Scroll Down Kyw: A Podcast About Philadelphia

In 2020, international student enrollment in the United States dropped 15 percent because of pandemic era travel restrictions, according to Higher Ed Dive. While numbers are slowly increasing, with 948,519 students enrolling in the 2021/2022 academic school year, they don't rival pre-COVID levels. What’s affecting international student enrollment? Why is it important for the U.S. to have international students? And, what are international students looking for in higher education institutions? Martyn J. Miller is the assistant vice president for Global Engagement at Temple University. He tells us about international students' concerns and how we can learn from what other English speaking countries are doing to increase international student enrollment. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Millions of Americans are dealing with anxiety, and much about anxiety is a mystery. However, recently researchers from the Universities of Bristol and Exeter in the UK released some fascinating discoveries from work with mice that could lead to a better understanding of the neural roadmap behind feelings of anxiety, and more importantly, might eventually help provide a better tool kit for treating anxiety in humans. To learn more about this research, we caught up with Dr. Nathan Baird, Associate Professor of Biochemistry at Saint Joseph’s University To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The app TikTok is wildly popular, and in some circles, wildly controversial. The state of Montana recently passed legislation that would ban the app in the state. What is it about TikTok that would lead to a state take a drastic action like this? How legitimate are the concerns? Is it even possible to enforce, and what could a move like this lead to? For this conversation, we caught up with Dr. Hilde Van den Bulck, who is a professor and head of the communication department in the College of Arts and Sciences at Drexel University.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As far as we’ve come in medical and scientific research, sleep seems to be an area that we just can’t pin down. We might understand the stages of sleep and what REM sleep is - kind of - but there are still a lot of unanswered questions, or questions that we hear a variety of answers to. How much sleep do you really need? Do sleep aids like melatonin really help? What happens in our brains when we dream? Why does it seem to be harder to sleep as we get older? Why do we need sleep in the first place? We pose all those questions and more to Dr. Philip Gehrman, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, who specializes in Behavioral Sleep Medicine. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

During the pandemic, households enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, received at least a $95 per month increase to their usual benefits. In March 2023, benefits were cut back, but many of the people who receive those benefits haven’t recovered from the financial loss. They’ve had to turn to food banks, which are now struggling to meet the increased need. How have food banks had to adapt? And, what have they learned from years of high demand? Fred Waisak is the President and CEO of the Food Bank of South Jersey. He tells us about the impact of ending these increased benefits and how his and many other food banks are coping. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We have all heard conversations of “why didn’t they teach us this in school?” or “why did I take calculus if I’ve never had to use it?” Now with a wide scope of possible career opportunities, it might not make sense for all students to take the same classes in high school. Why does this happen, and how could we update the math curriculum? Do we have the teaching capacity to make these changes? Dr. Ted Coe is the Vice President of Academic Advocacy for Mathematics at NWEA. He joins us to discuss how we can reimagine math curriculums and what it would mean for students post-high school. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There are many precedents in politics that aren’t necessarily based on law but on norms, like the fact that there isn’t an age restriction for politicians and that Supreme Court justices serve for life. What are some of the other norms in politics that we’ve accepted to be true? Do politicians have too much power when these norms aren’t regulated? Dr. Ben Berger is an associate professor of political science at Swarthmore College. He explains how a lack of shame has affected our current political environment, and tells us the rules he thinks could give politicians an equal opportunity. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

TV and movie writers represented by the Writers Guild of America went on strike last week. We’ve seen several writers strikes before, but producer and director Andrew Susskind says that with the growth of streaming, this time is different. Susskind teaches producing, directing, writing, and editing at Drexel University's Westphal College of Media Arts and Design. He joins us to explain the motives of this strike that go beyond pay, looking at the structure of how writers are hired for streaming shows, the threat of AI, and more. He also gives us his predictions for how long this could last and what effects TV viewers could notice on their favorite shows. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a 25 percent increase in anxiety and depression, especially in young people and women, according to the World Health Organization. What affects our mental health? Why are young people struggling? And what can be done to help them? Schroeder Stribling is the president and CEO of Mental Health America, a community-based nonprofit dedicated to addressing the needs of those living with mental illness. Their website offers a mental health screening tool, which in 2022, reached 6.3 million Americans. She explains the organization’s findings and tells us the importance of opening up the mental health conversation. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are seeing a serious situation in Sudan where violence has erupted between two factions of the military. Hundreds of civilians have been killed and there is significant concern about this leading to a humanitarian catastrophe. To learn more about what is happening, we caught up with Dr. Kelly Duke-Bryant, an Associate Professor of History at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ, who teaches a variety of courses on Africa. We asked her about the roots of this situation, learned why it isn’t a civil war, and also discussed why this conflict seems to be getting significantly more news coverage compared to other conflicts we have seen recently in Africa. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When the pandemic disrupted the workforce, showing that lots of jobs can be done remotely and making workers rethink the values they want from their jobs, many people thought it would change the way we work forever. In 2023, a lot of those workers are back in the office and feeling high levels of burnout. So how much really changed? Morning Consult puts out an annual report on the state of workers. We invited Amy He, their Industry Analyst Team Lead, to explain what this year’s results reveal about how work has or hasn’t shifted over the past year, how satisfied different types of workers are, and what workers really want from their jobs now. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Artificial intelligence is showing up everywhere. It’s the customer service chat box on websites. It’s the facial recognition feature in security cameras and phones. It’s even in filters on social media, and now, the workplace. But, 38 percent of Americans are cautious about how much AI is present in our everyday lives. Should we be worried about the expansion of AI? And, will increasing its usage affect job security? James Barlow is the founder of Triumph Technology Solutions, a Philadelphia-based data company. He tells us about how companies are using artificial intelligence and what investing in this technology means for workers. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’ve heard a ton about medical advancements that happened really quickly in response to COVID - meanwhile, scientists and doctors have been working on a cure and treatments for cancer for decades. Where does that research stand today? Are we any closer to finding a cure…or is that the wrong thing to look at? Dr. Jonathan Chernoff, Cancer Center Director at the Fox Chase Cancer Center, talks us through the progress that we have made, and why it might be slower than we’d like. He also explains what’s on the horizon and how new technologies, like mRNA, could help. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On May 11, the Biden administration is ending the public health emergency that gave everyone, insured or not, access to free testing and vaccines for COVID-19. They said it’s because cases have decreased by 80 percent, but the United States has reported the highest death toll of any country at 1.1 million. Are we really in the clear? And, what does it mean now that we’re no longer in a public health emergency? Dr. Esther Chernak is the Director of the Center for Public Health Readiness and Communication at Drexel University. She tells us why she believes this decision will negatively impact public perception of the pandemic, and what it tells us about health care in the United States.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are all way too familiar with the impact of a pandemic from the past three years dealing with the COVID-19 virus. But there is another kind of pandemic that's at the center of the hit video game and now TV show “The Last of Us”...a pandemic driven by a fungus that leads to zombies and the collapse of society. So this got us wondering - how much should we be worried about a fungal pandemic? How realistic is it? To get some answers, we spoke with Dr. Richard Bortnick, Associate Professor of Biology at Delaware Valley University in Doylestown. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After more than 8,000 gallons of an acrylic polymer solution leaked into a tributary of the Delaware River, the city of Philadelphia panicked. But even after the all clear was given, many residents were still wary.  This is just one example of a growing mistrust of government messaging. What could officials on the city, state, and national level be doing better in times of crisis? Dr. Mike Smith is an associate professor of communications at La Salle University. He tells us how he thinks the government and institutions should communicate with people and how to regain public trust once it’s gone.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was August 2021 when the U.S. closed the door on its 20-year war in Afghanistan with a scattershot exit from the country as the Taliban took over. A new three-part documentary from PBS’s Frontline looks at the war from all angles and examines how things went so wrong. The first episode was released this week, with the other two coming later in April. Martin Smith is a long-time Frontline correspondent who covered the war in Afghanistan and is one of the producers of “America and the Taliban.” We talked with Smith about the documentary and the mistakes that were made over two decades in Afghanistan.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In recent years, autism rates have tripled due to advances in diagnostic capabilities and a greater understanding of autism. But how do you test for it? What goes into developing these tools? Dr. Diana Robins is the director of the AJ Drexel Autism Institute, and she developed the M-CHAT, or Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers. She tells us about the process of building this tool, how effective it can be when used properly, and how these screening tools can be improved over time. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Protests in Israel have continued since January, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his party proposed judicial reforms. They say they want to reign in the Supreme Court, but many citizens think these reforms will remove checks and balances and dismantle the country’s democracy. There’s a lot to unpack to understand the situation, so we called on Rabbi Josh Weinberg, VP for Israel and Reform Zionism at the Union for Reform Judaism and Executive Director of the Association of Reform Zionists of America. He explains what these protests are about and what’s at stake, both in Israel and internationally. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The global data intelligence company Morning Consult has a new report out called “A Brand’s Guide to Gen Alpha.” It’s a look at the next generation of consumers, a generation that is still taking shape. Joanna Piacenza, head of industry intelligence for Morning Consult, talks about the report and the fascinating trends it reveals. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices