Thinking about buying a pre-owned car? It can be a smart financial move—but only if you know what to look for. I’m joined by Joshua Blum of Joshua Motors to share expert advice on how to shop smart. From spotting red flags to avoiding common mistakes, Joshua breaks down what makes a reliable used car and how to ensure you're making a sound investment.
Learn more at jmccauto.com
Books, big ideas, and bold voices—we're joined by Daniel Blank, Managing Director of Public Programs at the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation, to talk about their dynamic spring Author Events Series. This season features guests like Maria Shriver, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and a highly anticipated conversation with Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson. With accessibility in mind, the series now offers a new $5 ticketing model. Daniel shares what’s driving this momentum and why it’s become one of the most beloved cultural programs in the city.
Visit freelibraryfoundation.org for the full schedule.
Follow them on Instagram & Facebook: @freelibraryfdn
What’s the future of cancer research—and other critical breakthroughs in medicine?
I speak with Dr. Ron Collman, a critical care physician and researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, who participated in the Stand Up for Science rally at Philadelphia City Hall—not in his professional capacity, but as a concerned citizen. He shares why restoring federal funding for scientific research is vital to public health, medical progress, and the future of lifesaving innovation. Learn more at standupforscience2025.org
Join the conversation on social media using #StandUpForScience
Learn more at jmccauto.com
Books, big ideas, and bold voices—we're joined by Daniel Blank, Managing Director of Public Programs at the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation, to talk about their dynamic spring Author Events Series. This season features guests like Maria Shriver, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and a highly anticipated conversation with Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson. With accessibility in mind, the series now offers a new $5 ticketing model. Daniel shares what’s driving this momentum and why it’s become one of the most beloved cultural programs in the city.
Visit freelibraryfoundation.org for the full schedule.
Follow them on Instagram & Facebook: @freelibraryfdn
What’s the future of cancer research—and other critical breakthroughs in medicine?
I speak with Dr. Ron Collman, a critical care physician and researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, who participated in the Stand Up for Science rally at Philadelphia City Hall—not in his professional capacity, but as a concerned citizen. He shares why restoring federal funding for scientific research is vital to public health, medical progress, and the future of lifesaving innovation. Learn more at standupforscience2025.org
Join the conversation on social media using #StandUpForScience
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, and welcome to what's going on. It is
all about making a difference in our lives and our communities.
I'm Lorraine Ballertmorrow. The Free Library of Philadelphia hosts their
author events which bring powerhouse guests in Philadelphia for a
very affordable price. I speak to a researcher who's making
an urgent plea to restore funding for medical and other
scientific research research that's on the president's chopping block. But first,
(00:23):
buying a pre owned vehicle can be a smart financial decision,
but it also comes with challenges. How do you know
you're getting a reliable car at a fair price. Well,
today we're joined by Joshua Blum, owner and general manager
of Joshua Motorcar Company or JMCC, a trusted name in
the automotive industry, to share expert advice on best practices
(00:45):
when purchasing a pre owned vehicle. Will break down what
buyers should look for, common mistakes to avoid, and how
to make sure you're making a solid investment. Joshua, thank
you for being here. What are some of the key
factors the buyer should consider when shopping for a pre
owned vehicle?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Thank you so much, Lorraine. It's a pleasure to be
here and thank you for having me on number one.
Find somewhere that you trust, find somebody that you like.
These are pre owned vehicles. Every pre owned vehicle is different.
When they come off the factory line, one and two
are the same, and then you drive one and I
drive one, and five years later they're two totally different vehicles.
So we do our best to be the detectives to
(01:25):
try and find the right cars and going somewhere that
you trust, going somewhere that you like, the service that
you provide. At the end of the day, the thing
that we have going against us is that we sell
a product that breaks. And whether you buy a new
car a used car, whether you buy a car from
me or a car from the guy down the street,
at some point in the life of that vehicle, something
(01:47):
is going to break. It's not always the dealer that
sold you the car that it's their fault, but it's
how it's rectified and how somebody makes up for it
and doing the right thing by the customer and taking
care of people. Our goal is a business is not
to hurt people. It's to help people.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Share with us some red flags that might indicate that
a pre owned car might not be a good purchase.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Of course, there are tools in the industry, things like
vehicle history reports, car Facts obviously being the probably the
biggest name known to most people. There's also Auto check
Out there as well. Those are tools, but not everything
gets reported to those history companies. So it's about using
your tools, using the things around you, seeking the advice
(02:29):
of a professional. If you are not mechanically savvy, bring
a mechanic with you to a use car dealership. Most
pre owned dealerships will allow that a lot of times.
They don't want you to take the car to your
own mechanic. Sometimes they would prefer that you would bring
a mechanic to the dealership. But do your homework, have
your peace of mind that you know what you're buying now.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
I wonder what world financing plays in buying a use car.
What should buyers know before securing alone.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
People come to our dealership with all different types of credits, auations,
financial situations, previous automotive situations. Our goal is to work
with every single person that comes to our dealership to
try and provide the best situation possible to give the
customer the opportunity to put themselves in the best financial situation,
(03:19):
not just today, but moving forward. Our goal is really
to build people's automotive financial success. And we have all
different types of banks at our dealership that we work
with that handle everything from top prime customers that we
can be competitive with some of the franchise dealers, as
well as banks that work almost like a buy here,
(03:41):
pay here. Now we're not a dealership that does buy here,
pay here, but we have banks that work with programs
very similar to that to help people with tough credit situations.
We are always happy to work with our customers. Somebody
comes to my dealership wanting to buy a car that
really is a little bit of a reach for them,
and they need mom and dad to co sign, and
I always tell them, listen, mom and dad will co
(04:03):
sign when you're looking at a smart, responsible decision purchasing
that reliable sedan as opposed to that cool sports car
that I know you want.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
You know, yes, these are all definitely factors, especially when
you're having your parents co sign. Certified pre owned vehicles
are often marketed as a safer choice. What is the
difference between certified and regular pre owned cars? And is
it worth the extra.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Cost when you go to a franchise dealer, that franchise
is allowed to put that tagline of certified on that vehicle.
And what that dealer does is a number of checks.
Whether they have their seventy two point ninety two one
hundred point check on those vehicles. They can then put
that tag. If it's a Honda dealer or a Ford dealer,
(04:51):
or a Chevy dealer, they can certify a Chevy vehicle
four dealer Honda dealer. And most people do think that
there is some peace of mind with going to that
Chevy dealer and buying a Chevy certified car at our dealership.
