Apr 14, 2021
Philly Under Fire | Ep. 1 "Roadmap to Nowhere"
Philadelphia 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…