Who's getting married, who isn't and why May 15
Guest:  Andrew Cherlin In honor of the start of wedding season, we’re going to spend the hour talking about the state of the American marriage. Despite the odds (the U.S. Census Bureau says roughly 50% of first marriages [...]

Should refusing medical care for children be considered neglect? May 14
Guests:  Paul Offit and Shawn Peters Eight-month old Brandon Schaible died last month after his parents relied on prayer instead of medical care to treat their sick baby. The Schaibles, who live in Philadelphia and are members of [...]

The Brothers Emanuel May 10
Guest: EZEKIEL EMANUEL HR 1 [REBROADCAST]EZEKIEL EMANUEL is the eldest brother of the current Mayor of Chicago and former White House Chief of Staff, and a powerful Hollywood agent immortalized in the HBO series, “Entourage” – Rahm and [...]

Plan B, politics and parents May 8
Guests:  Jessica Arons and Joan Vennochi Back in 2011, in a controversial decision, Health and Human Services Secretary Katherine Sebelius announced that the morning after pill, known as Plan B One-Step, would be available over-the-counter only to women [...]

200 Years of Latino History in Philadelphia April 4
Guests: Erika Almiron, Sabrina Vourvoulias, Victor Vazquez Hailing from several different regions and close to half a million strong, Latinos have played a central role in Philadelphia, from politics to civic life. From the time of the founding [...]

The Brothers Emanuel April 2
Guest: EZEKIEL EMANUEL EZEKIEL EMANUEL is the eldest brother of the current Mayor of Chicago and former White House Chief of Staff, and a powerful Hollywood agent immortalized in the HBO series, “Entourage” – Rahm and Ari Emanuel. [...]

The legacy of Pope Benedict and hopes for the future of the Catholic church March 11
GUESTS:  SISTER SIMONE CAMPBELL, WILLIAM MADGES, BETHANY WELCH Cardinals from across the globe have gathered in Vatican City in preparation for the conclave to elect the successor to Pope Benedict XVI.  Pope Benedict announced his resignation from the [...]

Forty years since Roe v. Wade January 9
Forty years ago this month, the Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade, the historic case that made abortion legal in the United States. The Roe v. Wade decision held that a woman, with her doctor, could have [...]

Cosmologist Lawrence Krauss: 'A Universe from Nothing' January 4
[REBROADCAST] How did the Universe arise from nothing? And what was there before?  Those are the kinds of questions that for most of us set our heads spinning — not so for renowned cosmologist LAWRENCE KRAUSS.  Krauss says [...]

Politics, foreign affairs and the year in review December 26
In Washington, lawmakers are still wrangling over plans that would prevent a fiscal crisis in coming days and have put on hold further negotiations until after they take their Christmas break.   Meanwhile on the city, state and federal [...]

Debunking doomsday 2012 junk science December 21
[REBROADCAST] Today is December 21st, 2012. And the hype about the “end of the world” has reached a supernova, mostly based on a misinterpretation of the Mayan calendar. Almost a year ago, we reached out to two astronomers [...]

Downsizing the Pentagon budget; then, what suicide bombers & rampage shooters have in common December 19
Should the U.S. slide off the fiscal cliff in a few weeks, over $55 billion in spending cuts a year for the next decade will kick in at the Pentagon. That amount added to the $487 billion in [...]

The role religion does play and should play in American government November 23
[REBROADCAST] In this era of "faith and value politics,” we find ourselves frequently debating the role religion plays in modern American government.  And the role it should play?  In his recent book, writer  Jacques Berlinerblau attempts to answer [...]

The Israel/Gaza conflict November 20
As the air war over Israel and Gaza continues and Israeli's amass ground troops and tanks along the shared border, Egyptian-led efforts to negotiate a cease-fire are underway.  Israel has demanded that Hamas stop the ongoing rocket fire [...]

The Taliban attack on Malala Yousufzai October 17
Hour 2 The vicious Oct. 9 attack by Taliban fighters on 14-year old Malala Yousufzai as she was returning home from school in Pakistan's Swat Valley has shocked the world.  Yousufzai and her father became outspoken advocates for the [...]

