The Morning Call Podcast

Where you live has a big bearing on how your life turns out, in big and small ways. It determines where you go to school, who you meet, how you talk. And it's a large factor in your access to healthcare. Morning Call health reporter Binghui Huang spent the better half of a year in a Carbon County town, the heart of Pennsylvania's shadow of a coal region, and published a series answering the question of why people in this region are some of the sickest in the state. This week on The Morning call Podcast, an inside look at her special report. The Morning Call Podcast is a production of The Morning Call in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Kayla Dwyer is the host and producer. Read the series at https://www.mcall.com/news/watchdog/sick-and-struggling/

Michael Wargo's battle was long and extremely well hidden. He spent 10 months in Afghanistan, then eight years battling PTSD, then four and a half hours explaining his life-altering decision in a video his parents received when it was too late to change anything. A recent audit of the Veterans Administration shows they had millions of dollars budgeted for veteran suicide awareness that went unspent last year. This week on The Morning call Podcast, columnist Paul Muschick explains what happened, and the Wargos explain the stakes.

"You just grew to love those patients. You had to or you wouldn’t have been able to work there." Interest in preserving the former Allentown State Hospital has resurged in light of impending demolition plans. But even if the buildings themselves don't get preserved, memories of them can. Two former employees share their experiences in this week's episode of The Morning Call Podcast. The Morning Call Podcast is a production of The Morning Call in Allentown, Pennsylvania, sponsored by the Lehigh Center for Clinical Research. Kayla Dwyer is the host and producer. Music in this episode is by Tristan Noon, George Beck, Lee Rosevere and Martin Gratton.

This week, the Tamaqua Area School District board may vote to suspend a controversial gun policy as not one, but two court battles wage on. What does that mean for the long run for Policy 705? In this episode, reporter Sarah Wojcik gives the backstory on how the policy to arm teachers in Tamaqua came about. Plus, teachers and parents weigh in on whether guns belong in the hands of school staff. The Morning Call Podcast is a production of The Morning Call in Allentown, Pennsylvania, sponsored by the Lehigh Center for Clinical Research. Kayla Dwyer is the host and producer. Music in this episode is by Lee Rosevere, Paul Lawler and George Beck.

We always get to the end of the year and think, what a crazy year. Odds are the year before was just as wild and the year to come is also full of surprises. You can find all of our year-in-review analyses, plus looks ahead at 2019, at themorningcall.com. This New Year's Eve episode brings you some of the most impactful sounds of 2018, plus a recap of a major trial coming up shortly in 2019.

How and why does one decide to put on the red suit and become Santa Claus? This week on the Morning Call podcast, two jolly men describe their origin stories, some comical mishaps and some magic, too. Because 'tis the season. The Morning Call Podcast is a production of The Morning Call in Allentown, Pennsylvania, sponsored by the Lehigh Center for Clinical Research. Kayla Dwyer is the host and producer. Music in this episode is by Lee Rosevere, Tristan Noon, Hermann Langschwert, Michael Roselieb and George Beck.

Since we published our four-part crime series, Funny Girl, on the mysterious death of Jamie Lee Metzger, Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek has made a ruling in her case. So we bring you a bonus episode: The ruling. Read and listen to the rest of the series at themorningcall.com/funnygirl. Podcast produced and edited by Kayla Dwyer of The Morning Call. Stories reported and written by Pam Lehman and Laurie Mason Schroeder of The Morning Call.

It’s no exaggeration to say it’s difficult to picture The Morning Call without columnist Bill White. He parodied politicians and held them to task; he showcased the most brilliant holiday light displays and ate his way through Musikfest; he sought out a slew of strange characters but called out the bad actors and the rabblerousers. Bill retired last week. So we sat down for a final interview, to talk about where some of his famous traditions originated, how he accidentally drank Windex, and who made his personal Hall of Fame, in this extended Morning Call podcast. The Morning Call Podcast is a production of The Morning Call in Allentown, Pennsylvania, sponsored by the Lehigh Center for Clinical Research. Kayla Dwyer is the host and producer. Music in this episode is by Lee Rosevere, Huw Jones and Sam Brown.

