Hour 1
The flotilla raid by the Israeli Navy last month highlighted growing tensions in the Middle East and the delicate balancing act the United States is playing between nations there. Former "New York Times" foreign correspondent Stephen Kinzer thinks it’s time for the United States to reexamine our relations in the Middle East and consider some new partners. In his book "Reset: Iran, Turkey, and America's Future," he argues that the U.S. should work on its relationship with Iran and Turkey, two Muslim countries that share many of our democratic values. We'll talk to Kinzer about U.S. relations with Iran and Turkey and the challenges in the Middle East.

Filed under: author, military, politics, world |

Hour 2
We invite University of Pennsylvania Theater Arts and English lecturer DAVID FOX back to "Radio Times" for a short summer series on musical theater. The lyricist-composer Stephen Sondheim turned 80 this year and we thought his career would be a perfect topic for our kick-off show. With all the attention of jukebox musicals and the TV show "Glee," that were featured on this week's TONY Award show, Broadway is rarely without a Sondheim revival. Currently one can see 1957's "West Side Story" and the 1973's "A Little Night Music," in which Catherine Zeta Jones contributed to the Sondheim Tony roster for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical. We'll discuss some of the Sondheim cannon and listen to excerpts from "Company, Pacific Overtures, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods" and other musicals that affirm why Sondheim is a master architect of musical theater.

Filed under: arts |