This Week on WURD: State budgets, missing persons, global representation & systemic justice

Gov. Josh Shapiro joined Solomon Jones on Wake Up With WURD to discuss his proposed $53.2 billion state budget, promising no tax increases while boosting funding for schools, housing, and transit. He renewed a push to legalize recreational marijuana, with set-asides for small and diverse businesses. Shapiro also backed legal action to restore Philadelphia’s President’s House slavery exhibit.

Natalie Wilson, chief operating officer of the Black and Missing Foundation, joined Wake Up With WURD to discuss the kidnapping of Savannah Guthrie’s elderly mother. She said that media coverage is one of the best ways to pressure law enforcement to prioritize a missing person, while acknowledging this can be a challenge for Black families who struggle to draw attention to their cases.

DJ Ramos, New York radio DJ and podcaster, joined Dr. James Peterson on Evening WURDs to break down Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance, calling it a global moment for Puerto Rican and Latino representation amid political backlash. Ramos said Bad Bunny was “mixing medicine with the candy,” highlighting colonialism, blackouts, and displacement while keeping the message positive and focused on unity.

Dorothy Roberts, sociologist and Penn law professor, joined Evening WURDs to discuss The Mixed Marriage Project, a memoir built from 25 boxes of her late father’s archived interviews with interracial couples in segregated 1930s Chicago. Roberts said the research disrupted her understanding of family, love, and race and argued that interracial intimacy doesn’t equal racial progress without dismantling racist systems.

Keith Armstrong, an attorney with ACLU-PA, joined Amadee Braxton on Solutions to discuss the group’s Freedom of Information Act request seeking records on Parady La, a longtime Upper Darby resident and Cambodian refugee who died days after being detained by ICE at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia. Armstrong said La was given Narcan even though he was experiencing withdrawal, not an overdose.

State Rep. Andre D. Carroll and filmmaker Christina Faith joined Tiffany Bacon on the Midday Break Room to discuss the Creative Tax Credit Enhancement Act (HB 1775), aimed at expanding incentives beyond film to digital, gaming, and independent creators. They said the bill targets relief for working creatives and is designed to retain creative talent in Philadelphia.