The Signal

Robert May is a producer/director of independent films whose projects have collectively garnered over 40 awards including the Oscar, Bafta, Independent Spirit Award and Human Rights Award, to name a few. He produced documentaries the Fog of War, about former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, Kids for Cash, about a scandal involving judges in Wilkes Barre receiving kickbacks for sending kids to a private prison, among other...

This special episode of The Signal Podcast brings listeners inside a dynamic, solutions‑focused conversation about civic engagement, community care, and the everyday actions that strengthen democracy. Recorded live at a joint event hosted by the Bucks County Beacon and Doylestown Action League, the discussion explores what participation really looks like—and why showing up matters.

Moderator Connor O’Hanlon guides a po...

Kevin Mahoney takes over the mic for a conversation with Cyril Mychalejko, the editor-in-chief of The Beacon and the regular host of The Signal. We take a close look at Democrat Bob Harvie's "New Fair Deal for Working Families" - a 12 point plan for "Restoring the Promise of the American Dream in the 21st Century." I think it's fair to say that Cyril and Kevin have some questions for the Harvie campaign and some thoughts on what's ...

These 3 Central Bucks Parents Started a ‘Revolution’ to Save Their School District

“CBSD Neighbors United Was a Revolution in Central Bucks School District.” This was the title of a recent column authored by Diana Leygerman, Tracy Suits, and Steve Sullivan, district parents and the founders of the organization which helped save the school district from Moms for Liberty, a local MAGA multi-millionaire, and ot...

Marlene Pray (she/her) is a queer activist, sexuality educator, and community organizer whose work spans over three decades of LGBTQ+ advocacy, anti-racism, and social justice movement-building. She founded and directs the Rainbow Room, Bucks County’s LGBTQ+ youth center at Planned Parenthood Keystone, which has been a lifeline for queer youth in the region for 24 years. 

A PhD candidate in Human Sexuality Education, Ma...

Welcome, welcome everybody to a special edition of The Signal from the Bucks County Beacon. Today guest host Kevin Mahoney talks with Cyril Mychalejko, the editor-in-chief of the Bucks County Beacon, about this week’s primary elections. We’ll take a look at the results and focus on two of the contested Democratic primaries: the PA 01 House race to face Brian Fitzpatrick in November, and the PA 16th State Senate race tha...

"I believe if we just give the AI revolution to tech billionaires we're going to have political unrest in this country." Ro Khanna is a Bucks County native who is a U.S. Representative in California’s 17th District. He is also vice chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Last month he wrote an article in The Nation, “AI for the People”, which laid out his vision “for an AI revolution that works for th...

Tim Hayes is an Army National Guard Veteran, Dublin Borough Council President, and Environmental Legislative Manager running for State Representative in Pennsylvania’s 143rd District. He joins us today to talk about growing up in Bucks County, his dedication to public service, and why Republican Shelby Labs has failed her constituents.

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• TIM HAYE...

Anneke van Rossum is the Advocacy and Advancement Coordinator at Delaware Riverkeeper Network. She has been in her staff role for just over 3 years but has a storied history with the organization going back to childhood. Anneke graduated from Ithaca College with her Bachelor of Arts in Politics and minored in Environmental Studies. She then went on to Vermont Law School where she graduated with her JD in 2022. Anneke role centers a...

NewsChannel 5 Chief Investigative Reporter Phil Williams is one of the most highly acclaimed investigative journalists in America. He has been recognized with journalism’s most prestigious honors on multiple occasions throughout his 40-year career. He is a five-time recipient of the George Foster Peabody Award and a five-time recipient of the duPont Columbia Award, both considered broadcasting’s equivalent of the Pulitz...

Tom Taft comes from a family with a 200 year history of dedicated public service. Tom wanted to add to that and his own legacy with a run for Congress as a Democrat in PA-01 but had to end his campaign after failing to gather the required number of signatures. Nevertheless, he joins me today to talk about politics in Bucks County’s first congressional district and the race for the Democratic nomination in May for a chance to ...

Barbara Simmons serves as executive director of The Peace Center, an educational peace and justice non-profit organization in Bucks County. After retiring from the role in 2019 (after 30 years in the position), she came out of retirement in October 2025 to once again lead the organization after it was announced it was planning on closing—something she couldn’t let happen. Barbara spoke with me today to talk about Intern...

An anti-fascist, dystopian YA novel published last week, We Were the Cuckoos Bees, was inspired in large part by Central Bucks School District during a time when Moms for Liberty and right-wing Christian extremists captured the school board in the early part of this decade. This is a story the Bucks County Beacon has reported on in great detail. Today I speak with local author Rich Shifman, who writes YA stories under the pen name,...

Arts and Culture journalism and criticism is thriving in Philly thanks in part to the Broad Street Review - which just received a citation from the Philadelphia City Council in honor of its 20 year anniversary. Two of the people responsible for this publication’s success  join me today. Alaina Johns has been editor-in-chief of Broad Street Review since 2018. She is a Philadelphia-based journalist and cultural critic cove...

Tracy Hunt is a husband, father, hardworking attorney,  a Business Law Professor at DelVal University, and a Democratic candidate for Congress in PA-01. He joins The Signal to talk about why he recently left the Republican Party, his views on a wide range of policies, and why he believes he can bring pragmatic and effective representation to Washington at a time when it is sorely lacking.

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Lucia Simonelli is an Italian-American whose upbringing instilled a great appreciation for public services such as public education, public transportation, public parks, and more. Born in Landsdale, she has lived, travelled and worked around the globe, before settling down in Quakertown. Politically, she has worked to make change both inside and outside of government, from serving as a scientific advisor in the United States Senate...

On this episode of the signal I welcome Rob Strickler. Rob is a political outsider who is running in the Democratic Party congressional primary in May for a chance to unseat incumbent Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick. We discuss his blue-collar upbringing in Levittown, his political awakening, and why he thinks he is the best person to represent Pennsylvania’s first congressional district.

I’ll be speaking to ea...

Back in December I read an article Laura Beers published in The Conversation where she compared White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s press conference on the so-called truth about the good news of the state of the economy under President Trump’s stewardship to the repeated pronouncements of the Ministry of Plenty in George Orwell’s ‘1984.’ This led me to pick up and read her book Orwell's Ghos...

Welcome to the first episode of season 4 of The Signal from the Bucks County Beacon. Today, Kevin Mahoney sits down with Cyril Mychalejko, the editor-in-chief of the Bucks County Beacon, to talk about what the New Year has in store for The Beacon. We also take a look back at some of the most significant stories published in the Beacon in 2025. 

We’re going to need independent, community supported progressive media in the...