And yeah, and I can't speak for every pre owned dealer.
I know there's good people and bad people in any business,
people who do things the right way and people who don't.
We know plenty of people in the business who do
(05:13):
do things the right way. And going to a dealership
that has a reputation, that wants to do the right thing,
that cares, that takes care of people, we would put
those vehicles through the same exact number of checks that
a franchise store would. We hold ourselves to the same
standards of reconditioning and service on our vehicles, and every
vehicle that we sell, we know has been serviced and
(05:36):
maintained and to our standard that we're going to put
out on our front line and say, this is a
car that we can stand behind as a dealer, that
we feel confident is a good, reliable vehicle for somebody
to purchase at any price point and that you know
will last in all good intention as long as you
know one could expect that vehicle to last certified versus
purchasing from a pre owned dealer going to the right
(05:58):
pre owned dealer that can provide the maintenance records and
the things that we're done to the car to make
sure that it meets those same levels and those same
specifications that a franchise store would. I think you can
get just as good of a quality product from somebody
again that you trust, that you know, that holds themselves
to that standard.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
What are some final steps of buyers should take before
driving off the lot to ensure they're making a confident purchase.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Well, it all comes down to are you satisfied and
are you comfortable with every aspect of the experience, so
you can go somewhere fall in love with the car,
But maybe the dealership or the person you're working with
is in meeting your needs or what you're looking for,
even though maybe the car is right, or the deal's
not right or the financing. I think it's all the pieces.
When you go somewhere and you find a car that
(06:43):
you feel good about, that you're happy with, that you're
confident in, that you can see yourself driving, and when
the price works out. We always like to say, you know,
a good deal is a good deal. A deal that's
too good to be true is usually too good to
be true. I always tell people, if you're looking for
the cheapest one, there's usually a reason that it's the
cheapest one. And sometimes the right price is the right
(07:06):
price for the right car. When we were talking a
little bit more about the car facts and history reports
and things like that, the internet has really changed the
car buying experience. The customer can go online, they can
look and do as much research and homework today on
any particular vehicle. Youar make model down to mileage and color,
and you can compare and contrast with every vehicle for
(07:28):
sale on the market. When somebody comes to my dealership
and they say, I love your car. It's a clean car, fax,
it's a one owner vehicle. It's all of these things,
and therefore we've determined that the price of the vehicle
warrants X. But yeah, there's this one over here. It's
one thousand dollars less, same mileage, same color, same car.
(07:49):
Why shouldn't I go look at that one. We're about
three minutes away from Philadelphia, and it's a totally different
world across the bridge. The types of cars that are
so New Jersey. And there are great dealerships in Philadelphia,
don't get me wrong. There are great dealerships in New York.
Don't get me wrong. It's always the North Jersey, New
York Philadelphia dealerships that price them a little bit cheaper,
(08:11):
get people to come in the door. And when you
read the fine print, those same dealerships, they have extra fees,
extra costs, the price of the car the dealer has
to pay to obtain the car. Today, that information is
all available as well, so every dealer knows what somebody
else had to pay within a certain range to get
(08:32):
that car. There's no way somebody could sell that car
that cheap. There has to be a story. And I
think that that's when it comes back to the last
question you asked is what instills that confidence in you
in making that purchase. Are you getting a story or
are you're getting a good deal from somebody. Are you
spending the right amount of money to purchase a quality
(08:52):
product that's going to last you from somebody you trust,
or are you going to go somewhere to try and
save one thousand dollars and find out that the experiences
and what you wanted the vehicle is not up to
expectations and that dealership is going to try and charge
fees and all those extra things that make the price
(09:12):
of the car not as advertised. In a world today
where our business really thrives on reviews, we're a small,
independent dealership. We have much more of a grassroots operation.
We're very active in our community in Pennsauken. We do
a lot of business with our neighbors. We love helping
our neighbors and our local community. We have a great
(09:35):
team of people that love to help and take care
of our customers. I would welcome any of your listeners
to come to our dealership and meet us, even if
they're not buying, just to shake a hand and say hello,
Now I know you know my father when I came
into the business back in twenty eighteen and I said
to him, now, I think we can do this, but
we're going to do it the right way, and we're
going to treat people fairly. We're going to sell a
(09:57):
quality vehicle. Are we here to make money? Are we
a business? Of course, we wouldn't be able to sell
the products that we sell and offer the service and
keep the doors open if we weren't making money. But
at the same time, it's about taking care of the
customers and making sure that they are getting a quality product,
they're getting value for what they're spending. Aside from a
home and automotive purchase is probably one of the second
(10:20):
largest purchase that most people make in their lives. And
when you're spending ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty, forty, all the
way up thousand dollars of your own money, it's a
big purchase and it's important. It's nice to be able
to provide that for people and know that know that
our goal is really to take care of people, to
put them in better situations and set them up for
future financial success. And we will have those conversations with
(10:43):
people about look, I know you want this car today
this is the right financial decision for you for this year,
next year, and the third year when you build the
credit up, when you have the savings to get into
that dream car. We're here for you when that time comes.
We're not going anywhere. We're here to build the relationships
for today, for tomorrow, for the future. I want you
to think of us not when you need a car,
(11:05):
but when your aunt's, uncles, cousins, friends, relatives when they
need a car. We want everybody to be thinking about
Joshua Motorcar Company in Pennsauken.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Great. And of course I do know your dad, Richard Blum,
who's been around for for many decades and was the
go to guy for our wonderful late wdas program director Butterball,
and he always relied on on Richard too to take
care of his automotive NEUSA, which you had many Listen
if anyone, if anyone is interested in finding out more
(11:37):
about Joshua Motorcar Company JMCC, how do they find out more?
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Check out our website Jmccautoauto dot com JMCC. Like Joshua
Motorcar Company, you can also check us out on social
media jmcc auto Facebook, Instagram, or you could come visit
us in Pennsauck in thirty four to twenty nine Haddenfield Road.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
We've been speaking with Joshua Blum, owner and general manager
of Joshua Motorcar Company, and I want to thank you
for giving us some tips and tricks for buying a
pre owned vehicle.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Thank you so much, Lorraine, it was a pleasure. Thank
you so much for having me. You're listening to what's
going on.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Have you really dreamed of meeting your heroes, whether it
be music and politics or amazing authors. Well, the Free
Library of Philadelphia is your go to institution to make
those connections, because some extraordinary authors come to the Free
Library for their Dynamic Free Library Author Event Series and
(12:39):
to tell us all about it some things that we
can look forward to. Daniel Blank, who is the Managing
director of Public Programs at the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation.