The complex relationship between the U.S., Iran and Israel September 24
Hour 1 As the U.N. General Assembly meets this week, the debate and rhetoric over Iran's nuclear weapons capability and how to deal with it has intensified.  Despite stern warnings and banking and oil sanctions, Iran has refused [...]

Update on the unrest in Muslim-majority countries September 18
Hour 1 Violent protests against the United States government have broken out in more than 20 countries since last Tuesday, when the American ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans were killed. These events are relatively small [...]

The role religion does play and should play in American government September 17
Hour 1 In this era of "faith and value politics,” we find ourselves frequently debating the role religion plays in modern American government.  And the role it should play?  In his new book, writer  Jacques Berlinerblau attempts to [...]

Syria's civil war: An update August 9
Hour 1 The conflict in Syria has claimed more than 17,000 lives by some estimates. What started as a peaceful protest to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime almost a year and a half ago has turned into a bloody [...]

Rajiv Chandrasekaran on how the 2009 surge didn't restore "Little America" July 24
Hour 2 Americans built canals in Afghanistan’s Helmand River Valley, as a hopeful, transformative project during the Cold-War, to bring the country into the 20th century through irrigation, a Western-style school and co-ed club house. Years later this [...]

The Abington Memorial Hospital and Holy Redeemer plan to partner July 18
Hour 2 Abington Memorial Hospital and its neighbor the Holy Redeemer Health System recently signed a letter of intent to create a new regional health care system.  Over the years, Abington has earned a reputation for its stellar [...]

American philosophy 101 with Carlin Romano July 3
Hour 2 According to the 19th century French intellectual Alexis de Toqueville, "in no other country in the civilized world is less attention paid to philosophy than in the United States." That's not true today, says our guest [...]

The Vatican and U.S. nuns May 24
Hour 1 Next week the Leadership Conference of Women Religious which represents 80,000 American nuns will meet to formulate a response to the Vatican's report that the group has strayed from the Church and had adopted "radical feminist" [...]

Understanding the influence of the ancient Maya May 2
Hour 2 There is a lot of talk about the Maya civilization this year. That's because the according to their calendar, the 2012 winter solstice this December is a big deal.  It marks the end of their 5,125-year [...]

Food-stamp challenge, then Ross Douthat on 'Bad Religion' May 1
Hour 2 After taking the "Food Stamp Challenge," Marty checks in with fellow participants ANNETTE JOHN HALL, Metro columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer;  and the Jewish Federation's Director of Social Responsibility BRIAN GRALNICK. Then, the Republican frontrunner for [...]

Cullen Murphy on The Inquisition & its modern legacy April 27
Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] Vanity Fair editor-at-large CULLEN MURPHY believes there is nothing new under the sun about interrogation. He says ingredients for a modern day inquisition are here today as bureaucracies, information technology, and surveillance keep expanding; and [...]

Matching economic priorities with national priorities April 18
Hour 1 The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has long been used to measure the health of our economy – whether it is growing or retracting – as it tells us the value of the goods and services we [...]

Penn professor John DiIulio on politics, religion & government March 26
Hour 1 Penn professor JOHN DiIULIO has long been an advocate for the role of faith-based organizations in the delivery of social services provided by the government.  Over the years, in the Philadelphia area, he has created programs [...]

MEK: Who's lobbying for Iranian 'terrorist' group? March 21
Hour 1 The Iranian opposition group known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, or MEK, is listed by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization (pdf) for attacks on the Iranian government and for its work with the late Iraqi [...]

Elaine Pagels reveals visions, prophesy & politics in the Book of Revelation March 15
Hour 1 Princeton University religion professor ELAINE PAGELS joins us to discuss the history and authorship of the most controversial, apocalyptic book of the bible, the Book of Revelation, in her new book, "Revelations: Visions, Prophesy and Politics [...]

