When Matthew Wolfe walks through the Railroaders Memorial Museum in Altoona, he isn’t just surrounded by locomotives and artifacts, he’s surrounded by the lives of the people who built them.

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In September 1982, that problem surfaced on a small network of computers at Carnegie Mellon University, where a few dozen computer scientists were using early electronic message boards—primitive by today’s standards, but revolutionary at the time. Messages were text-only, stripped of facial expressions, tone of voice, or context. Humor, sarcasm, and jokes often landed the wrong way.

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We begin with Gillian McGoldrick of The Philadelphia Inquirer, who details her reporting on the Shapiro Administration’s lawsuit against a vendor accused of failing to deliver more than 3 million pieces of mail from state agencies. The missing documents, everything from benefits notices to tax information, raise serious questions about oversight, transparency, and the impact on Pennsylvanians who depend on timely communication from their government. WITF’s Jaxon White then previews the upcoming state budget season, reflecting on last year’s prolonged delay and the political stakes as Gov. Shapiro seeks re‑election.

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In the second half of the show, we turn to Mt. Tabor AME Zion Church in Mount Holly Springs, a one‑room church built by formerly enslaved people and a cornerstone of the region’s African American community for more than a century. Now the focus of the Mt. Tabor Preservation Project, the church stands as a testament to resilience, faith, and the determination to protect Black history in Cumberland County. We speak with Carmen James, a board member and lifelong advocate for the site, about the ongoing restoration efforts, the stories preserved within its walls, and why safeguarding Mt. Tabor’s legacy matters for future generations.

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Winter may still have its grip, but we’re already dreaming of green. In this episode, we finally dig into the houseplant care we didn’t get to last time. From keeping indoor plants thriving to refreshing bird feeders and bird baths during the coldest stretch of the year. We’ll talk about what’s blooming right now, the seeds you can start early, and the small rituals that help us look toward spring.

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Then we shift to a very different kind of ecosystem: the early internet. Our guest reflects on the moment he proposed the very first emoticons :-) and :-( and how those simple keystrokes reshaped digital communication.

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