, PhD, CRNP, nurse practitioner and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Nursing to explain how travelers can mitigate exposure to the virus and what precautions you should take.

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It has been almost four months since the COVID-19 pandemic began in the U.S. Since the end of February, 2.3 million people have tested positive for the virus with 122,000 dying from it. In Pennsylvania, more than 82,000 have contracted the virus and 6,400 have died.

We have learned much about COVID-19 over the past four months including about symptoms, how the virus is spread and who is at risk. However, many people still have questions about the virus, how to avoid exposure and what to do if you experience symptoms.

Dr. Gerald Maloney, DO, is the Chief Medical Officer for Geisinger Hospitals and he joins us on Tuesday’s Smart Talk to answer questions about COVID-19 and stopping the spread.

Dr. Maloney was on Smart Talk in early April to answer questions about the virus. His appearance Tuesday will be a good indicator of how much has changed and what has been learned about the coronavirus.

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Contact tracing is a key strategy touted by Pennsylvania health officials as an integral part of stopping, or mitigating, the spread of the coronavirus.

The process of tracking the contacts of an infected person is a disease control measure that is also used by public health officials to prevent the spread of other infectious diseases, like the measles and sexually transmitted diseases. The challenge is in the resources it requires to track accurately.

Many counties in Pennsylvania have moved forward with reopening plans, even without the resources and trained personnel in place to conduct the tracing. The result could be a resurgence of infections.

Spotlight PA reporter Aneri Pattani investigated the “patchwork” system that is in place right now, and she joins Smart Talk with more details.

The Lancaster branch of Church World Service is part of a larger organization and network of faith-based humanitarian agencies. Their role in the community is to assist refugees, immigrants, and asylum-seekers who are seeking safety and new lives in the United States.

Sheila Mastropietro has spent the past 33 years overseeing the resettlement of literally thousands of refugees in Lancaster County as part of CWS. At one point, there were more resettlements there per capita than anywhere in the country earning Lancaster the title of “refugee capital of America.”

Sheila Mastropietro appears on Smart Talk to share her experiences upon retirement.

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