He and his team are in the middle of a
dynamic spring session of Free Library's Author Event series and
we're going to talk all about it and also about
this amazing opportunity to go for practical nothing. So Daniel,
(13:01):
I'm so glad to speak with you today because the
Free Libraries had some amazing authors in the past, and
you have some incredible authors coming up. So tell us
what makes this spring season of the Author Events series
especially different from past years.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Well, first of all, Lorraine, thank you so much for
having me. It's great to be here, great to speak
with you. One of the things that makes this spring
season so exciting is the incredible range of authors we have.
This is one of the most diverse and eclectic seasons
that I think we've ever had. Over the next couple
of months alone, we're welcoming scientists, powitz, sports writers, novelists, politicians,
(13:40):
and political commentators. That's just April May in the beginning
of June. The past couple of months, we've had food writers,
travel writers, historians, musicians. One of the things I set
out to do when planning this season was to make
sure that there was literally something that would appeal to everyone,
and we feel we've accomplished that.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Yeah, you've had some amazing authors in the past, authors
that you don't often necessarily think of as author's Springsteen
was a great example. I know that was a very
high demand ticket, and you've got so much more. You
recently had a rock star in the house. Tell us
about that we did.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
On this past Thursday night. We had Peter Woolf, formerly
of the Jay Giles Band, who is having a very
formidable solo career, drew a packed house. Three hundred and
seventy people showed up, many of them in their old
tied eyed Jay Giles Band t shirts. We didn't just
have a full auditorium. We had people waiting to get
into the auditorium hours before the show. It was like
(14:36):
going back in time. It was amazing, and we actually
had the longest signing line, at least in my time here,
we've ever had about one hundred and twenty people waited
in line to get their books. That's one of the
most exciting things about our events. You don't just get
to see the author on stage, but many, if not
most of them kindly agreed to sign books afterwards, and
(14:56):
people were waiting in line not just with copies of
the memoir, but with memorabilia from your past. One gentleman
showed me his ticket stub from a show at the
Spectrum in the nineteen seventies, So I think that speaks
to what we're really doing here is giving you an
up close experience with authors and connecting readers with writers
(15:17):
in a really special way.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
You have very high profile authors including Maria Schreiver and
doctor Anthony Fauci. Those are going to be some very
well attended. In fact, I believe they're already sold out.
Is that right?
Speaker 3 (15:31):
That's right. These are two sold out events. We're doing
them back to back this week. It's going to be
an incredible week and also kind of showcases a range.
They are very well known and renowned figures in their
own rights, but they're going to be very different discussions
and touching on different themes. So again coming back to
that kind of range and diversity that I was talking about,
(15:52):
it's exciting to have them here. Though they're going to
be incredible events.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
The other aspect of the free Library Author event is
that you've dropped the price enormously. Tell us about that
and why you decided to do that.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
The old pricing model was a little bit opaque, and
when my team came on about seven months ago, we
didn't totally understand it. It used to be the case
that some events were free and other events cost seventeen
dollars and fifty cents. That was the standard ticket price,
and we were hearing from a lot of patrons that
that was cost prohibitive. That's a lot of money to
(16:29):
pay for a one hour author talk. So we decided,
in response to that feedback, we were getting to make
all events five dollars, to make it standardized, to make
it more equitable, and to make these events as consistently
accessible and as affordable as possible. And in the few
cases where the publishers have required us to sell a
(16:52):
book with the ticket, then we just add five dollars
to the ticket price. But one of the other motivations
for us doing this was that we were seeing that
with free events, people were registering but not necessarily attending.
We have limited space in our auditorium. It's very capacious.
We have about four hundred seats, but for our kickoff
(17:13):
event back in September, we had four hundred people register
but only about two hundred and sixty showed up, So
that was kind of another form of inaccessibility. We could
have had one hundred and twenty one hundred and forty
more people registering, but they weren't able to do so
because we thought that we were full. So I spoke
to some people who run comparable programs in Philly, and
(17:34):
also some people who run comparable programs in other parts
of the country, and the consensus, or the near consensus,
was really that you have to charge something. There has
to be some minimal level of commitment just so that
people feel that they have a reason to show up.
And we again made that commitment as minimal as we
(17:54):
possibly could, just five dollars. It doesn't go very far
towards covering the extensive cost of running a program like this,
but it's something we're really proud to be able to
do to keep cross that low, especially at a time
when arts and culture programming in Philadelphia and elsewhere is
not cheap. So we're really proud about that.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Yes, we're very glad to hear it. That's a very
affordable price for a lot of value. And I know
that many folks out there are very interested to find
out what your full lineup is going to be, and
also to check out some of the videos from past
author events, tell us how people register and where people
can go for more information in general.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Absolutely so, you can go to our website Free Libraryfoundation
dot org. You can see all of our events through
June and pretty soon within not the two distant future,
we're starting to turn our attention to the fall season
as well, so stay tuned for that. But for past events,
we record just about all of the events that take
place in our auditorium and those are available freely through YouTube,
(18:56):
so you can go to our YouTube channel and watch
those recordings, and it really gives these events a tremendous afterlife.
It's a great way that people can access them even
after they've happened.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Well, so much good stuff happening, so affordable. What a
great opportunity to meet some of your heroes or maybe
some of your front of these at the Free Library
of Philadelphia's Author Events series. Thank you so much. Is
there any final word that you want to share with
us before we close?
Speaker 3 (19:22):
I would just say we're so excited about this season,
and we've been so grateful to the response that we've
gotten from the Philadelphia community. People have really come out
for these events, and it's as a result of the
feedback that we received when our new team came on
board in the fall that we've instituted some changes and
the reactions we've gotten have just been wonderful. So a
big thank you to all of our current patrons and
(19:44):
all of our future patrons. I hope you'll come join
us at the library.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Well, I'm a big fan of the Free Library of Philadelphia.