Reproductive health under fire: The battles over contraception coverage & abortion March 5
Hour 1 Battles over the birth control and abortion are erupting all over the country and dominating headlines this campaign season. Last week Senate Democrats narrowly defeated a Republican-led challenge to President Obama’s contraception coverage policy, which requires [...]

The Latino vote in the 2012 presidential election March 1
Hour 1 Will Latino voters decide the next U.S. president? Latinos are the largest minority in the United States at 16 percent and rising. While Arizona has a sizable Latino population, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum received less [...]

Cosmologist Lawrence Krauss: 'A Universe from Nothing' February 28
Hour 2 How did the Universe arise from nothing? And what was there before?  Those are the kinds of questions that for most of us set our heads spinning — not so for renowned cosmologist LAWRENCE KRAUSS.  Krauss [...]

Pennsylvania gun laws: The state vs. local governments February 21
Hour 1 Pennsylvania state law forbids local governments from making their own gun ordinances, but in an effort to control gun violence, cities, towns and counties across the Commonwealth, including Philadelphia, have enacted laws mandating the reporting of [...]

Israeli activist Gershon Baskin on release of Gilad Shalit, peace prospects February 10
Hour 1 A few days after Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was abducted in 2005, GERSHON BASKIN got a phone call from a Palestinian professor and colleague asking for his help in negotiating the soldier's release.  Gershon was put [...]

Contraception, the Catholic Church, the President and Politics February 9
Hour 1 The Obama administration announced last month that it would require religious hospitals, colleges and other institutions, like those affiliated with the Catholic Church, to provide health care coverage for contraception.  The decision has ignited a passionate [...]

Cullen Murphy on The Inquisition & its modern legacy January 24
Hour 1 Vanity Fair editor-at-large CULLEN MURPHY believes there is nothing new under the sun about interrogation. He says ingredients for a modern day inquisition are here today as bureaucracies, information technology, and surveillance keep expanding; and there [...]

Previewing the South Carolina & Florida primaries January 20
Hour 1 Since its inception in 1980, the winner of the South Carolina Republican presidential primary has gone on to win the party's nomination and, as the first primary in the South, it is often seen as an [...]

Susan Morse's "The Habit" January 16
Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] Philadelphia writer SUSAN MORSE has been taking care of her mother, on many levels, since she was a child. This role has changed over the years as “Ma,” a former portrait artist who has just [...]

The future of Philadelphia's Catholic schools January 12
Hour 1 Enrollment in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s elementary schools and high schools has been declining for decades, while the costs of running those schools have increased dramatically. Tuition fees, a decrease in the birthrate among Catholic families, [...]

Debunking doomsday 2012 junk science January 3
Hour 2 2012 is upon us, and if you thought the end-of-the-world hysteria was insane last year, just you wait for the end of this year. Hollywood helped kick the doomsday hype last year with its disaster movie [...]

Susan Morse's "The Habit" December 16
Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] Philadelphia writer SUSAN MORSE has been taking care of her mother, on many levels, since she was a child. This role has changed over the years as “Ma,” a former portrait artist who has just [...]

Having faith in corporate social responsibility December 6
Hour 1 If you are a shareholder in a corporation, can you affect its policies of social responsibility? Our guest, SISTER NORA NASH, thinks so. As the Director of Corporate Social Responsibility for the Sisters of St. Francis [...]

Kosher Chinese: Living, Teaching, and Eating with China’s Other Billion November 25
Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] Writer and teacher MICHAEL LEVY describes China to his students as a country exactly like the United States in size, in cities, in the same number of rich and poor people – but add one [...]

Sacred Trash: The Treasure Trove of the Cairo Geniza November 24
Hour 2 [REABROADCAST] In the late 1800s, in a Cairo synagogue, a remarkable discovery was made – hundreds of thousands of Jewish manuscripts from the Middle Ages filled a small windowless room.  Letters, poems, trousseau lists, prayers, marriage [...]

