What the hell is Newsworks? WHYY’s Chris Satullo explains. (Download the MP3 here). Click here to subscribe to Philly From Scratch and download the podcast automatically.

Yes, friends, the Philly From Scratch podcast is finally working (meaning that you can subscribe to it, and let itunes or another program check for updates for you). We’ll aim for weekly episodes, featuring interviews, audio delights, and — well, who knows what else? Stay tuned.

whyy.org

In this episode, WHYY’s Chris Satullo talks about the nonprofit’s new, ambitious journalism project NewsWorks, of which Satullo serves as director of news and “civic dialogue.”

In the interview, I follow up on some quetsions I posed about NewsWorks when it first launched two weeks ago, including how it can fill the hole left in local journalism by the near-elmination of daily newspapers’ neighborhood reporting staff; whether there really exists a lack of “civic dialogue,” out there and how NewsWorks will change that; and how, generally, this whole thing is supposed to work.

Yes, it’s been about a year … OK, try 18 months … since the last episode of the Philly From Scratch podcast.

(UPDATE: We’re having some trouble with the feed presently. For now, if you’re just dying to be notified of new podcasts — and yes, they will come! — click here to subscribe to the Philly From Scratch Google Group for notifications of new episodes. It’s not perfect, but I’ll at least keep you posted and won’t spam you. You can also email me, just for the hell of it. Once our feed gets restored, you’ll click here to subscribe via iTunes; you can try anyway, if you like.)

But anyway, the podcast is back now, with none other than the great Harry Shearer.

thebiguneasy.com

Shearer is a man of many hats: actor (This is Spinal Tap, A Mighty Wind); comedian (Saturday Night Live); author (Too Many Indians), Simpsons-voice-extraordinaire (Mr. Burns, Smithers, Flanders, Lenny, Principal Skinner, Dr. Marvin Monroe, and others), radio host (Le Show), and his latest act: film documentarian.

A long-time critic of the role of federal government played in the flooding of New Orleans, Shearer has never let listeners to his radio show forget that what happened to the city was not a natural disaster, but a man-made one.

Seeing the approach of the five-year anniversary of Katrina — and seeing that this point, five years later, seems to have escaped most of the media, as well as President Obama — Shearer put together a documentary, The Big Uneasy, featuring a small handful of whistle blowers and researchers who present a compelling case that the federal government (the Army Corps of Engineers, in particular), and not Hurricane Katrina, nearly destroyed New Orleans.

Unfortunately, the film screened in most cities for one night only, but it’s playing in New York City for a week starting this Friday (click here for showtimes).

In this interview, Shearer talks about the film, his show, why NPR rejected an ad for his show, and how the hell he manages to do as much as he does.

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It’s been more than a month since a group of state lawmakers introduced a law in the house that would legalize, regulate, and tax “video poker” machines — a kind of slot machine — and allow every bar in the state to apply for as many as five.

The purpose of the bill, behind which Governor Ed Rendell is putting considerable weight, is to provide tuition relief to Pennsylvania college students. They argue that illegal video poker machines are already operating throughout the state (the state police have given the number as 17,00, a number whose origin is not entirely clear) and that this legislation would regulate and tax an activity already going on.

Opponents of the bill call the legislation a massive and dangerous expansion of gambling. Even if there are 17,000 illegal slot machines operating in the state, the bill would open the door to as many as 80,000 new slot machines in Pennsylvania and as many as 10,000 right here in Philadelphia, where we’e already supposed to get two new slots casinos.

As regular readers know, I’ve written before about slot machines, and the ways their design and implementation is geared toward exploiting addiction, promoting unhealthy gambling, and, in some cases, perhaps creating addiction where it did not exist before.

Often called the crack cocaine of gambling, slots have evolved over the years to take more money from players more quickly. Slots generate most of a casino’s profits. One of the most disturbing statistics out there comes from Professor Earl Grinols, who found that as many as half or more of all casino profits come from problem gamblers.

In this multi-part episode of Philly From Scratch: The Podcast (subscribe on iTunes), I talk to three guests about video poker:

L-R: Rep. Paul Clymer, Rep. Dante Santoni, Attorney Paul Boni

State House Representative Paul Clymer (R., Bucks) is a member of the House Gaming Oversight Committee and one of the few House members who has consistently and vocally opposed the expansion of gambling in Pennsylvania – first with casinos, now with video poker. In this interview, he shares some of his concerns with the proposed legislation.

State House Representative Dante Santoni (D., Berks) is the Chairman of the House Gaming Oversight Committee and one of the sponsors of the video poker legislation. In this interview, he defends his decision to deny a request by Philadelphia Representative Mike O’Brien to hold hearings in Philadelphia.

Paul Boni is an attorney for Casino Free Philadelphia, a local group that opposes casinos in the city as well as slot machines in bars and taverns.

In the these interviews, my guests and I discuss various issues related to the legislation, and cite a few different studies and documents. Links to the relevant information after the jump.

If you like Philly From Scratch: The Podcast, you can subscribe via iTunes and have it delivered straight to your listening device — for free!

(more…)

James Moody (left) and Frank Iacovino (right): inventors of the quarter game.

It started by accident, say guests James (Jay) Moody and Frank Iacovino on this episode of Philly From Scratch: The Podcast. Frank accidentally dropped a quarter in the urinal at the Khyber, he says, and returned to find that someone had taken it.

So Frank and Jay tried again. And again, and again — checking periodically to see how long their quarters could last in the Khyber’s urinals before vanishing into the pocket of … well, who knows?

I find what they call “The Game” fascinating. For one thing, it paints a rather dark — or at least desperate — portrait of our fellow man (the experiment hasn’t been tried in the ladies’ room, mostly due to lack of urinals). And it’s so mysterious. Playing the game, you’re likely looking at the culprit — yet Jay and Frank have found it impossible to tell who actually removed the quarters (with the exception of one acquaintance, who admitted to removing them with his Leatherman; but they swear it still works when he’s not around).

It’s so fascinating, in fact, that I’d like to invite you, reader/listener, to try it yourself, at another bar, and e-mail me with the results (please include your best estimate as to how long the quarter lasted).

If we get data, we’ll post it.

If you like Philly From Scratch: The Podcast, you can subscribe via iTunes and have it delivered straight to your listening device — for free!

Andrew Thompson

In this episode of Philly From Scratch: The Podcast, I talk with my younger brother Owen Thompson about what it was like to arrive in Mexico just as swine flu was hitting the headlines everywhere.

Owen had been planning a four-month stay in Mexico for some time, traveling and spending a few months interning with a group that works with farmworkers who migrate to the United States to find work. (Owen spend the last few years working in Rochester, New York, giving legal aid to migrant farmworkers in the area).

While reports of the so-called “swine flu” had been coming out for a day or two, the day Owen left, April 24, was the same day that the virus really became a national headline in the United States.

That morning, Owen sent an e-mail to my family, detailing his itinerary. I got it while I was listening to NPR, which was reporting on the swine flu. I myself didn’t get what a big deal it was.

According to Gmail, I wrote back: “Dude — you are aware that some pandemic flu is going around right?”

Owen Thompson

Owen’s back in the United States now, hanging out in Sunny California under a self-imposed quarantine. The incubation period is about five days; he’s got a couple left, and so far, so good.

I thought our listeners might appreciate a first-hand account of what it was like to show up in Mexico the very moment that fear over the flu started taking off.

You can read his short-lived blog about it here.

If you like Philly From Scratch: The Podcast, you can subscribe via iTunes and have it delivered straight to your listening device — for free!

Andrew Thompson

In memory of late Philly broadcaster Harry Kalas, we’ve got a special tribute on this episode of Philly From Scratch: The Podcast from writer Chris Wagenseller.

I was lucky enough to stumble upon Wagenseller reading his essay on Kalas last Tuesday at WineO (447 Poplar St., 215-925-0999), a great little place in Northern Liberties that’s been hosting an informal poetry/whatever reading every Tuesday for a few months now.

I was also very lucky that a friend, Josh Rosenzweig, has been smart enough to make recordings of these performances, and got me an MP3 of Wagenseller’s reading the next day. Stream it below (go here to subscribe):

Chris Wagenseller

Wagenseller currently lives in Baltimore and works in York at the York College of Pennsylvania, where he teaches composition, and at the Art Institute of York, where he teaches composition, pscreenwriting and a computer class (nobody else would do it, he says!).

Wagenseller doesn’t have a Web site, a MySpace page, or even — this is true — a Facebook profile. But he does have an e-mail address: You can reach him at cwagense@hotmail.com.

If you like Philly From Scratch: The Podcast, or think that maybe you’ll like it one of these days, you can subscribe via iTunes and have the sucker delivered straight to you — for free!

Andrew Thompson

This week, on Philly From Scratch: The Podcast, we talk to Committee of Seventy President Zack Stalberg and At-Large City Council Member Frank Rizzo about the now-infamous Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP), which lets city workers declare they’ll retire in four years and collect a lump sum payment on their pension when they do. Subscribe to PfS: The Podcast on iTunes and/or stream the latest edition below:

Thing is, there’s a loophole. Elected officials seeking reelection can “retire” for a couple of days and then take office again, meanwhile collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars on their pensions. Currently, six members of Council are enrolled.

