Hour 1
Democrats in Congress are contemplating passing health care reform legislation through a process known as reconciliation, which is being cast as "routine" or "extreme" by partisan voices. This week also saw a Phillies Hall of Famer, Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY), throw a brushback pitch to Democratic efforts to pass a bill to fund unemployment benefits, in a short-lived filibuster to protest adding to the national deficit. It also saw the powerful chairman of the even-more powerful House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), relinquish his post after coming under fire for possible ethics violations. Down in Texas, incumbent Governor Rick Perry brushed back a challenge from Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson and a Tea Party candidate in the Republican primary, while in New York, embattled Democratic Gov. David Paterson dropped out of the 2010 election after enduring the latest of several scandals around a term that was launched amid the scandal that deposed his predecessor, Elliot Spitzer. All that and more will be on the agenda when Marty chats with BEN SMITH, national political blogger for Politico.com, and JULIAN E. ZELIZER, Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University.

Filed under: politics |

Hour 2
West Chester native Samuel Barber, one of the best-known American composers of the 20th century, would have been 100 years old in March. The two-time Pulitzer winner and one of the first students at the Curtis Institute, Barber was a composer of orchestral, opera, choral and piano music – "Adagio for Strings" is one of his most recognizable compositions (think the score of "Platoon"). We celebrate his centennial celebration by listening back to Barber's music and talking to Barber's biographer, BARBARA HEYMAN and Curtis' DAVID LUDWIG of the composition faculty and acting head of musical studies.

Filed under: arts, entertainment |