Climate change milestone May 21
Guests: Gavin Schmidt, Anthony Leiserowitz Last week carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached record levels — 400 parts per million, according to a monitoring station in Hawaii.  Never in human history have carbon dioxide concentrations been that high.  [...]

Investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill on Dirty Wars May 21
GUEST: JEREMY SCAHILL Much of the Obama Administration’s national security policy relies on the work of  the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and the CIA’s Special Activities Division. According to our guest JEREMY SCAHILL, National Security Correspondent for [...]

A reality check on the Benghazi and IRS investigations May 17
Guests:  Jonathan Landay and Jodi Schneider It's been a rough couple of days for President Obama when it comes to scandal, crisis and politics. On Wednesday, the White House tried to quell criticism over how it responded to [...]

Celebrating Steampunk culture; then the Associated Press and the Department of Justice May 16
GUESTS: MANO DIVINA, GIL CNAAN and JANE KIRTLEY Strap on your brass goggles, tuck into a fantasy airship and enjoy the ride as we explore the Victorian futuristic fashion and literary universe known as “Steampunk” with Divine Hand [...]

The global garment industry: Bangladesh, workers' safety and us May 15
Guests: Scott Nova and Pietra Rivoli After last month's factory fire in Bangladesh that killed over 1,000 workers, three of the world's largest clothing manufacturers have agreed to a plan that would require retailers to help pay for [...]

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 [...]

Maria Bello on her acting and activism May 10
Hour 2 Guest: Maria Bello Actor MARIA BELLO has won acclaim for her roles in the films The History of Violence and The Cooler.  She’s appeared in many television shows including starring as Detective Jane Timoney in last [...]

Hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay — ethics and the law May 8
Hour 1 Guests:  Carol Rosenberg, Jonathan Marks and Scott Allen Over 100 inmates at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center have been on a hunger strike since February in protest of their seemingly indefinite detention and the alleged mishandling [...]

Analysis of President Obama's trip to Mexico May 6
GUESTS: TIM JOHNSON and CHRISTOPHER WILSON Is a new Mexico emerging? That’s what President Obama said in a speech Friday during his two-day trip to Mexico, his fourth as President. He met with Mexico’s president, Enrique Pena Nieto [...]

'Embers of War': Historian Fredrik Logevall traces long roots of Vietnam War May 2
GUEST: FREDRIK LOGEVALL [REBROADCAST] Why did Vietnam became the setting for one of the longest and bloodiest struggles of the entire post-1945 era, and why did two Western powers, first France and then the United States, lose their [...]

Syria: crossing the red line and U.S. action forward May 1
Guests:  Brian Katulis and Michael Noonan Back in August 2012, President Obama warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that if he used chemical weapons against his own people, he would be crossing a “red line” and that such actions [...]

How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia with writer Mohsin Hamid April 26
GUEST: MOHSIN HAMID [REBROADCAST] Pakistan-based writer MOHSIN HAMID's latest book is “How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia." Written as a  self-help novel, with chapters like “Avoid Idealists” and “Befriend a Bureaucrat,” it  follows the life of [...]

Vali Nasr: Dispensable Nation April 25
Guest: Vali Nasr Middle East scholar VALI NASR knows President Obama’s foreign policy inside and out.  From 2009 to 2011, Nasr was a senior adviser to Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and worked closely with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. [...]

Celebrating 100 years of Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring April 24
GUEST: DAVID LUDWIG This May marks the 100th anniversary of Russian composer Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring,” performed by the Ballets Russes at the Theatre de Champs-Elysees in Paris. The score to a ballet borrowed from Russian [...]

What drives radicalization; then media coverage of the Boston bombings April 22
Guests: John Horgan and Rem Rieder What does it take for a young man to go from being what friends said was a "regular" kid to someone who commits a heinous act of violence? What would motivate that [...]

"Fire and Forget" and the value of war stories April 18
Guests:  Matt Gallagher and Roy Scranton Fire and Forget is an anthology of short stories about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the post-war lives of those who served. All written by veterans, the stories reflect the [...]