Bahrain: An overlooked Arab Spring battleground November 9
Hour 1 In all the waves of media attention devoted to the Arab Spring revolutions reshaping the political landscape of the Middle East, the tiny nation of Bahrain has largely been overlooked. The tide that arose in Tunisia [...]

American Jews and the 2012 election October 11
Hour 1 Pointing to the defeat of the Democratic congressional candidate in a special election in New York's heavily Jewish 9th congressional district as an example, Republicans say that support for the President among the American Jewish electorate [...]

Remembering Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali October 7
Hour Two [REBROADCAST] We remember Palestinian poet Taha Muhammed Ali, who died this week, by listening back to an interview Marty did with writer ADINA HOFFMAN, whose 2009 biography of Ali is  "My Happiness Bears No Relation to [...]

Emilio Estevez and Martin Sheen's "The Way" October 3
Hour Two EMILIO ESTEVEZ has written and directed a new film about walking the medieval Christian pilgrimage route, El Camino de Santiago, or The Way of St. James. “The Way” stars MARTIN SHEEN, about a widowed father who [...]

Has President Obama Been Good for African-Americans? September 30
Hour 1 Last weekend, President Obama addressed the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) amidst increasing criticism from its members that he has not addressed the needs of the African American community, particularly a 16.7% unemployment rate among blacks,  and [...]

Kosher Chinese: Living, Teaching, and Eating with China’s Other Billion September 30
Hour 2 Writer and teacher MICHAEL LEVY describes China to his students as a country exactly like the United States in size, in cities, in the same number of rich and poor people – but add one billion [...]

Green Burial September 29
Hour 2 The idea of a traditional burial in this country is changing.  It used to involve embalming the body and setting it in a metal or concrete casket six feet deep in the ground.  But today, people [...]

THE 99: Naif Al-Mutawa's comic book heroes for the Muslim world September 28
Hour 2 “THE 99” are a new breed of super heroes dreamed up by Kuwaiti-born psychologist Dr. NAIF AL-MUTAWA. Based on the 99 universal human values exemplified by Allah and rooted in Islamic history and culture, “THE 99” [...]

Radio Times On-Stage with Songwriter and Producer Andrew Lipke September 16
Hour 2 Philadelphia songwriter, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist ANDREW LIPKE comes in to the Dorrance H. Hamilton Media Commons with the Azrael Quartet to play selections from his new CD, “The Plague.” In this ‘Radio Times On-Stage' live [...]

Three local perspectives on the anniversary of 9/11 September 6
Hour 1 To kick off a week of first hours dedicated to exploring the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, we take a look at three ways in which 9/11 reverberated in the Delaware Valley. We’ll [...]

Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness August 22
Hour 2 Writer and playwright Sholem Aleichem (Shalom Rabinovitz) is considered one of the great, modern Jewish writers who wrote in Yiddish, spinning secular stories using universal themes of unrelenting change, propelled by the Industrial Revolution, conflicting with [...]

Free Birth Control? Covering Prevention Services for Women August 1
Hour 1 An expert panel for the Institute of Medicine recently released recommendations for improving women’s health.  The Institute identified eight preventive services that could improve women’s lives and that health insurance plans should cover, including contraception, at [...]

Massacre in Norway & Europe's far right July 28
Hour 1 The attacks in Norway on Friday killed 76 people, most of them teens and young adults slaughtered at an island camp for young political leaders in training. Early on, speculation about the murderers focused on Al [...]

The resignation of Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia July 19
Hour 1 This morning, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia will hold a press conference announcing the resignation of Cardinal Justin Rigali as the Archbishop of Philadelphia.  As required by canon law, the Bishop submitted his resignation to the Pope [...]

Saudi women fight for the right to drive, then a NJ schools update June 16
Hour 1 There’s a protest planned in Saudi Arabia on Friday that's encouraging women to get into their cars and drive.  Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women are banned from driving – they [...]

Rescuing Philadelphia's historic houses of worship May 26
Hour 1 Among Philadelphia's architectural treasures are the hundreds of places of worship built in the late 19th and early 20th century that were a vital part of a community's well-being.  But with age and changes in neighborhood [...]

