The Price of Poverty
What are the essentials of life? Food, water, and shelter. And to get those you have to have some kind of paying work or be enrolled in a government assistance program. But for the working poor (many of whom don’t qualify for government assistance) even the basics can be too expensive. They often cost more for working poor than for middle class people. We’ll explore this today (8/27) at noon on WBHM’s On The Line: The Price of Poverty.
Join the conversation by calling 1-800-444-9246 during the program or send your comments/questions to [email protected], WBHM 90.3 (Facebook), or @WBHM903 (Twitter). Use the hashtag #PovertyAL.
Dr. Mark LaGory is an urban sociologist and human ecologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His research focuses on the consequences of residential environments and social capital for individual and community well-being. He teaches courses on societal development and urbanization, sociological theory, religion, homelessness and urban sociology. LaGory is chairman of the UAB Department of Sociology and Social Work. He also is a senior research scientist with the UAB Center for Aging and a senior scientist with the UAB Center for the Study of Community Health. He has co-authored six books, including his latest, Unhealthy Cities: Race, Class and Place in America, which is due in September. LaGory earned his doctorate from the University of Cincinnati in 1975. He has been a member of the UAB faculty since 1980. He also serves as a member of the clergy staff at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.
No more Elmo? APT could cut ties with PBS
The board that oversees Alabama Public Television is considering disaffiliating from PBS, ending a 55-year relationship.
Nonprofit erases millions in medical debt across Gulf South, says it’s ‘Band-Aid’ for real issue
Undue Medical Debt has paid off more than $299 million in medical debts in Alabama. Now, the nonprofit warns that the issue could soon get worse.
Roy Wood Jr. on his father, his son and his new book
Actor, comedian and writer Roy Wood Jr. is out with a new book -- "The Man of Many Fathers: Life Lessons Disguised as a Memoir." He writes about his experience growing up in Birmingham, losing his dad as a teenager and all the lessons he learned from various father figures throughout his career.
Auburn fires coach Hugh Freeze following 12th loss in his last 15 SEC games
The 56-year-old Freeze failed to fix Auburn’s offensive issues in three years on the Plains, scoring 24 or fewer points in 17 of his 22 league games. He also ended up on the wrong end of too many close matchups, including twice this season thanks partly to questionable calls.
In a ‘disheartening’ era, the nation’s former top mining regulator speaks out
Joe Pizarchik, who led the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement from 2009 to 2017, says Alabama’s move in the wake of a fatal 2024 home explosion increases risks to residents living atop “gassy” coal mines.
‘It’s like feeling the arms of your creator just wrapped around you’: a visit to a special healing Shabbat
Members of Temple Emanu-El in Birmingham gathered recently for their traditional Friday Shabbat service. But this particular service was different, as could be seen by all the people dressed in their finest pink.