Reaction to the Boston bombings April 16
Guests:  Kevin Cullen Charles Ramsey and Tricia Wachtendorf In the aftermath of the tragic bombings at the Boston Marathon yesterday we get reaction from Boston Globe columnist KEVIN CULLEN, Philadelphia Police Commissioner CHARLES RAMSEY and TRICIA WACHTENDORF of [...]

Keystone XL Pipeline debate April 10
Guests: Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, Amy Myers Jaffe The Obama administration is expected to make a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline expansion in the next few months.  The pipeline would carry 800,000 barrels a day of tar sands crude [...]

What's behind North Korea's latest threats? April 3
Guests: Joel Wit and Marcus Noland North Korea's relatively young and untested leader Kim Jong-un  has been making some bold threats recently.  Yesterday, he announced the country would open a nuclear reactor it had closed five years ago.  [...]

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. [...]

An update on the U.S. Guantanamo Bay detention facility April 1
CAROL ROSENBERG, BENJAMIN WITTES & DAVID FRAKT At least 31 prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center have joined a hunger strike to protest the conditions and their indefinite detainment, according to some of the detainees’ lawyers. When [...]

Composer Mohammed Fairouz March 28
Guest: MOHAMMED FAIROUZ New York-based composer, MOHAMMED FAIROUZ, hears music everywhere – on the street, in the subway and in taxis – and through lives of people from different backgrounds. He believes he can overcome the potential fear [...]

Douglas Rushkoff's Present Shock March 27
Guest: DOUGLAS RUSHKOFF Do you often feel you aren’t on your game because you’re not hip to the new trend and are behind in your tweets? Our guest, author DOUGLAS RUSHKOFF, has been observing our culture’s need to [...]

Assessing the media coverage of the war in Iraq March 20
Guests:  JONATHAN LANDAY, MARK THOMPSON In 2004, the New York Times ran an unprecedented apology for its reporting in the lead-up to the U.S. war in Iraq admitting that their work "was not as rigorous as it should have [...]

The legacy of the war in Iraq March 19
Guests:  CELESTE ZAPPALA, LAURA JACOBY, PAUL RIECKHOFF Ten years ago today, the U.S. launched its invasion of Iraq without finding weapons of mass destruction but eventually toppling the reign of Saddam Hussein.  Since the war began at least [...]

Lincoln's code: the fundamentals of international war time conduct March 15
[REBROADCAST] 1863 was a very bloody year as thousands of Americans were killed in many Civil War battles, despite the hopeful start of the year, as the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Lincoln on January 1st. But [...]

The Chavez Legacy March 11
Guests: George Ciccariello-Maher, Francisco Toro Last week, former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died after a two-year battle with cancer at the age of 58. He was a polarizing figure in Venezuela and the world. To some, he was a [...]

The civil war in Syria: The conflict, U.S. policy and how might it end March 6
GUESTS:  SAMER ABBOUD and ANDREW TABLER Last week, for the first time since the civil war in Syria began two years ago, the U.S. announced its support for the Syrian opposition movement.  In a major shift in policy, [...]

How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia with writer Mohsin Hamid March 6
GUEST: MOHSIN HAMID Pakistan-based writer MOHSIN HAMID's latest book is “How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia." Written as a  self-help novel, with chapters like “Avoid Idealists” and “Befriend a Bureaucrat,” it  follows the life of a [...]

The Future of Guantanamo Bay March 1
Hour 1 Guests: Carol Rosenberg, Benjamin Wittes, David Frakt At least 31 prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center have joined a hunger strike to protest the conditions and their indefinite detainment, according to some of the detainees’ [...]

The Past and Future of USPS February 26
Hour 2 GUESTS: RICHARD R. JOHN Will the mail continue to be important as Americans are more engaged in the digital age? The financially strapped United States Postal Service (USPS) will be ceasing their Saturday delivery service, with [...]

Nuclear weapons and nonproliferation February 21
GUEST:  WARD WILSON North Korea conducted its third underground nuclear test last week, the same day President Obama addressed the country in his State of the Union speech.  Obama has made reducing the nation’s nuclear arsenal a priority [...]

