WITF Smart Talk Podcast

When President Trump suggested the use of active military forces to quell the violence that has erupted in some cities the past two weeks, it raised questions about the legal role of the military.

The military has unique capabilities that can be used, under certain circumstances, to support civilian law enforcement. Missions like counter-drug operations, disaster assistance, or search and rescue operations are areas where the military has historically assisted local authorities.

There are other circumstances when state law enforcement and government leaders might request military support, but those events are infrequent and some say unconstitutional.

Joining Smart Talk on Friday is Professor Bert Tussing, retired Marine Corps Lt. Col., and instructor at the US Army War College, who will talk about the laws that govern military involvement in domestic law enforcement. We will also revisit historic events when military support was used.

If you are working from home due to pandemic restrictions your commute is probably what you miss the least. An article published in the May National Geographic magazine gives hope to commuters everywhere that their post-pandemic travel might be very different.

Journalist and National Geographic contributor Emily Sohn joins Smart Talk to share her vision of a healthier, future commute.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its fourth month in Pennsylvania, scientists and doctors are still learning about the virus and how to the treat the illness that comes along with it.

Two Penn State Health medical specialists appear on Thursday’s Smart Talk answering questions about what we thought we knew and what we know now about the novel coronavirus. Joining us are Dr. Ami DeWaters, Associate Division Chief of Hospital Medicine and Dr. Ian Ross, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Hospital Medicine, both at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

Several of the topics to be addressed are how treatment options have changed during the pandemic, whether the antiviral drug remdesivir is one of those treatment options, antibody testing, and how to protect ourselves as mitigation strategies like stay-at-home orders are loosened.

As of Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported more than 73,000 COVID-19 cases and almost 5,800 deaths.

For more on COVID-19 and a deeper look at the changing tide of healthcare, check out WITF’s Transforming Health, a partnership of WITF, WellSpan Health and Capital Blue Cross.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

The day after a primary election is usually pretty straightforward in Pennsylvania. Normally, the votes would have been counted and Pennsylvanians would know which Democrats and Republicans would be competing for the offices they’re running for in the November general election.

However, the 2020 primary wouldn’t be like previous ones anyway after mail-in voting became law last year. Those votes wouldn’t have been counted until after the in-person polls closed so results may not have been known officially the next day.

Then came the COVID-19 pandemic that pushed the original April primary date back to June 2. Voters were encouraged to vote by mail, many voters stayed away from polls out of fear of contracting the virus, many poll workers didn’t want to go to the polls for the same reason and some polling places were changed.

Against that backdrop, Wednesday’s Smart Talk focuses on the primary.

Appearing on the program are Dr. G. Terry Madonna, Professor of Public Affairs and Director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs, political analyst and pollster at Franklin & Marshall College and PA Post reporter Emily Previti, who covers election-related issues extensively.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Protests continued across the country last night against police brutality and racial injustice in the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis last week.

In Lancaster, several members of the police department marched with the protesters Monday. Sunday’s demonstration in Lancaster was more heated as protesters screamed at police and several were arrested. Police used pepper spray to subdue a few protesters.

Lancaster Mayor Danene Sorace says “outside agitators” may have been behind Sunday’s testy standoff.

Lancaster City Council President Ismail Smith-Wade-El, who has been involved in the Lancaster community for years, appears on Tuesday’s Smart Talk to discuss the protests and the issues raised by the Floyd incident.

Also on Tuesday’s program, WHYY radio reporter Avi Wolfman-Arent was arrested during a demonstration in Philadelphia on Sunday, even after clearly stating he was a journalist. He’s one of a growing number of media members who have been injured or arrested during the protests. Wolfman-Arent describes what happened on Tuesday’s show.

Smart Talk‘s coronavirus coverage on Tuesday includes results from the Public Agenda/USA Today/Ipsos nationwide poll that finds more Americans’ priorities are shifting towards the economy and away from health — compared to a poll in March — even though almost two-thirds of those polled say government’s priority should be preventing the virus from spreading. David Schleifer, Ph.D, Director of Research for Public Agenda, is on Smart Talk with details.

Finally, Pennsylvania counties say the need for more funding from the state for mental health treatment and support is even more critical during the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinton County Commissioner Jeff Snyder, President of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania joins us on Smart Talk.

 

 

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

The death of George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck as Floyd said repeatedly that he couldn’t breathe, has set off a wave of protests and outrage across the country. The anger has escalated into violence in Minneapolis over what protestors see is ongoing police brutality against African-Americans.

It’s not just incidents of police involvement either. A black jogger in Georgia was shot and killed in a struggle with a white man, who armed himself after he and his father thought the jogger could be a suspect in a string of burglaries. A white woman called the police saying she was being threatened by an African-American man, who was bird watching in New York’s Central Park. The man he had nothing more than telling the woman to follow the park’s rules and put her dog on a leash.

These three recent incidents have raised questions about racism and why black men especially are often the victims of violence — sometimes at the hands of the police and in American society as a whole.

It’s the topic of our discussion on Monday’s Smart Talk.

Appearing on the program is Sandra Thompson – a York area attorney and president of the York County chapter of the NAACP. Ms. Thompson was one of five African-American women playing golf at a York County course last year when the owner called the police after a dispute over slow play arose. Also on the program are Rev. Dr. Frank Hairston-Allen, President of the Harrisburg Area NAACP, Chief Dean Esserman, National Police Foundation Senior Counselor, and Dr. Todd Mealy, founder of the Equity Institute for Race Conscious Pedagogy, and the author of Race Conscious Pedagogy: Disrupting Racism at Majority White Schools.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS