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This Week on WURD: Attack on America’s safety net, educational dilemmas for Black families, and Parker at 1,000 days

Linn Washington Jr., Philadelphia Tribune columnist, former journalist and retired Temple University journalism professor, joined Solomon Jones on Wake Up With WURD to discuss the Trump administration’s third-country deportation policy and its mounting costs. Washington called the policy cruel and wasteful, while also pointing to Philadelphia’s low voter turnout as potentially decisive in statewide elections. Barth Beasley, singer-songwriter, pianist and actor, joined Tiffany Bacon on The Midday Break Room to […]

Education

Learning in a World We Didn’t Make: James Peterson on Nikole Hannah-Jones’s School Experience

By Dr. James Peterson Nikole Hannah-Jones’s recent New York Times Magazine essay about the life-altering decisions Black parents make in educating our children is, for me, even more powerful than The 1619 Project. The 2019 landmark long-form journalism project was a definitive historical intervention, centering the experiences of enslaved Africans and their descendants in the story America tells about itself. As someone descended from people enslaved in this country, that […]

News

This Week on WURD: Press fights back, Coltrane at 100, holding on to health benefits

Deborah Roberts, co-anchor of 20/20 and ABC News senior national affairs correspondent, joined Solomon Jones on Wake Up With WURD as the program begins its 49th season. Roberts called President Trump’s mounting attacks on press freedom a concern for all Americans, urging journalists to demonstrate credibility and integrity amid political pressure on news organizations. Stefan Roots, mayor of Chester, Pa., joined Ernest Owens on On the Record to discuss Philadelphia’s […]

News

This Week on WURD: AI warnings, Birth Center Week, signs of human trafficking

Dr. Elena McDonald and Dr. Delana Wardlaw, board-certified physicians known as the Twin Sister Docs, joined Solomon Jones on Wake Up With WURD to discuss Pennsylvania’s worsening measles outbreak. They stressed that unvaccinated people with underlying conditions face heightened risks of severe complications as the state’s outbreak approaches 700 cases and has now been linked to four deaths. Ben Hovland, senior fellow for democracy policy at the Center for American […]

todaySeptember 19, 2026

News

This Week on WURD: Academy of Natural Sciences, Trump vs. the press, approaching 25 years since 9/11

Academy of Natural Sciences Photo credit: ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Michael Idris, manager of the African American Interpretive Program at the Museum of the American Revolution, joined Tiffany Bacon on The Midday Break Room to discuss the announced closing of the Academy of Natural Sciences, warning that losing museums means losing critical access to education, curiosity and community. He also detailed the museum’s work training young people […]

todaySeptember 4, 2026

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Dr. James Peterson: The messiness of America’s drained-pool politics

Perhaps Washington's Reflecting Pool should stay exactly as it is. Its mess reflects ours. By Dr. James Peterson The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has become an unironic reflection of the current administration. The Reflecting Pool is supposed to center the architecture of American democracy – the Washington Monument, the Lincoln […]

todayAugust 27, 2026

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News

This Week on WURD: Attack on America’s safety net, educational dilemmas for Black families, and Parker at 1,000 days

Linn Washington Jr., Philadelphia Tribune columnist, former journalist and retired Temple University journalism professor, joined Solomon Jones on Wake Up With WURD to discuss the Trump administration’s third-country deportation policy and its mounting costs. Washington called the policy cruel and wasteful, while also pointing to Philadelphia’s low voter turnout as […]

todayOctober 2, 2026

News

This Week on WURD: Press fights back, Coltrane at 100, holding on to health benefits

Deborah Roberts, co-anchor of 20/20 and ABC News senior national affairs correspondent, joined Solomon Jones on Wake Up With WURD as the program begins its 49th season. Roberts called President Trump’s mounting attacks on press freedom a concern for all Americans, urging journalists to demonstrate credibility and integrity amid political […]

todaySeptember 25, 2026

News

This Week on WURD: AI warnings, Birth Center Week, signs of human trafficking

Dr. Elena McDonald and Dr. Delana Wardlaw, board-certified physicians known as the Twin Sister Docs, joined Solomon Jones on Wake Up With WURD to discuss Pennsylvania’s worsening measles outbreak. They stressed that unvaccinated people with underlying conditions face heightened risks of severe complications as the state’s outbreak approaches 700 cases […]

todaySeptember 19, 2026

News

WURD Radio at the 2026 CBC conference: Listen to the live coverage

WURD Radio was live from Washington, D.C., Sept. 16-18 for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 55th Annual Legislative Conference, an annual gathering of elected officials, policy leaders, advocates, entrepreneurs, public servants and community leaders from across the country. Throughout the conference, conversations tackled some of the most urgent issues facing […]

todaySeptember 19, 2026

News

This Week on WURD: Black students shut out, Philly’s trash fight, measles cases surge

Jamie Gauthier, Philadelphia City Councilmember, joined P.O.C. on EcoWURD to discuss the looming fight over Mayor Cherelle Parker’s proposed new ReWorld contract. With Council returning Sept. 17, Gauthier urged members to reject sending Philadelphia trash to Chester’s incinerator, calling the practice an environmental injustice disproportionately borne by Black communities. Linn […]

todaySeptember 11, 2026

News

This Week on WURD: August in Black, real impacts of DEI attacks, tech in classrooms

Luke Bilger, executive director of educational technology for the School District of Philadelphia, joined Life and Tech with TechLifeSteph to discuss the district’s back-to-school technology policies. Bilger said every K-12 student receives a Chromebook, while generative AI chatbots are limited to high school students using district-approved Google Gemini accounts to […]

todayAugust 28, 2026 2

Commentary

Dr. James Peterson: The messiness of America’s drained-pool politics

Perhaps Washington's Reflecting Pool should stay exactly as it is. Its mess reflects ours. By Dr. James Peterson The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has become an unironic reflection of the current administration. The Reflecting Pool is supposed to center the architecture of American democracy – the Washington Monument, the Lincoln […]

todayAugust 27, 2026

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