Cybersecurity and the growing threats February 14
Guests: SIOBHAN GORMAN, ALAN PALLER and JAMES LEWIS On Tuesday, President Obama signed an Executive Order to protect the country’s critical infrastructure from cyber attacks.  As he announced Tuesday night in his State of the Union address, the [...]

Obama's drone strike policy February 8
The Obama administration’s use of drones for targeted killings has been drawing increasing attention and criticism from some.  In his confirmation hearings yesterday, John Brennan, Obama’s nominee for CIA director and current top counterterrorism adviser, faced questions and [...]

Al Gore on 'The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change' February 5
Former Vice President AL GORE has a new book out, inspired by his restless quest for understanding of the factors reshaping our world. It’s called “The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change,” and it ties together global climate [...]

Penn's Eve Troutt Powell on 'Tell This in My Memory' January 30
Hour 2 What does the slave trade in North Africa of the late 19th Century have to tell us about the countries whose revolutions and social unrest explode onto our screens today? How does the legacy of the [...]

The ongoing threat of al-Qaeda January 29
In her Congressional testimony last week regarding the attack on an American consulate in Benghazi, Hillary Clinton said that the recent seizure of an Algerian gas plant and the ongoing conflict in northern Mali were “all part of [...]

An end to the combat ban for women January 28
Last week Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced that he was ending the military’s ban on women serving in combat positions. “Female service members have faced the reality of combat, proving their willingness to fight and, yes, to die [...]

Julie Otsuka-The Buddha in the Attic January 25
Novelist JULIE OTSUKA didn’t dream of being a writer. She pursued fine art at Yale and Columbia Universities, and it wasn’t until she was 30 that she put her paint brush down and concentrated on words as her [...]

Will Obama's second term change prospects for climate? January 24
In his inaugural speech, President Obama made climate change a central priority of his second term: “We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future [...]

The Inauguration and Obama's next term January 22
Yesterday President Obama was sworn into his  second term as commander in chief of the United States , something that has only happened to 16 other U.S. Presidents.  The inaugural ceremony, though full of pomp and pageantry, didn't [...]

NPR's Andy Carvin, a 'Distant Witness' via social media January 22
The Arab Spring changed history, and changed the way breaking news is reported around the world and who controls the news. NPR social media chief ANDY CARVIN – “the man who tweets revolutions” – offers a unique first-person [...]

Journalist Mark Bowden on "The Finish" of Osama bin Laden January 11
[REBROADCAST] Journalist MARK BOWDEN returns to Radio Times to take us inside the rooms where the decisions were made to take down Osama bin Laden. Having access to President Obama, his national security advisors, and high ranking members [...]

The President's national security team nominations and the future of foreign policy January 10
In nominating Senator John Kerry as Secretary of State, Senator Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense and White House counter-terrorism advisor John Brennan to head the CIA, President Obama has signaled a change in the direction of American [...]

Trips, adventures and vacations and how to get there in 2013 January 9
If you're like the staff of Radio Times, you're always planning your next trip or thinking about where you'd  like to go — especially this time of year when we're counting down the days to warmer weather.  There's [...]

Violence against women January 7
The six men accused of gang raping and killing a 23-year-old Indian woman were formally charged last week. The horrific attack has set off dozens of protests in India demanding justice for the victim and changes in attitudes [...]

Ross King on Leonardo da Vinci and The Last Supper January 1
[REBROADCAST] One of the most famous paintings in the world is Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” painted on the wall of a Dominican convent in Milan in the 1490s.  Surprisingly, da Vinci didn’t start his masterpiece until [...]

New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov December 31
[REBROADCAST] Are you comfortable choosing wine at a restaurant? Do you know a good value when buying a bottle in a store? Can you bring a red, white or bubbly to a party with confident vintage choice? The [...]

David Quammen on 'Spillover' of animal diseases into humans December 28
[REBROADCAST] Avian flu. Ebola. SARS. AIDS. All of us have been exposed, at least in the media, to diseases that have migrated from animal hosts to humans, a phenomenon scientists call "spillover. That's also the name of acclaimed [...]