Last week, the Committee of Seventy released a press statement calling for the city to re-evaluate a legal opinion it issued under Mayor John Street that upheld the ability of Council members to use the loophole. Seventy recently succeeded in obtaining a copy of the opinion — you can read it here.

Seventy calls the practice unfair and an unjust burden on the City. But some Council members argue that the money is theirs anyway — they’re just getting more of it sooner.

Mayor Michael Nutter has introduced legislation to prevent Council members from enrolling in the program in the future, but the fate of that legislation is, of course, in the hands of Council members (who would actually be exempt from the new rule, anyway).

If you like Philly From Scratch: The Podcast, why not subscribe? It’s free, and you won’t have to look for each new episode; the computer will do it for you.

Enjoy!

Andrew Thompson

That’s right — Philly From Scratch: The Podcast is back, after a looooong hiatus.

Sorry. There have been technical problems (there still are technical problems). But the podcast is back anyway, coming to you courtesy of the little baby I like to call the Dream Machine (no, it’s not an alarm clock), an admittedly shaky assemblage of wires and electronics that includes, among other touches, a microphone taped to a desk lamp with a sock over it. (The picture below predates the sock discovery).

The Dream Machine is up and running. Kind of.

Like I said, I’m working on it. But don’t let that stop you from subscribing to the podcast on iTunes. Every time a new show goes up, your computer or listening device will download it automatically — for free! You can also stream the latest podcast below:

This show’s guest is Jamie Moffett, co-founder of The Simple Way in Philadelphia (a nonprofit and living community of social justice-minded Christians) and the director of the documentary Ordinary Radicals.

In this week’s issue, I wrote about the growing movment of radical Christians in Philadelphia, folks who have rejected Christian conservatism for a much more radical (they would say literal) interpretation of what it means to follow Jesus. In particular, I wrote about The Simple Way, which began as an experiment by six college friends to see whether they could live in Kensington — as screwed up an inner-city neighborhood as ever there was — and practice Jesus’ teachings as they understood them.

One of the things that came out of the experiment was Simple Way member Shane Claiborne’s Irresistible Revolution, a book that became a runaway hit with young Christians. In 2008, Claiborne co-wrote another book, Jesus for President, in which he rejected the agenda of the Christian Right and re-imagined what Christian politics should look like.

Moffett does not identify as a Christian. He’s an agnostic, he says — but he’s fascinated by what Claiborne, The Simple Way and others like them are doing.

Moffett followed Claiborne on his book tour for Jesus for President, meeting other “ordinary radicals� and Christians, including some people who had been profoundly affected by Claiborne’s book.

Here’s the trailer:

Rep. Mark B. Cohen

Philly From Scratch: The Podcast is back. Today’s guest is Pennsylvania Representative Mark B. Cohen, who recently spoke in opposition to the closing of 11 branch libraries. Cohen argues that closing libraries may result in lowering property values near the libraries, and that these measures could lose the city more money than it would save.

Mr. Cohen also talks about the potential of legal action — an imminent possibility, according to sources. The suit would most likely invoke the little-known Council Bill 226, which prohibits the mayor from closing public buildings without the approval of City Council. It has never been fully tested legally.

Stream our conversation with Rep. Cohen above.

COMING VERY SOON: You will be able to subscribe to Philly From Scratch: The Podcast via iTunes and let it do the downloading for you. Stay tuned!

Miami-based blogger Andy Moore

Photo | Chad Draizin

With Pennsylvania looking more and more like it’ll go blue this election, attention has been turning toward Florida, where senators Barack Obama and John McCain are fighting a much closer race.

Before coming here, I spent a year and a half living in Miami, a fascinating and politically complicated place. Wondering what the election looks like from the ground there, I asked my former roommate Andy Moore — a blogger, passionate Obama volunteer and a heck of a nice guy — to fill us in. For more, check out his “Florida 2008″ blog.

Among the more interesting tidbits Moore offers in the interview is the fact that Calle Ocho — “the heart of the heart” of Miami’s (conservative and largely Republican) Cuban-American community — is now home to two giant Obama signs.

Stream our interview with Moore below.

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Stalberg

seventy.org

The election Web-a-thon continues! Follow my election Tweets on the City Paper’s Twitter account, twitter.com/citypaper. (Click here to subscribe to the feed.) I’m also posting as much as possible in The Clog’s Prez Election 2008 category, so stay tuned and please weigh in.