That is the anchor of our community. Daniel Blank, who's
managing Directive of Public Programs at the Free Library of
Philadelphia Foundation. He and his team are in the middle
of a very exciting spring season of the Free Library's
author event series check it out. Thanks so much for joining.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Us, Daniel, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Loran advocates, researchers, and concerned citizens gathered in Philadelphia at
City Hall as part of the nationwide Stand Up for
Science rally recently. The event aimed at highlighting the critical
role of scientific research in advancing medical treatments and the
(20:28):
impact of severe federal funding cuts on ongoing projects, jobs,
and public health. Among the voices speaking out was doctor
Ron Coleman, a critical care physician and researcher studying lung
disease and infectious diseases including HIV and AIDS at the
University of Pennsylvania. While he joined the rally in a
personal capacity, his insight shed light on the urgent need
(20:51):
to protect biomedical research funding. So we're going to talk
about the rally's key messages. Why science advocacy matters and
how these funding cuts but impact patients and research institutions
right here in Philadelphia. So Ron, so glad to see you,
so glad to be talking about this issue. And let's
begin by asking you the question what motivated you to
(21:13):
participate in the Stand Up for Science rally and what
was the main message there.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
Well, thanks so much, Lorain for having me on your show.
I really appreciate the opportunity to talk a little bit
about this, and I want to emphasize that I do
my research and I take care of patients in the
medical Intensive Care Unit at the University of Pennsylvania. But
I'm here speaking in a personal capacity, not as a
representative of the university. So the reason I'm glad to
(21:41):
have a chance here to talk a little bit about
what's going on with medical research is because I think
a lot of people don't see what the connection is
between research being done at universities and how it affects them,
how it affects all of us in our everyday lives.
The connection between the federal government funding research research carried
(22:02):
out at universities and the treatments and cures and prevention
for diseases that we have now and that we're hoping
will have advances in the future. So the United States
has an incredibly successful and really unusual partnership relationship that
developed over the last seventy or so years. After the
(22:22):
Second World War, the federal government decided that the US
should be number one in biomedical research, and it developed
an approach whereby the National Institutes of Health, which is
a part of the federal government, either issues calls for
researchers to study in a particular area that they think
is important, or they listen to ideas that researchers have
(22:44):
that might help advance the health in a particular area
prevent Alzheimer's disease, or treat or cure Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular disease,
infectious diseases. So the partnership is that the National Institute
of Health figures out what are important areas that need
to have research, researchers carry out that research. The federal
(23:07):
government provides funding through the universities so that those researchers
can carry out that research. That research then leads to
new discoveries. The researchers publish those discoveries so other people
can work with them and then eventually they lead to
new treatments and new cures. So, if any of your
(23:29):
listeners have had any sort of cancer that's been treated
with anything virtually that we use to treat cancer, or
heart disease, or hepatitis, or an infection that has been
developed through research carried out at universities that was funded
by the National Institute of.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
Health, I wonder if you can explain how these cuts
in federal funding have already impacted biomedical research, especially right
here in Philly.
Speaker 4 (23:57):
Well, you know, because they're just beginning, we are absolutely
not seeing the full impact. One thing that I can
tell you is that because there isn't going to be
funding for research in many labs, we can't bring students
into the labs to train them to be the next
generation of researchers. So if you bring a student in
(24:19):
to train to be a scientist, you need to be
confident that you're going to be able to support them
over time. And so, you know, the cuts in funding
affect the investigators doing the work. Most importantly, it prevents
the new discoveries that are going to be the treatments
and advances in medical care in five years or in
(24:41):
ten years, and maybe even more important is we're going
to lose training the next generation of scientists, and that
is going to affect medical care, treatment and advances over
the next generation.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
In addition to the potential slow down in breakth throo's
in research, this actually can result in loss of jobs
and that's going to have an impact on the economy.
I wonder if you can talk a bit more about that.
Speaker 4 (25:09):
It's a huge economic impact. You know, there have been
certainly discussions in the media and the newspapers of how
many billions of dollars in our region are dependent upon
this type of research. But I'll just give you a
small personal example. You know, we think about the lead
scientists who may be running a research program, but there
are clinical coordinators who actually interface with the patients. There
(25:34):
are the laboratory technicians who do many of the experiments.
There are the technicians who handle the laboratory mice and
laboratory rats. There are the housekeeping staff who keep the
lamps clean. There's the engineering staff who keeps the electricity
flowing to our freezers that are at minus eighty degrees centigrade.
(25:55):
There's a huge workforce, especially in the Philadelphia area, there's
a huge workforce that will be put out of work
if in fact these cuts come to pass.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
For those who want to support science and research funding,
tell us, what are some actions that we can take
to make a difference.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
Well, I think the first thing that's really most important,
and you know, I kind of fault many of us
on the inside in the scientific and research area by
not being good enough explainers of what research is and
what's the connection between research and the advancement of people's health.
So a lot of the burden is on us to
(26:32):
be clearer about what's going on. But for anybody who's
worried about maybe not getting the cancer treatment that would
be available to cure them in five years or ten years,
or the economic impact and losing jobs of people, you know,
the things that we can do or talk to your
friends and your neighbors, help everyone understand right to or
(26:53):
maybe even better, call your congressmen, your senators, contact the
federal administration, let them know what you think about this.
You know, do you value keeping up a trajectory of
advancing medical care. Also, one of the reasons that this
whole program, a federally funded biomedical research was developed was
(27:16):
to advance medical care. But another piece of it was
to make America number one, and America has been number
one across all the sciences. Now with these cuts, America
is going to fall to number two, number three, number four.
So if you care about keeping America great in science,
(27:37):
this is a really important thing for us to recognize.
You know, China is nipping out our heels as far
as scientific advances, and with all of these cuts, there's
no doubt in my mind that China is going to
overtake us and we're going to be beholden to them
for biomedical advances and will be number two, and then
(27:59):
we'll be number three, that's right, and then well, who
knows how far down we're going to fall. So speak out,
share this knowledge with other people, and if you feel
strongly about this, let people know about it.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
And there's also this organization called Stand Up for Science
twenty twenty five. They were the organizers of the rally,
the Stand Up for Science Rally, And I believe there's
a website there, stand Up for Science twenty twenty five
dot org. So I imagine that might be a good place
to start too for anyone who's interested in supporting better funding,
good funding for science research, right.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
I think that's a great place to start and to
make sure that we don't take these huge steps backwards
that are going to hurt the health of our country
as well as our local economy.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
The University of Pennsylvania has been the site of many
great breakthroughs in science and medical research, and a lot
of lives have been saved not only through Pen's research,
but research all across the country. So definitely check out
stand Up for Science twenty twenty five dot org. And
I want to thank you so much doctor Ron Coleman,
(29:07):
a critical care physician and researcher studying lung disease and
infectious diseases at the University of Pennsylvania, who joined the
recent rally as an individual, not as a representative of
the University of Pennsylvania, but as a concerned citizen. Stand
Up for Science rally is where he was and so
many hundreds of people to get together to support continuing
(29:30):
funding for research by the federal government for all the
diseases that impact us here. So thank you so much
for joining us.