Sacred Trash: The Treasure Trove of the Cairo Geniza May 16
Hour 2 In the late 1800s, in a Cairo synagogue, a remarkable discovery was made – hundreds of thousands of Jewish manuscripts from the Middle Ages filled a small windowless room.  Letters, poems, trousseau lists, prayers, marriage contracts, [...]

PBS and PRI Host Tavis Smiley & Politics with Jason Johnson May 13
Hour 1 We’ll listen back to Marty’s interview she did with PBS and PRI host TAVIS SMILEY last week at the University of the Arts. Smiley has a lot to talk about. He was in Philadelphia celebrating 20 [...]

What the killing of bin Laden means for U.S. security and foreign policy May 4
Hour 1 We continue our coverage of the killing of Osama bin Laden with conversations about its implications for U.S. security and foreign policy.  Starting us off is HEATHER HURLBURT of the National Security Network who offers perspectives [...]

Digital democratizing & media in the Middle East April 12
Hour 2 Never has social media’s role in world affairs been more under the microscope than the Arab uprisings that continue to roil the Middle East. A wave of protests that began in Tunisia and toppled its dictator [...]

Grieving Palestinians & Israelis work for peace April 6
Hour 1 The Parents Circle – Families Forum is an organization of bereaved families on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian struggle who are becoming a powerful force for peace there. ALI ABU AWWAD is a Palestinian nonviolence activist [...]

The Abortion Battle in the States March 31
Hour 1 Last week, South Dakota passed an abortion bill that requires a woman to wait a three days and receive counseling before she can get an abortion — this is the longest waiting period in any state.  [...]

Making sense of the emerging 'Obama doctrine' & Libya March 29
Hour 1 The morning after President Obama’s prime-time speech about his decision to intervene militarily in Libya, we take stock of the emerging ‘Obama doctrine’ guiding U.S. foreign policy. Citing a controversial and new United Nations principle known [...]

'The Jersey Sting', with reporter/authors Josh Margolin & Ted Sherman March 23
Hour 1 The arrests, 44 of them, in New Jersey in July 2009 sounded like the stuff of fiction, or at least the stuff of conspiracy theorists. Three mayors, five Orthodox rabbis, two state legislators and the deputy [...]

Reaction to the charges of child sexual abuse in the Philadelphia Archdiocese March 16
Hour 1 On Monday, two current priests, a defrocked priest, and a former lay Catholic school teacher charged with sexually abusing or endangering minors appeared in a Philadelphia courtroom along with an Archdiocese official accused of concealing and [...]

Inquirer columnist Trudy Rubin on the prospects for democracy in Egypt and the Middle East March 10
Hour 1 Inquirer columnist Trudy Rubin recently returned from Egypt, where conversations with Nobel Laureate Mohamed El Baradei, representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood, and protesters and Egyptians of all ages led her to conclude that the country is [...]

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, Gaza gynecologist, grieving father March 3
Hour 2 Dr. IZZELDIN ABUELAISH lost three of his daughters and his niece to a shell launched at his apartment in Gaza by Israeli Defense Forces in January 2009, while another daughter was critically injured. Moments later, Israeli [...]

White House abandons legal case against gay marriage March 2
Hour 1 In December, when President Obama signed the repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy and allowed gays to serve openly in the armed services, he reaffirmed that he does not support marriage for same-sex [...]

Clergy sexual abuse of minors in the Philadelphia Archdiocese February 25
Earlier this month, the Philadelphia District Attorney's office released it's second grand jury report in a decade regarding abuse by priests in the Philadelphia Archdiocese.  The new report resulted in charges against three priests, a parochial school teacher [...]

Growing unrest in the Middle East February 24
Hour 1 Anti-government protests continue to spread across the Middle East. After uprisings toppled governments in Tunisia and Egypt, protests, some violent, are growing in Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and even Iran.  What all these countries [...]