Meanwhile,  I give you another election-related episode of Philly From Scratch: The Podcast. This time, my guest is Zach Stalberg, president and CEO of the Committee of Seventy, a nonprofit good government group based here in Philadelphia.

In the interview, Stalberg discusses various concerns his group has raised regarding the upcoming election. Recently, they criticized the Philadelphia City Commissioners for failing to divide overcrowded polling places. Seventy has pointed out at least 16 polling divisions that will serve more than 1,200 voters — the limit set by the state. Chinatown’s polling division, for example, will serve 3,400.

Stalberg also discusses how his organization is helping make sure
voters are able to vote. The Committee of Seventy has recruited 1,000 volunteers to monitor polling places, and will have a hotline — 1-866-OUR-VOTE — for anyone who has trouble.

Stream our conversation with Stalberg below:

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Here’s a list of other overcrowded polling places — and them number of voters registered at each — provided by Seventy.

• Ward 5, Division 1 = 1218
• Ward 5, Division 9 = 2312
• Ward 5, Division 12 = 1334
• Ward 5, Division 13 = 3400
• Ward 5, Division 16 = 2964
• Ward 8, Division 19 = 1470
• Ward 14, Division 4 = 1472
• Ward 20, Division 3 = 1398
• Ward 20, Division 7 = 1386
• Ward 21, Division 23 = 1382
• Ward 24, Division 10 = 1700
• Ward 27, Division 9 = 1300
• Ward 27, Division 18 = 1204
• Ward 27, Division 22 = 1754
• Ward 58, Division 5 = 1203
• Ward 66, Division 8 = 1211

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has been drawing a lot of heat lately. Republicans accuse the org of all sorts of evils (the group has registered nearly a million new voters across the country, mostly in low-income urban communities, aka Democrat territory), but the most serious of these allegations surround voter fraud.

In last night’s presidential debate, Senator John McCain mentioned the group by name: “We need to know the full extent of Senator Obama’s relationship with ACORN, who is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy,” he said.

Tough words — but is there truth to them? Locally, ACORN Philadelphia has faced criticism, including a CNN report about some 1,500 suspicious voter registration forms the Board of City Commissioners turned over to authorities for investigation.

In this edition of Philly From Scratch: The Podcast, ACORN Pennsylvania organizer Ali Kronley responds to these attacks. She admits that ACORN employees occasionally fake registrations — but that the organization checks all applications carefully, leading to ACORN’s own staffers flagging 1,300 of the aforementioned 1,500 suspicious forms themselves. (Out of 85,000 total registrations, that represents less than 2 percent.)

More importantly, Kronley points out that bad registrations have nothing to do with “voter fraud.” Make up 100 fake names — they still can’t vote.

Stream our conversation with Kronley below.

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Philly From Scratch: The Podcast is back. This week, as part of a mini-series on election-related topics, I interview Sam Sitrin, an organizer for the Philadelphia chapter of ACT UP, a kind of attack dog group for AIDS-related causes that specializes in staging protests.

This Saturday, they’ll be protesting Sarah Palin,. who will be in town for a fundraiser, in what they call the “Thousand Palin March for More AIDS.” Participants will dres like the veep hopeful, and they’ll have Palin masks on hand for anyone who needs a costume.

During my conversation with Sitrin, she mentioned two studies relating to abstinence-only education’s actual effects on sexual activity — you can download those studies her:

Click HERE to download the 2004 Committee on Government Reform’s report to U.S. House Rep Henry A. Waxman.

Click HERE to download the Journal of Adolescent Health’s ‘position paper’ on abstinence-only education.

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For a little while there, I was writing an irregular column called Philly From Scratch. The idea was to post my observations of Philadelphia as I got to know the city (I moved here from Miami in June).

What I found was that every time I made an observation, I was surrounded (electronically, sometimes) by people who assured me I was dead wrong. And that made me wonder if I wasn’t going about this whole thing backwards — better to get an earful than give one. Thus, Philly From Scratch: The Podcast was born. (For now, stream it below; we’re developing a way to make it  downloadable, as well.)

Every week, I’ll talk to someone on the phone and post the conversation. This week, I’m kicking the feature off with Ian Phillips, the legislative director of ACORN, a community organizing group with five neighborhood chapters here in Philadelphia. With the economy going kablooey and the feds preparing to hand over $700,000,000,000 (11, count ‘em) to bail out failing banks, I asked Phillips what his organization wants to see happen in Washington.

If you’d like to be on the podcast or have suggestions, drop a line.

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