Speaker 4 (29:37):
Here today, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
You could listen to all of today's interviews by going
to our station website and typing in Keyword community. You
can also listen on the iHeartRadio app Y Words Philadelphia
Community Podcast. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Lorraine Ballard.
I'm Lorraine Ballardmorrow and I stand for service to our
community and media that empowers. What will you stand for?
(30:00):
Listney to What's going on?
Speaker 3 (30:02):
ED.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
Thank you
Good morning, and welcome to what's going on. It is
all about making a difference in our lives and our communities.
I'm Lorraine Ballertmorrow. The Free Library of Philadelphia hosts their
author events which bring powerhouse guests in Philadelphia for a
very affordable price. I speak to a researcher who's making
an urgent plea to restore funding for medical and other
scientific research research that's on the president's chopping block. But first,
(00:23):
buying a pre owned vehicle can be a smart financial decision,
but it also comes with challenges. How do you know
you're getting a reliable car at a fair price. Well,
today we're joined by Joshua Blum, owner and general manager
of Joshua Motorcar Company or JMCC, a trusted name in
the automotive industry, to share expert advice on best practices
(00:45):
when purchasing a pre owned vehicle. Will break down what
buyers should look for, common mistakes to avoid, and how
to make sure you're making a solid investment. Joshua, thank
you for being here. What are some of the key
factors the buyer should consider when shopping for a pre
owned vehicle?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Thank you so much, Lorraine. It's a pleasure to be
here and thank you for having me on number one.
Find somewhere that you trust, find somebody that you like.
These are pre owned vehicles. Every pre owned vehicle is different.
When they come off the factory line, one and two
are the same, and then you drive one and I
drive one, and five years later they're two totally different vehicles.
So we do our best to be the detectives to
(01:25):
try and find the right cars and going somewhere that
you trust, going somewhere that you like, the service that
you provide. At the end of the day, the thing
that we have going against us is that we sell
a product that breaks. And whether you buy a new
car a used car, whether you buy a car from
me or a car from the guy down the street,
at some point in the life of that vehicle, something
(01:47):
is going to break. It's not always the dealer that
sold you the car that it's their fault, but it's
how it's rectified and how somebody makes up for it
and doing the right thing by the customer and taking
care of people. Our goal is a business is not
to hurt people. It's to help people.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Share with us some red flags that might indicate that
a pre owned car might not be a good purchase.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Of course, there are tools in the industry, things like
vehicle history reports, car Facts obviously being the probably the
biggest name known to most people. There's also Auto check
Out there as well. Those are tools, but not everything
gets reported to those history companies. So it's about using
your tools, using the things around you, seeking the advice
(02:29):
of a professional. If you are not mechanically savvy, bring
a mechanic with you to a use car dealership. Most
pre owned dealerships will allow that a lot of times.
They don't want you to take the car to your
own mechanic. Sometimes they would prefer that you would bring
a mechanic to the dealership. But do your homework, have
your peace of mind that you know what you're buying now.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
I wonder what world financing plays in buying a use car.
What should buyers know before securing alone.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
People come to our dealership with all different types of credits, auations,
financial situations, previous automotive situations. Our goal is to work
with every single person that comes to our dealership to
try and provide the best situation possible to give the
customer the opportunity to put themselves in the best financial situation,
(03:19):
not just today, but moving forward. Our goal is really
to build people's automotive financial success. And we have all
different types of banks at our dealership that we work
with that handle everything from top prime customers that we
can be competitive with some of the franchise dealers, as
well as banks that work almost like a buy here,
(03:41):
pay here. Now we're not a dealership that does buy here,
pay here, but we have banks that work with programs
very similar to that to help people with tough credit situations.
We are always happy to work with our customers. Somebody
comes to my dealership wanting to buy a car that
really is a little bit of a reach for them,
and they need mom and dad to co sign, and
I always tell them, listen, mom and dad will co
(04:03):
sign when you're looking at a smart, responsible decision purchasing
that reliable sedan as opposed to that cool sports car
that I know you want.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
You know, yes, these are all definitely factors, especially when
you're having your parents co sign. Certified pre owned vehicles
are often marketed as a safer choice. What is the
difference between certified and regular pre owned cars? And is
it worth the extra.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Cost when you go to a franchise dealer, that franchise
is allowed to put that tagline of certified on that vehicle.
And what that dealer does is a number of checks.
Whether they have their seventy two point ninety two one
hundred point check on those vehicles. They can then put
that tag. If it's a Honda dealer or a Ford dealer,
(04:51):
or a Chevy dealer, they can certify a Chevy vehicle
four dealer Honda dealer. And most people do think that
there is some peace of mind with going to that
Chevy dealer and buying a Chevy certified car at our dealership.
And yeah, and I can't speak for every pre owned dealer.
I know there's good people and bad people in any business,
people who do things the right way and people who don't.
We know plenty of people in the business who do
(05:13):
do things the right way. And going to a dealership
that has a reputation, that wants to do the right thing,
that cares, that takes care of people, we would put
those vehicles through the same exact number of checks that
a franchise store would. We hold ourselves to the same
standards of reconditioning and service on our vehicles, and every
vehicle that we sell, we know has been serviced and
(05:36):
maintained and to our standard that we're going to put
out on our front line and say, this is a
car that we can stand behind as a dealer, that
we feel confident is a good, reliable vehicle for somebody
to purchase at any price point and that you know
will last in all good intention as long as you
know one could expect that vehicle to last certified versus
purchasing from a pre owned dealer going to the right
(05:58):
pre owned dealer that can provide the maintenance records and
the things that we're done to the car to make
sure that it meets those same levels and those same
specifications that a franchise store would. I think you can
get just as good of a quality product from somebody
again that you trust, that you know, that holds themselves
to that standard.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
What are some final steps of buyers should take before
driving off the lot to ensure they're making a confident purchase.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Well, it all comes down to are you satisfied and
are you comfortable with every aspect of the experience, so
you can go somewhere fall in love with the car,
But maybe the dealership or the person you're working with
is in meeting your needs or what you're looking for,
even though maybe the car is right, or the deal's
not right or the financing. I think it's all the pieces.