An unknown 23-year-old piano man gave two concerts at The Roxy in Northampton in 1973. A local radio producer recorded it on cassette, then promptly lost the tape. That man was Billy Joel, and those tapes have been found. Morning Call music critic John Moser explains. That's this week, on The Morning Call Podcast. Audio footage of Billy Joel is courtesy of Denny Somach. The Morning Call Podcast is a production of The Morning Call in Allentown, Pennsylvania, sponsored by the Lehigh Center for Clinical Research. Kayla Dwyer is the host and producer.

Did the Moravians -- radical Protestants who game to Bethlehem from Germany in 1741 -- share Thanksgiving with local Native Americans? Perhaps not in the way we'd think of it today. No pilgrim hats, no turkeys. In a special Thanksgiving episode, host Kayla Dwyer examines the relationship between Moravian missionaries and Native Americans throughout the colonial era through the lens of their own diaries and letters. Guests include Paul Peucker, director and archivist at the Moravian Archives in Bethlehem; Katherine Faull, professor of German studies and comparative humanities at Bucknell University; and Madeline Morris, a tour guide for Historic Bethlehem Museums and Sites. This episode was originally published Nov. 24, 2017. The Morning Call Podcast is a production of The Morning Call in Allentown, Pennsylvania, sponsored by the Lehigh Center for Clinical Research. Kayla Dwyer is the host and producer. Music in this episode is by Paul Lawler and Christian Lloyd.

Three and a half years to find her. Then another 11 months and counting to determine what happened to her. How can her case go on so long? The Morning Call presents part four of Funny Girl: The Mysterious Death of Jamie Lee Metzger. A podcast serial in four parts. Go to themorningcall.com/funnygirl to read part four of the series. Podcast produced and edited by Kayla Dwyer of The Morning Call. Stories reported and written by Pam Lehman and Laurie Mason Schroeder of The Morning Call.

He was a guy who always had a joke. Or he was a manipulator. The truth would get buried with him. The Morning Call presents part three of Funny Girl: The Mysterious Death of Jamie Lee Metzger. A podcast serial in four parts. Go to themorningcall.com/funnygirl to read part three of the series. Podcast produced and edited by Kayla Dwyer of The Morning Call. Stories reported and written by Pam Lehman and Laurie Mason Schroeder of The Morning Call.

She wanted to be thin. She wanted to meet The One. She didn't want anyone to get hurt. The Morning Call presents part two of Funny Girl: The Mysterious Death of Jamie Lee Metzger. A podcast serial in four parts. Go to themorningcall.com/funnygirl to read part two of the series. Podcast produced and edited by Kayla Dwyer of The Morning Call. Stories reported and written by Pam Lehman and Laurie Mason Schroeder of The Morning call.

Her body was discovered almost a year ago sealed in a bin in someone's basement. She had disappeared more than three years before that. The Morning Call presents Funny Girl: The Mysterious Death of Jamie Lee Metzger. A podcast serial in four parts. Go to themorningcall.com/funnygirl for an introduction and Part 1. Podcast produced and edited by Kayla Dwyer of The Morning Call. Stories reported and written by Pam Lehman and Laurie Mason Schroeder of The Morning call.

A man went downstairs to clean out his father's basement in Williams Township, Pennsylvania -- about 20 miles east of Allentown. His gruesome discovery is what a woman's family has been waiting for for three and a half years. The Morning Call presents part one of Funny Girl: The Mysterious Death of Jamie Lee Metzger. A podcast serial in four parts. Go to themorningcall.com/funnygirl for an introduction and to read part one of the series. Podcast produced and edited by Kayla Dwyer of The Morning Call. Stories reported and written by Pam Lehman and Laurie Mason Schroeder of The Morning call.