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 [...]

Garbology: a look at America's trash habit December 26
[REBROADCAST] Americans make a lot of trash, more than any other country in the world. In fact, each of us produces around 7.1 pounds of garbage a day, or roughly 102 tons in a lifetime. And trash turns [...]

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 [...]

Lincoln's code: the fundamentals of international war time conduct December 19
1863 was a very bloody year as thousands of Americans were killed in many Civil War battles, despite the hopeful start of the year, as the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Lincoln on January 1st. But within [...]

Locally-born, Kabul-based Oscar nominated filmmaker Sam French December 18
Locally-born-and-raised filmmaker SAM FRENCH just arrived back in the States after taking three planes, which took 30 hours from Kabul, Afghanistan. He’s been making films there for four years, and the film he co-wrote and directed, Buzkashi Boys, [...]

Worker safety in the global marketplace — whose responsibility is it? December 17
Over the past several months, major factory fires in Pakistan and Bangladesh have killed over 400 people working for companies that manufacture clothing for major American and European retailers and brands.  The tragedies are raising awareness of the [...]

A conversation with former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker December 13
Our guest in this hour of Radio Times, RYAN C. CROCKER, recently stepped down as U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan. Crocker is one of the nation’s most experienced diplomats, having served as Ambassador to Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Kuwait and [...]

Nikki Johnson-Huston: from homeless to lawyer December 12
City of Philadelphia tax solicitor and 2012 USA Eisenhower Fellow, NIKKI JOHNSON-HUSTON, returned recently from a six-week trip to India and New Zealand, to study what social safety nets look like in two, very different countries. When she [...]

Travel writer Andrew McCarthy's long way home November 30
ANDREW MCCARTHY is a world-class travel writer – he’s an editor-at-large for National Geographic Traveler, and has received numerous travel journalist awards including four 2011 North American Travel Journalist Awards. Andrew McCarthy is also an actor and can’t [...]

Former FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair: from regulator to watchdog November 29
Former Chairman of the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation), SHEILA BAIR, will explain how she was one of the first people to identify and assess the subprime crisis of 2008. Currently a Senior Advisor to the PEW Charitable [...]

The attack in Benghazi, Susan Rice, and the GOP November 28
Yesterday, UN Ambassador Susan Rice met with Republican senators in an effort to explain remarks she made immediately following the September 11 attack on the US consulate and a nearby CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya that killed US [...]

Updates on Egypt & Syria November 27
Egypt’s elected president, Mohamed Morsi, sparked a new political crisis less than two years after a popular uprising ousted Hosni Mubarak with a decree this week that his decisions would be exempt from judicial review. New mass demonstrations [...]

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 [...]

Ross King on Leonardo da Vinci and The Last Supper November 20
One of the most famous paintings in the world is Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” painted on the wall of a Dominican convent in Milan in the 1490s.  Surprisingly, da Vinci didn’t start his masterpiece until he [...]

The Petraeus affair & its ramifications November 14
Hour 1 A stunning scandal has triggered the resignation of the most important military leader of modern U.S. history, David Petraeus, and has his successor of commander of the U.S. and NATO forces at war in Afghanistan, Gen. [...]

What new leadership in China will bring November 12
Hour 1 Just days after our Presidential election, the Chinese began their process of appointing a new leader. In a meeting that happens every ten years, two thousand delegates are gathered in Beijing for 18th Communist Party Congress, [...]

Journalist Mark Bowden on "The Finish" of Osama bin Laden October 25
Hour 2 Journalist MARK BOWDEN returns to Radio Times to take us inside the rooms where the decisions were made to take down Osama bin Laden. Having access to President Obama, his national security advisors, and high ranking [...]

The real stories of bloody Libyan ends of Gaddafi, Amb. Stevens October 24
Hour 1 Hours before the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was attacked on Sept. 11 and Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens killed, the popular diplomat was “cheerful and relaxed” on the phone with ETHAN CHORIN, who was in Benghazi [...]