When you go somewhere and you find a car that
(06:43):
you feel good about, that you're happy with, that you're
confident in, that you can see yourself driving, and when
the price works out. We always like to say, you know,
a good deal is a good deal. A deal that's
too good to be true is usually too good to
be true. I always tell people, if you're looking for
the cheapest one, there's usually a reason that it's the
cheapest one. And sometimes the right price is the right
(07:06):
price for the right car. When we were talking a
little bit more about the car facts and history reports
and things like that, the internet has really changed the
car buying experience. The customer can go online, they can
look and do as much research and homework today on
any particular vehicle. Youar make model down to mileage and color,
and you can compare and contrast with every vehicle for
(07:28):
sale on the market. When somebody comes to my dealership
and they say, I love your car. It's a clean car, fax,
it's a one owner vehicle. It's all of these things,
and therefore we've determined that the price of the vehicle
warrants X. But yeah, there's this one over here. It's
one thousand dollars less, same mileage, same color, same car.
(07:49):
Why shouldn't I go look at that one. We're about
three minutes away from Philadelphia, and it's a totally different
world across the bridge. The types of cars that are
so New Jersey. And there are great dealerships in Philadelphia,
don't get me wrong. There are great dealerships in New York.
Don't get me wrong. It's always the North Jersey, New
York Philadelphia dealerships that price them a little bit cheaper,
(08:11):
get people to come in the door. And when you
read the fine print, those same dealerships, they have extra fees,
extra costs, the price of the car the dealer has
to pay to obtain the car. Today, that information is
all available as well, so every dealer knows what somebody
else had to pay within a certain range to get
(08:32):
that car. There's no way somebody could sell that car
that cheap. There has to be a story. And I
think that that's when it comes back to the last
question you asked is what instills that confidence in you
in making that purchase. Are you getting a story or
are you're getting a good deal from somebody. Are you
spending the right amount of money to purchase a quality
(08:52):
product that's going to last you from somebody you trust,
or are you going to go somewhere to try and
save one thousand dollars and find out that the experiences
and what you wanted the vehicle is not up to
expectations and that dealership is going to try and charge
fees and all those extra things that make the price
(09:12):
of the car not as advertised. In a world today
where our business really thrives on reviews, we're a small,
independent dealership. We have much more of a grassroots operation.
We're very active in our community in Pennsauken. We do
a lot of business with our neighbors. We love helping
our neighbors and our local community. We have a great
(09:35):
team of people that love to help and take care
of our customers. I would welcome any of your listeners
to come to our dealership and meet us, even if
they're not buying, just to shake a hand and say hello,
Now I know you know my father when I came
into the business back in twenty eighteen and I said
to him, now, I think we can do this, but
we're going to do it the right way, and we're
going to treat people fairly. We're going to sell a
(09:57):
quality vehicle. Are we here to make money? Are we
a business? Of course, we wouldn't be able to sell
the products that we sell and offer the service and
keep the doors open if we weren't making money. But
at the same time, it's about taking care of the
customers and making sure that they are getting a quality product,
they're getting value for what they're spending. Aside from a
home and automotive purchase is probably one of the second
(10:20):
largest purchase that most people make in their lives. And
when you're spending ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty, forty, all the
way up thousand dollars of your own money, it's a
big purchase and it's important. It's nice to be able
to provide that for people and know that know that
our goal is really to take care of people, to
put them in better situations and set them up for
future financial success. And we will have those conversations with
(10:43):
people about look, I know you want this car today
this is the right financial decision for you for this year,
next year, and the third year when you build the
credit up, when you have the savings to get into
that dream car. We're here for you when that time comes.
We're not going anywhere. We're here to build the relationships
for today, for tomorrow, for the future. I want you
to think of us not when you need a car,
(11:05):
but when your aunt's, uncles, cousins, friends, relatives when they
need a car. We want everybody to be thinking about
Joshua Motorcar Company in Pennsauken.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Great. And of course I do know your dad, Richard Blum,
who's been around for for many decades and was the
go to guy for our wonderful late wdas program director Butterball,
and he always relied on on Richard too to take
care of his automotive NEUSA, which you had many Listen
if anyone, if anyone is interested in finding out more
(11:37):
about Joshua Motorcar Company JMCC, how do they find out more?
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Check out our website Jmccautoauto dot com JMCC. Like Joshua
Motorcar Company, you can also check us out on social
media jmcc auto Facebook, Instagram, or you could come visit
us in Pennsauck in thirty four to twenty nine Haddenfield Road.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
We've been speaking with Joshua Blum, owner and general manager
of Joshua Motorcar Company, and I want to thank you
for giving us some tips and tricks for buying a
pre owned vehicle.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Thank you so much, Lorraine, it was a pleasure. Thank
you so much for having me. You're listening to what's
going on.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Have you really dreamed of meeting your heroes, whether it
be music and politics or amazing authors. Well, the Free
Library of Philadelphia is your go to institution to make
those connections, because some extraordinary authors come to the Free
Library for their Dynamic Free Library Author Event Series and
(12:39):
to tell us all about it some things that we
can look forward to. Daniel Blank, who is the Managing
director of Public Programs at the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation.
He and his team are in the middle of a
dynamic spring session of Free Library's Author Event series and
we're going to talk all about it and also about
this amazing opportunity to go for practical nothing. So Daniel,
(13:01):
I'm so glad to speak with you today because the
Free Libraries had some amazing authors in the past, and
you have some incredible authors coming up. So tell us
what makes this spring season of the Author Events series
especially different from past years.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Well, first of all, Lorraine, thank you so much for
having me. It's great to be here, great to speak
with you. One of the things that makes this spring
season so exciting is the incredible range of authors we have.