Nonviolence in the Arab streets, with Gene Sharp, Sherif Mansour & Mubarak Awad February 17
Hour 1 The protests that continue to shake the Arab world, and which successfully ousted dictators in Egypt and Tunisia, came as a shock to many. Much of the news coverage has focused on the role that technology [...]

The Science of Pleasure February 16
Hour 1 [REBROADCAST] Why do people get pleasure from a panoramic view, a great symphony, our pets, or pornography?  Yale psychologist PAUL BLOOM studies why we enjoy and desire certain things.  In his recent book, How Pleasure Works: The [...]

Egypt update, then Republican Party politics February 11
Hour 1 ERIC TRAGER is just back from Cairo. He is a Ph.D. candidate in political science at the University of Pennsylvania, where his dissertation research focuses on Egyptian opposition parties.  He has interviewed over 100 Egyptian opposition [...]

Michael Scheuer, on Osama Bin Laden & Egypt February 9
Hour 2 MICHAEL SCHEUER led the CIA’s Osama Bin Laden unit from 1996 to 1999, long before most Americans learned his name in the rubble and outrage after 9/11. He is uniquely qualified as the author of a [...]

Human rights violations in Egypt February 8
Hour 1 As peaceful protests in Egypt turned violent, there have been increasing reports of attacks on and detentions of civilians, non-governmental foreign workers and journalists by pro-Mubarak supporters.  Over the weekend details of some of these abuses [...]

James Zogby on attitudes and opinions of the Arab world February 7
The tumultuous events unfolding in Middle East may have come as a surprise to many us and therefore illustrate the need for  all of us to fully understand the diversity of opinions in the Arab world.  In his [...]

Being gay & persecuted in Uganda, with Frank Mugisha January 21
Hour 1 FRANK MUGISHA heads up the organization Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), an openly gay man in a country that is persecuting gays, and where a national magazine published home addresses and ran photos of openly gay Ugandans, [...]

Sudan's referendum, & why the West should care January 4
Hour 1 On Sunday, January 9, South Sudan’s referendum on self-determination could alter the present and future of this pivotal and oft-overlooked African nation. Occasional outbreaks of violence have competed with optimistic forecasts for the upcoming election. The [...]

Israeli Writer DAVID GROSSMAN'S To the End of the Land December 27
Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] Israeli writer DAVID GROSSMAN received international attention with his 1987 nonfiction book, “The Yellow Wind,” a personal reportage of interviews of Palestinian residents during the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, which was published a [...]

Zak Ebrahim, terrorist's son & peace activist December 22
Hour 1 ZAK EBRAHIM’s father did not die when he was young, as Zak grew up telling anyone who asked. In truth, Zak’s father, El-Sayed Nosair, was imprisoned after assassinating the leader of the Jewish Defense League, Rabbi [...]

Is the institution of marriage still relevant? December 14
Hour 2 A recent Pew /Time Magazine poll found that four out of every ten Americans think that marriage is becoming obsolete and unnecessary, but three quarters of people surveyed said raising kids is best done in a home [...]

Why the Pentagon is prepared to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell December 2
Hour 1 A nine-month study conducted by the Pentagon and released on Tuesday found that there is little risk in ending the military’s policy of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.  The 17-year-old policy requires gay service members to keep their sexual [...]

Philadelphia Clergy's HIV Prevention Campaign November 18
Hour 1 Philadelphia’s black clergy are urging their congregants to get tested for HIV.  Over 100 churches and mosques are participating in an HIV prevention campaign.  Some are even offering HIV testing on site.  Philadelphia has one of [...]

Jay Bakker, televangelists' son preaching for LGBTQ equality November 5
Hour 2 JAY BAKKER is the son of famed televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. In one sense, he followed in his parents’ footsteps, in that he is a pastor and founder of his own church. But the [...]

Frank Meeink: A South Philly skinhead's journey out of hate October 11
Hour 1 As a teenager, South Philadelphia’s FRANK MEEINK rose to become one of the most notorious racist skinhead gang leaders, and his violent lifestyle had him locked up in an Illinois prison by age 18. But that [...]

