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 to interpret Black Revolutionary-era history.

Joi Washington, mayor of Media borough in Delaware County, joined Ernest Owens on On the Record to discuss her historic election as the borough’s first woman and first Black woman mayor. Washington pointed to Media’s expanding composting program, pedestrian-safety work and a new stormwater project as examples of how smaller municipalities can respond to climate and quality-of-life concerns.

Brandon Tensley, national politics reporter at Capital B News, joined Dr. James Peterson on Evening WURDs to discuss the renewed March on Washington for voting rights amid escalating redistricting battles. Tensley said the fight may be producing an unintended consequence for Republicans: greater Black political engagement, as the NAACP prepares a $20 million midterm turnout campaign targeting 6.5 million Black voters.

Linn Washington Jr., retired Temple University journalism professor and co-founder of the Urban Reporting Lab, joined Solomon Jones on Wake Up With WURD to discuss President Donald Trump’s attacks on NBC journalist Kristen Welker. Washington said the pressure campaign is already chilling coverage and encouraging self-censorship, arguing that press organizations and civic institutions must push back collectively.

Russell Zerbo, advocate with the Clean Air Council, joined P.O.C. on EcoWURD to discuss Amazon’s proposed Bucks County data center, which could rely on more than 350 gas and diesel generators. Zerbo questioned whether Pennsylvania can meaningfully enforce proposed operating limits and said Philadelphia should also stop sending roughly a third of its trash to Chester’s ReWorld incinerator.

Beth Hillman, president of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, joined Tiffany Bacon on The Midday Break Room to discuss the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks and their continuing health toll. Hillman said nearly 450 FDNY firefighters have died from 9/11-related illnesses since the attacks, surpassing the 343 firefighters killed that day.