This is one of the most diverse and eclectic seasons
that I think we've ever had. Over the next couple
of months alone, we're welcoming scientists, powitz, sports writers, novelists, politicians,
(13:40):
and political commentators. That's just April May in the beginning
of June. The past couple of months, we've had food writers,
travel writers, historians, musicians. One of the things I set
out to do when planning this season was to make
sure that there was literally something that would appeal to everyone,
and we feel we've accomplished that.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Yeah, you've had some amazing authors in the past, authors
that you don't often necessarily think of as author's Springsteen
was a great example. I know that was a very
high demand ticket, and you've got so much more. You
recently had a rock star in the house. Tell us
about that we did.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
On this past Thursday night. We had Peter Woolf, formerly
of the Jay Giles Band, who is having a very
formidable solo career, drew a packed house. Three hundred and
seventy people showed up, many of them in their old
tied eyed Jay Giles Band t shirts. We didn't just
have a full auditorium. We had people waiting to get
into the auditorium hours before the show. It was like
(14:36):
going back in time. It was amazing, and we actually
had the longest signing line, at least in my time here,
we've ever had about one hundred and twenty people waited
in line to get their books. That's one of the
most exciting things about our events. You don't just get
to see the author on stage, but many, if not
most of them kindly agreed to sign books afterwards, and
(14:56):
people were waiting in line not just with copies of
the memoir, but with memorabilia from your past. One gentleman
showed me his ticket stub from a show at the
Spectrum in the nineteen seventies, So I think that speaks
to what we're really doing here is giving you an
up close experience with authors and connecting readers with writers
(15:17):
in a really special way.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
You have very high profile authors including Maria Schreiver and
doctor Anthony Fauci. Those are going to be some very
well attended. In fact, I believe they're already sold out.
Is that right?
Speaker 3 (15:31):
That's right. These are two sold out events. We're doing
them back to back this week. It's going to be
an incredible week and also kind of showcases a range.
They are very well known and renowned figures in their
own rights, but they're going to be very different discussions
and touching on different themes. So again coming back to
that kind of range and diversity that I was talking about,
(15:52):
it's exciting to have them here. Though they're going to
be incredible events.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
The other aspect of the free Library Author event is
that you've dropped the price enormously. Tell us about that
and why you decided to do that.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
The old pricing model was a little bit opaque, and
when my team came on about seven months ago, we
didn't totally understand it. It used to be the case
that some events were free and other events cost seventeen
dollars and fifty cents. That was the standard ticket price,
and we were hearing from a lot of patrons that
that was cost prohibitive. That's a lot of money to
(16:29):
pay for a one hour author talk. So we decided,
in response to that feedback, we were getting to make
all events five dollars, to make it standardized, to make
it more equitable, and to make these events as consistently
accessible and as affordable as possible. And in the few
cases where the publishers have required us to sell a
(16:52):
book with the ticket, then we just add five dollars
to the ticket price. But one of the other motivations
for us doing this was that we were seeing that
with free events, people were registering but not necessarily attending.
We have limited space in our auditorium. It's very capacious.
We have about four hundred seats, but for our kickoff
(17:13):
event back in September, we had four hundred people register
but only about two hundred and sixty showed up, So
that was kind of another form of inaccessibility. We could
have had one hundred and twenty one hundred and forty
more people registering, but they weren't able to do so
because we thought that we were full. So I spoke
to some people who run comparable programs in Philly, and
(17:34):
also some people who run comparable programs in other parts
of the country, and the consensus, or the near consensus,
was really that you have to charge something. There has
to be some minimal level of commitment just so that
people feel that they have a reason to show up.
And we again made that commitment as minimal as we
(17:54):
possibly could, just five dollars. It doesn't go very far
towards covering the extensive cost of running a program like this,
but it's something we're really proud to be able to
do to keep cross that low, especially at a time
when arts and culture programming in Philadelphia and elsewhere is
not cheap. So we're really proud about that.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Yes, we're very glad to hear it. That's a very
affordable price for a lot of value. And I know
that many folks out there are very interested to find
out what your full lineup is going to be, and
also to check out some of the videos from past
author events, tell us how people register and where people
can go for more information in general.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Absolutely so, you can go to our website Free Libraryfoundation
dot org. You can see all of our events through
June and pretty soon within not the two distant future,
we're starting to turn our attention to the fall season
as well, so stay tuned for that. But for past events,
we record just about all of the events that take
place in our auditorium and those are available freely through YouTube,
(18:56):
so you can go to our YouTube channel and watch
those recordings, and it really gives these events a tremendous afterlife.
It's a great way that people can access them even
after they've happened.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Well, so much good stuff happening, so affordable. What a
great opportunity to meet some of your heroes or maybe
some of your front of these at the Free Library
of Philadelphia's Author Events series. Thank you so much. Is
there any final word that you want to share with
us before we close?
Speaker 3 (19:22):
I would just say we're so excited about this season,
and we've been so grateful to the response that we've
gotten from the Philadelphia community. People have really come out
for these events, and it's as a result of the
feedback that we received when our new team came on
board in the fall that we've instituted some changes and
the reactions we've gotten have just been wonderful. So a
big thank you to all of our current patrons and
(19:44):
all of our future patrons. I hope you'll come join
us at the library.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Well, I'm a big fan of the Free Library of Philadelphia.
That is the anchor of our community. Daniel Blank, who's
managing Directive of Public Programs at the Free Library of
Philadelphia Foundation. He and his team are in the middle
of a very exciting spring season of the Free Library's
author event series check it out. Thanks so much for joining.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Us, Daniel, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Loran advocates, researchers, and concerned citizens gathered in Philadelphia at
City Hall as part of the nationwide Stand Up for
Science rally recently. The event aimed at highlighting the critical
role of scientific research in advancing medical treatments and the
(20:28):
impact of severe federal funding cuts on ongoing projects, jobs,
and public health. Among the voices speaking out was doctor
Ron Coleman, a critical care physician and researcher studying lung
disease and infectious diseases including HIV and AIDS at the
University of Pennsylvania. While he joined the rally in a
personal capacity, his insight shed light on the urgent need
(20:51):
to protect biomedical research funding. So we're going to talk
about the rally's key messages. Why science advocacy matters and
how these funding cuts but impact patients and research institutions
right here in Philadelphia. So Ron, so glad to see you,
so glad to be talking about this issue. And let's
begin by asking you the question what motivated you to
(21:13):
participate in the Stand Up for Science rally and what
was the main message there.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
Well, thanks so much, Lorain for having me on your show.