The Supreme Court, hate speech, privacy, and a soldier's funeral October 7
Hour 1 Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Snyder v. Phelps, a free speech case that has stirred emotional reactions over the protests tactics of  Westboro Baptist Church at the funeral of a young Marine.  We talk [...]

Religious Literacy: what Americans don't know about the world's religions October 7
Hour 2 A new survey on religious knowledge came out from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.  It shows that a majority of Americans know very little about the world's religions.  Interestingly, the groups that scored [...]

Jeff Sharlet on Piety and Corruption in American Politics September 28
Hour 2 Senators John Ensign, Jim DeMint, and Sam Brownback have been residents. South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford was a resident when he was a U.S. Congressman.  133 C St. S.E. is a tidy, red brick Washington D.C. rowhouse  [...]

How a fringe pastor garnered worldwide attention and what it all says about freedom of religion and speech in America September 11
Hour 1 The plans of Florida pastor Terry Jones to burn a copy of the Koran has garnered worldwide attention and has stirred much debate about the role of the media and our rights to free speech.  We'll talk with New [...]

The fallout over the controversy surrounding the proposed Muslim cultural center and mosque in New York August 26
Hour 1 We look at the protests against the proposed Muslim cultural center and mosque in New York, what they say about hostility to Muslims in the U.S., and how Jihadist websites across the globe are responding.  Our [...]

Lower Manhattan Muslim center proposal, aka the "Ground Zero mosque" August 17
Hour 1 The proposal for a Muslim community center near the site of the September 11th, 2001 terror attacks – you might have heard it mistakenly called a “Ground Zero mosque” – has generated considerable controversy and divided [...]

The Science of Pleasure August 12
Hour 2 Why do people get pleasure from a panoramic view, a great symphony, our pets, or pornography?  Yale psychologist PAUL BLOOM studies why we enjoy and desire certain things.  In his new book, How Pleasure Works: The [...]

American Jews and Israel: Can they criticize Israel and still be Zionists? July 6
Hour 1 In a recent article in the New York Review of Books, writer Peter Beinart argued that the American Jewish mainstream establishment has failed to embrace younger American Jews who may be critical of Israel’s policies.  The [...]

Jessica Stern's 'Denial: A Memoir of Terror' June 21
Hour 2 JESSICA STERN directs Harvard Law School’s terrorism program; she’s one of the world's foremost experts on religious terrorism, militant jihadism and post-traumatic stress disorder, and last appeared on "Radio Times" in January to discuss efforts to "deradicalize" terrorists. Jessica Stern is also a survivor of a brutal rape, as she reveals for the first time in her new book, "Denial: A Personal Memoir of Terror." Jessica was 15, her sister 14, in 1973 when a stranger broke into their home and raped them for over an hour. He left, and was never caught. Three decades later, after a career that has taken her into some of the world’s most dangerous places, a devoted police detective reopened her case, and she opened her own investigation. Along the way, she confronted her own post-traumatic stress disorder, and much, much more.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, "Nomad" on a journey through the clash of civilizations June 3
Hour 1 AYAAN HIRSI ALI's family fled her native Somalia when she was eight, and she eventually sought and obtained political asylum in the Netherlands in 1992. She was elected to the Dutch parliament in 2003, then was stripped of her citizenship and resigned, after her screenplay for filmmaker Theo Van Gogh’s movie "Submission," a scathing attack of Islam’s treatment of women, ignited an international furor. After Van Gogh's assassination at the blade of a Muslim extremist, she lived in seclusion and official protection and has now resettled in the United States. In 2006 she published her memoir, which appeared in English translation in 2007 titled "Infidel." Her new book, "Nomad," tells the story of her exile in the United States, as well as her role as public intellectual on the run. She recently has made headlines for advocating on behalf of the creators of "South Park" for their refusal to pull their comedic punches against Islam, as well as challenging Westerners who respond to African female genital mutilation with anything other than staunch opposition.