In this month’s episode, we spoke to Alexis Santos, PhD, Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State, and David Saunders, Director of the Office of Health Equity for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, about different disparities throughout the Pennsylvania Commonwealth and how the lack of good data impacts what we understand […]
Episode 5 – The Stigma of the Opioid Crisis
What is there left to say about the opioid crisis that has not already been said? It’s claimed thousands of lives, torn apart families and communities, strained our country’s already fractured healthcare system, and cost the economy billions, perhaps trillions, of dollars. If burning a path through communities for the last twenty years was not […]
Episode 4 – The Chronic Crisis of Housing
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues and unemployment benefits for many Americans decrease significantly at the end of July, many Americans will be unable to pay rents and mortgages and may face eviction. Given the severity of this particular crisis, July’s episode focuses on multiple issues related to housing in America, like the lack of affordable […]
Episode 1 – Criminal Sentencing Guidelines
This week, we spoke to Penn State’s Jeff Ulmer, PhD, Professor of Sociology and Criminology, and Mark Bergstrom, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing about criminal sentencing guidelines. Sentencing guidelines are a set of standards that are generally put in place to establish rational and consistent sentencing practices within a particular jurisdiction.