Hour 1
As 2009 comes to a close, Marty looks back at the year in national politics with guests Dr. JASON A. JOHNSON of Hiram College in Ohio and JIM GERAGHTY of the National Review. They'll discuss a year that included stimulus packages, auto industry bailouts, Obama receiving the Nobel Peace Prize just after increasing U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the health care bill debate, climate change, Sarah Palin's resignation and book tour, town hall meetings and tea parties, new terror threats and a new meaning for "hiking the Appalachian trail."

Filed under: economy, military, politics, world |

Hour 2
6' 3" author ARIANNE COHEN talks about her new book, "The Tall Book."

Filed under: author |

Hour 1
What have we learned about terrorism threats, airline safety and intelligence gathering from last week's attempted attack on a Detroit-bound airplane? Our guests include Clark Kent Ervin, head of the Aspen Institute's Homeland Security Program and first Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Kevin Mitchellof the Business Travel Coalition and Gregory Johnsen of Princeton University.

Filed under: criminal justice, transportation, world |

Hour 2
Do French children still grow up knowing how to make the family mayonnaise? Does a young French person know the difference of a good and bad baguette? Is the Michelin Guide still relevant? Our guest, American Michael Steinberger, has had a long personal and professional relationship with France and French food and sees a national decline in interest in keeping up its culinary heritage. He sees more foodies going to other countries and their own backyards for gastronomic inspiration. We'll talk with Slate's long-time wine columnist about his observations of France's food crisis and why the past few decades' economic and political forces have influenced the change in attention to tradition. Michael Steinberger's new book is called, "Au Revoir To All That: Food, Wine, and the End of France."

Filed under: author, cooking |

Hour 1
It’s been a tumultuous year for Philadelphia Mayor MICHAEL NUTTER. Today on "Radio Times," we’ll talk to Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter about what happened in 2009, and what to expect in 2010.

Filed under: economy, politics |

Hour 2
Before Madeline Albright was famous for her pins, writer and philosopher Ayn Rand sported a large dollar-sign broche on her lapels. An advocate of laissez-faire capitalism and individual rights, Rand's political objectivism is cynical of "Big Government," in which Libertarians resonate. Writer Anne C. Heller, takes us from Rand's childhood during the Russian Bolshevik Revolution through her personal and political writer life as a screenwriter and intellectual in the United States. Heller's new book is called, "Ayn Rand and the World She Made."

Filed under: author, economy, politics |

Hour 1
This hour, we head to the Arctic to look at the life and times of the world’s largest land predator – the polar bear. Science writer Richard Ellis celebrates the majestic bear and its struggles to survive climate change. His new book is "On Thin Ice: The Changing World of the Polar Bear."

Filed under: author, environment, science |

Hour 2
In his first non-fiction book, Eating Animals, author Jonathan Safran Foer takes on the U.S. meat industry and the large factory farms that dominate it, as well as the lies we tell ourselves about eating animals. Foer is the author of Everything Is Illuminated, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

Filed under: author |

Hour 1
According to our guest, biologist BILL STREEVER, cold – as in the temperature – has gotten a bad rap. His new book, "COLD: Adventures in the World's Frozen Place" provides a collection of vignettes about the science, history, geography and ecology of cold temperatures.

Filed under: author, environment, science |

Hour 2
The broadway hit musical Wicked was based on Gregory Maguire's novel of the same name. He's written many other books some of which are revisionist retellings of classic children's stories including, "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister" and his most recent, "Matchless", an updated version of Hans Christian Andersen’s "The Little Match Girl." His other new book, "Making Mischief", is a tribute too the work of Maurice Sendak. He’s here to talk about his life, his novels and his commitment to children’s literacy.

Filed under: author, entertainment |