Friday, November 8 – Friday, November 15

Cuts in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will make it much harder for poor families to stretch their grocery dollars, and in the long term, could keep them in poverty longer. A joint report by researchers from the USDA, the World Bank, and the Institute for Research on Poverty says SNAP benefits actually lift families out of poverty. One of the researchers, Timothy Smeeding, director of the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin, joins us to discuss their findings.

SNAP cuts will also send more families to food banks as they exhaust their meager benefits before the end of each month. California, with the largest cut in federal SNAP funds at $457 million, is likely to be particularly hard hit. Michael Flood, CEO of the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, talks about the challenges of keeping poor families properly fed.

University of Pennsylvania professor Michael Katz wrote a landmark study 25 years ago on the history of poverty in America. In the wake of the Great Recession and the partisan divide over food stamps and other benefits, Dr. Katz has updated it. He joins us to talk about “The Undeserving Poor: America’s Enduring Confrontation with Poverty”.

Herb Alpert burst onto the music scene 50 years ago with his hit, “The Lonely Bull”, and continued his success with the Tijuana Brass and a solo career. Along the way, he founded A&M Records, won eight Grammys, and over the summer, was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Obama. He joins us to talk about his latest CD, “Steppin’ Out”.