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Essential Pittsburgh

An ongoing series about how Pittsburgh lives and how it's evolving, from the newsroom of 90.5 WESA, Pittsburgh's NPR news station.

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Meet The Mathematical Muscle Behind The Pittsburgh Marathon

Meet The Mathematical Muscle Behind The Pittsburgh Marathon

Finish line logistics captain Brian Schmidt is in the thick of it now. All last month he categorized and readied a behem... Read more

5 May 2017

5mins

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Garfield Bike Shop Owner Says He's Ready To Retire And Pass On The Tools

Garfield Bike Shop Owner Says He's Ready To Retire And Pass On The Tools

Jerry Kraynick bends at the waist, hands on hips, and peers over his glasses. He gestures towards a bike. “Throw it up o... Read more

14 Feb 2017

5mins

Similar Podcasts

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Carnegie Libraries As Literary Preppers: How Your Favorite Sleuths Predict Demand

Carnegie Libraries As Literary Preppers: How Your Favorite Sleuths Predict Demand

Two part-time workers stood on either side of a T-shaped conveyer belt as 61-year-old Joe Spaniol moved down its twin tr... Read more

9 Feb 2017

6mins

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Redeveloping A Vacant Lot In Pittsburgh Can Be Full Of Refrigerator-Sized Surprises

Redeveloping A Vacant Lot In Pittsburgh Can Be Full Of Refrigerator-Sized Surprises

For decades, contractors demolishing old buildings in Pittsburgh knocked them through the sub-flooring and filled in the... Read more

30 Jan 2017

5mins

Most Popular Podcasts

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From Corner Stores To Grocery Chains And Back, Pittsburgh's Food Systems Are Evolving

From Corner Stores To Grocery Chains And Back, Pittsburgh's Food Systems Are Evolving

Gina Merante grabbed a banana bunch from a red wall lined with gradually ripening fruit. She shuffled past boxes of appl... Read more

23 Jan 2017

3mins

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City Considers Produce Terminal’s Vibrant Past While Planning For Its Future

City Considers Produce Terminal’s Vibrant Past While Planning For Its Future

At nearly five city blocks long, the Pennsylvania Fruit and Auction, known to locals as the Produce Terminal, is hard to... Read more

17 Jan 2017

6mins

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From Steel To Stethoscopes: Nied's Third Shift Bar Patrons Change With The City

From Steel To Stethoscopes: Nied's Third Shift Bar Patrons Change With The City

Nied’s Hotel in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood is one of a handful of bars where workers who clock out while mo... Read more

21 Dec 2016

3mins

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The Past And Future Of Old Allegheny City On Display At Home Tour

The Past And Future Of Old Allegheny City On Display At Home Tour

A lot has changed over its 35 year history, but the Old Allegheny Victorian Christmas House Tour has always started on B... Read more

14 Dec 2016

4mins

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They Pay Mortgages & Taxes, But Many Pittsburghers Don’t Realize Their Home Titles Are Tangled

They Pay Mortgages & Taxes, But Many Pittsburghers Don’t Realize Their Home Titles Are Tangled

Eric Luster grew up in a three-bedroom 1920s-era home on a quiet dead end street in Homewood. It was a self-described go... Read more

5 Dec 2016

6mins

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Hill District Tours Aim To Change Impressions Of The Neighborhood

Hill District Tours Aim To Change Impressions Of The Neighborhood

A few decades ago, Terri Baltimore tagged along with a group of architecture students and their professor while they wer... Read more

22 Nov 2016

5mins

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