I really appreciate the opportunity to talk a little bit
about this, and I want to emphasize that I do
my research and I take care of patients in the
medical Intensive Care Unit at the University of Pennsylvania. But
I'm here speaking in a personal capacity, not as a
representative of the university. So the reason I'm glad to
(21:41):
have a chance here to talk a little bit about
what's going on with medical research is because I think
a lot of people don't see what the connection is
between research being done at universities and how it affects them,
how it affects all of us in our everyday lives.
The connection between the federal government funding research research carried
(22:02):
out at universities and the treatments and cures and prevention
for diseases that we have now and that we're hoping
will have advances in the future. So the United States
has an incredibly successful and really unusual partnership relationship that
developed over the last seventy or so years. After the
(22:22):
Second World War, the federal government decided that the US
should be number one in biomedical research, and it developed
an approach whereby the National Institutes of Health, which is
a part of the federal government, either issues calls for
researchers to study in a particular area that they think
is important, or they listen to ideas that researchers have
(22:44):
that might help advance the health in a particular area
prevent Alzheimer's disease, or treat or cure Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular disease,
infectious diseases. So the partnership is that the National Institute
of Health figures out what are important areas that need
to have research, researchers carry out that research. The federal
(23:07):
government provides funding through the universities so that those researchers
can carry out that research. That research then leads to
new discoveries. The researchers publish those discoveries so other people
can work with them and then eventually they lead to
new treatments and new cures. So, if any of your
(23:29):
listeners have had any sort of cancer that's been treated
with anything virtually that we use to treat cancer, or
heart disease, or hepatitis, or an infection that has been
developed through research carried out at universities that was funded
by the National Institute of.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
Health, I wonder if you can explain how these cuts
in federal funding have already impacted biomedical research, especially right
here in Philly.
Speaker 4 (23:57):
Well, you know, because they're just beginning, we are absolutely
not seeing the full impact. One thing that I can
tell you is that because there isn't going to be
funding for research in many labs, we can't bring students
into the labs to train them to be the next
generation of researchers. So if you bring a student in
(24:19):
to train to be a scientist, you need to be
confident that you're going to be able to support them
over time. And so, you know, the cuts in funding
affect the investigators doing the work. Most importantly, it prevents
the new discoveries that are going to be the treatments
and advances in medical care in five years or in
(24:41):
ten years, and maybe even more important is we're going
to lose training the next generation of scientists, and that
is going to affect medical care, treatment and advances over
the next generation.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
In addition to the potential slow down in breakth throo's
in research, this actually can result in loss of jobs
and that's going to have an impact on the economy.
I wonder if you can talk a bit more about that.
Speaker 4 (25:09):
It's a huge economic impact. You know, there have been
certainly discussions in the media and the newspapers of how
many billions of dollars in our region are dependent upon
this type of research. But I'll just give you a
small personal example. You know, we think about the lead
scientists who may be running a research program, but there
are clinical coordinators who actually interface with the patients. There
(25:34):
are the laboratory technicians who do many of the experiments.
There are the technicians who handle the laboratory mice and
laboratory rats. There are the housekeeping staff who keep the
lamps clean. There's the engineering staff who keeps the electricity
flowing to our freezers that are at minus eighty degrees centigrade.
(25:55):
There's a huge workforce, especially in the Philadelphia area, there's
a huge workforce that will be put out of work
if in fact these cuts come to pass.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
For those who want to support science and research funding,
tell us, what are some actions that we can take
to make a difference.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
Well, I think the first thing that's really most important,
and you know, I kind of fault many of us
on the inside in the scientific and research area by
not being good enough explainers of what research is and
what's the connection between research and the advancement of people's health.
So a lot of the burden is on us to
(26:32):
be clearer about what's going on. But for anybody who's
worried about maybe not getting the cancer treatment that would
be available to cure them in five years or ten years,
or the economic impact and losing jobs of people, you know,
the things that we can do or talk to your
friends and your neighbors, help everyone understand right to or
(26:53):
maybe even better, call your congressmen, your senators, contact the
federal administration, let them know what you think about this.
You know, do you value keeping up a trajectory of
advancing medical care. Also, one of the reasons that this
whole program, a federally funded biomedical research was developed was
(27:16):
to advance medical care. But another piece of it was
to make America number one, and America has been number
one across all the sciences. Now with these cuts, America
is going to fall to number two, number three, number four.
So if you care about keeping America great in science,
(27:37):
this is a really important thing for us to recognize.
You know, China is nipping out our heels as far
as scientific advances, and with all of these cuts, there's
no doubt in my mind that China is going to
overtake us and we're going to be beholden to them
for biomedical advances and will be number two, and then
(27:59):
we'll be number three, that's right, and then well, who
knows how far down we're going to fall. So speak out,
share this knowledge with other people, and if you feel
strongly about this, let people know about it.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
And there's also this organization called Stand Up for Science
twenty twenty five. They were the organizers of the rally,
the Stand Up for Science Rally, And I believe there's
a website there, stand Up for Science twenty twenty five
dot org. So I imagine that might be a good place
to start too for anyone who's interested in supporting better funding,
good funding for science research, right.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
I think that's a great place to start and to
make sure that we don't take these huge steps backwards
that are going to hurt the health of our country
as well as our local economy.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
The University of Pennsylvania has been the site of many
great breakthroughs in science and medical research, and a lot
of lives have been saved not only through Pen's research,
but research all across the country. So definitely check out
stand Up for Science twenty twenty five dot org. And
I want to thank you so much doctor Ron Coleman,
(29:07):
a critical care physician and researcher studying lung disease and
infectious diseases at the University of Pennsylvania, who joined the
recent rally as an individual, not as a representative of
the University of Pennsylvania, but as a concerned citizen. Stand
Up for Science rally is where he was and so
many hundreds of people to get together to support continuing
(29:30):
funding for research by the federal government for all the
diseases that impact us here. So thank you so much
for joining us.
Speaker 4 (29:37):
Here today, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
You could listen to all of today's interviews by going
to our station website and typing in Keyword community. You
can also listen on the iHeartRadio app Y Words Philadelphia
Community Podcast. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Lorraine Ballard.
I'm Lorraine Ballardmorrow and I stand for service to our
community and media that empowers. What will you stand for?
(30:00):
Listney to What's going on?
Speaker 3 (30:02):
ED.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
Thank you
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