Block by Block is a community radio news program featuring stories about issues affecting the Philadelphia region, as told by members of the community. A team of community journalists have filed reports on topics including gun violence, elections, mental health, indigenous and LatinX heritage and identity, expungement of criminal records, and check washing and keeping […]
Radio Stories
A future without Prisons (WPPM radio story)
For the latest episode of the Philly Breakdown for WPPM, we peered into the future — with stories on the future of community media (which is threatened at the moment), imagining a future of walkable cities, and more. After meeting some of the organizers at Philadelphia’s Youth Art & Empowerment Project (YASP) recently, I had a […]
Life Do Grow Farm: growing food and social change in North Philly (WPPM radio story)
Most of the food we eat starts out on a farm — and a lot of that food travels thousands of miles before it ends up on your plate. But not all of it. Philadelphia has dozens of farmers’ markets, where you can buy fruit, vegetables, meat, and other items grown in rural Pennsylvania, New […]
Temporary Protected Status (WPPM’s The Philly Breakdown)
Hundreds of thousands of people are living in the United States with Temporary Protected Status, also known as TPS. That means they’re allowed to live and work in the US without fear of deportation. TPS was first created by an act of Congress in 1990, and it’s been granted to individuals who have come to the […]
HumanLight: A secular holiday in December
image: The Humanist Association of Greater Philadelphia hands out awards for volunteers HumanLight is a new holiday, founded about 8 years ago by a group of Humanists in New Jersey. It’s now celebrated by a handful of people throughout the US, and at least one group in England is holding a HumanLight party this year. […]
Yammer: Twitter for business
I’ve been covering technology for several years for web sites including Download Squad and Liliputing. And I’ve been filing radio news reports on topics ranging from politics to the environment for about 8 years. But one of my first radio stories about technology ran this afternoon as part of a new tech segment on NPR’s […]
Atlantic City in a slumping economy
A few weeks ago I spent a day in Atlantic City working on a story about the impact of high gas prices and reduced consumer spending on a tourist destination like AC. I met with officials at the Borgata hotel and casino and the Atlantic City Convention Center. I also wandered the boardwalk, where I […]
Got $10 burning a hole in your pocket? Buy something
NPR ran my piece on the SomethingStore yesterday. What’s the SomethingStore? It’s a story that sells you… something. You don’t know what it is. You just know that it costs $10. It could be an iPod shuffle, or it could be a coffee mug. Entrepreneur Sami Bay started the store late last year. In the […]
The city that never sleeps is getting a bit sleepy (NPR’s Morning Edition)
You can’t really tell from the photo above, because it turns out I’m much better with an audio recorder than a digital camera, but this is a picture of Little West 12th Street in Manhattan’s Meat Packing district. I snapped this shot at 2:30 in the morning on a recent Saturday night. And the place […]
The Value of Trash (NPR radio story)
I have a story on NPR’s Day to Day today about Justin Gignac and Christine Santora, two New York artists that enjoy playing with the idea of value. Gignac has been selling cubes of New York trash for a few years. At first, he sold them for $10 per cube, but he keeps raising the […]
Anti-deportation video game story on The World
The World is running my story on a video game called ICED today. ICED stands for I Can End Deportation. The game was released a few weeks go by Breakthrough, a non-profit immigration and human rights advocacy group. Players choose one of five characters, listen to their stories, and then wander through a 3D version […]
Wii shortage on NPR
More than a year after Nintendo launched the Nintendo Wii, it’s still the hottest selling video game console around. And good luck trying to find it. Stores are selling out of Wiis almost as soon as they get them in stock. NPR called me last week and asked if I’d get to the bottom of […]