Episode 7: Detective Mode
Philly Under Fire
Less than half of the murderers who committed crimes in Philadelphia in 2020 were brought to justice. There are Instagram and YouTube accounts dedicated to unsolved murders in Philadelphia. The mothers of the victims are fed the hell up and they have taken to the streets to solve the murders on their own. They’ve had no choice but to switch into detective mode.
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Episode 6: The Golden Hour
Philly Under Fire
The hours and days after a shooting are often called the golden hour for survivors of gun violence and for their families. This is a time when support, outreach and services can redirect anger and potentially stop a retaliatory shooting.
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Episode 5: Killadelphia
Philly Under Fire
One of the quotes that stayed with us the most while reporting Philly Under Fire came from Melany Nelson of Northwest Victim Services. “I've spoken to many youth and they said to me, ‘Ms. Nelson, either you're going to be the predator or the prey. So you have to pick one.’ So nine times out of 10, they're going to be the predator. They told me that they expect to die young.”
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Episode 4: A Fresh 24
Philly Under Fire
A recent Temple study found that gun violence surged as the Covid-19 pandemic worsened poverty, unemployment, and structural racism. Poverty and a lack of jobs leads to desperation; desperation can lead to gun violence.
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Episode 3: Get in Front of the Beef
Philly Under Fire
So, are there any proven solutions to gun violence? In this episode, Jo introduces listeners to organizations in Philly and elsewhere—Chicago, Oakland—that have made meaningful progress even if it isn’t easy. Underlying these programs are strategies like using data to identify who’s most likely to be shot—and to shoot; talking to shooters; mediating and de-escalating “beefs” before they get too hot.
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Episode 2: The Other Epidemic
Philly Under Fire
On an average night Penn Presbyterian trauma nurse Rhonda Browning will see one or two shooting victims, usually young black men who are getting younger and younger each year.
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Episode 1: Roadmap to Nowhere
Philly Under Fire
Philly experienced a surge in gun violence in 2020, with 499 of our fellow residents killed and another 2,200 shot.
info_outlinePhiladelphia experienced a tragic surge in gun violence in 2020, with 499 of our fellow residents killed and another 2,200 shot. Like other cities across the country, there were several factors for the uptick in violence, including the Covid-19 pandemic, which devastated some neighborhoods and many residents physically and economically. But Philadelphia was already experiencing an uptick in shootings, even before the pandemic hit. And that violence continues unabated today.
In February 2020, The Citizen commissioned bestselling author/journalist/podcaster Jo Piazza to try to understand the causes, effects and fixes for gun violence. A month later, Covid-19 came to Philly. Piazza spent the ensuing months navigating the twin epidemics, recognizing the parallels in who was affected and how the afflictions manifested in certain neighborhoods—and the differences in how we as a city reacted. Her seven-episode podcast tells the stories of Philadelphians intimately affected by the city’s gun violence, those working to end it, those who have found solutions here and elsewhere—and those who have failed to step up to this moment when we most need them.
Philly Under Fire is a podcast of stories and solutions. You can’t solve a problem you can’t see. This first episode takes us behind the scenes of the city's ongoing meetings to address the current gun violence crisis. We highlight the work of the Philadelphia Obituary Project, a nonprofit organization that seeks to memorialize the lives of Philadelphians killed by gun violence. We also speak to Kimberly Kamara, an activist, a mother and a children’s book author who published a children’s book called “Where’s My Daddy?” to explain her son’s death by gun violence to the little boy he left behind.