New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov October 24
Hour 2 Are you comfortable choosing wine at a restaurant? Do you know a good value when buying a bottle in a store? Can you bring a red, white or bubbly to a party with confident vintage choice? [...]

Presidential election 2012: The foreign policy debate October 23
Hour 1 Until now, the 2012 presidential election campaign has been mostly about the economy, but last night's third and final presidential debate focused on foreign policy — the U.S. role in an increasingly complicated and volatile Middle [...]

The Cuban Missile Crisis 50 Years Later October 22
Hour 1 Fifty years tonight, in a nationally televised speech, President John Kennedy informed the American public that the world was on the brink of a nuclear war.  A week before, the President was briefed by the State [...]

A Conversation with The Philadelphia Orchestra's Music Director, Yannick Nezet-Sequin October 22
The Philadelphia Sound will continue to resonate in its 113th season under Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s baton – after conducting under the director-designate title for two years, he has officially become the eighth music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra. The [...]

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 [...]

David Quammen on 'Spillover' of animal diseases into humans October 16
Hour 1 Avian flu. Ebola. SARS. AIDS. All of us have been exposed, at least in the media, to diseases that have migrated from animal hosts to humans, a phenomenon scientists call "spillover. That's also the name of [...]

Sandusky sentenced; then, the civilian toll of drone strikes October 10
Hour 1 Yesterday, former Penn State football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years for the sexual abuse of nine young men, a scandal that rocked Happy Valley and forced the ouster of [...]

Travel writer Andrew McCarthy's long way home October 3
Hour Two ANDREW MCCARTHY is a world-class travel writer – he’s an editor-at-large for National Geographic Traveler, and has received numerous travel journalist awards including four 2011 North American Travel Journalist Awards. Andrew McCarthy is also an actor [...]

Wyclef Jean on his 'Purpose,' Haiti, music & Lauryn Hill October 1
Hour 2 WYCLEF JEAN is a musician, actor, producer, and activist who was born and raised in Haiti and moved with his family to New York when he was nine years old. He learned English from American rap [...]

Elephant poaching: the dramatic rise in ivory trafficking September 27
Hour 1 Over 25,000 elephants were slaughtered last year in the growing illicit ivory trade — sometimes entire herds gunned down from helicopters.  Elephant poaching in Africa reached its highest levels in 2011 since the global ivory ban [...]

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 [...]

Surviving the Khmer Rouge September 24
Hour Two Cambodian-born novelist, VADDEY RATNER, and her mother fled their home country in 1981, after living under the oppressive Khmer Rouge. They lost several family members, who were part of about 2 million people who died under [...]

Journalist Steve Coll looks at ExxonMobil's private empire and American power September 21
Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] According to our guest, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist STEVE COLL, ExxonMobil makes over $450 billion a year, the size of Norway’s GDP and about 3 percent of the U.S. GDP, positioning it as the largest [...]

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 Protests in North Africa and the Middle East September 14
Hour 1 The violent protests in the Arab world sparked by an anti-Islam video are spreading. On Tuesday armed militias attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya killing four Americans including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Anti-American protesters also tried [...]

The International Criminal Court's first decade September 10
Hour 1 Ten years after the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court entered into force in 2002, how is the ICC working for the U.S. and international community in bringing war criminals to justice? What are its [...]

Update on the war in Afghanistan: Getting inside the 'insider attacks' August 28
Hour 1 As of last week, 2,000 American troops have been killed in the 11-year war in Afghanistan. This past weekend, Taliban insurgents killed 17 civilians, mostly by beheading, and in a separate attack, 10 Afghan soldiers. President [...]

The Great Animal Orchestra: finding the music in nature August 24
Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] Naturalist BERNIE KRAUSE has spent 40 years listening to and recording the natural world. He’s traveled the world, capturing the sounds of over fifteen thousand species and making four thousand hours of wild music – [...]

The Common Core Standards for public education; then PA's voter ID law August 15
Hour 1 When No Child Left Behind (NCLB) became law in 2001 it promised to improve public education by raising standards and establishing measurable goals for student progress.  While the law was praised for making schools more accountable, [...]

Olympics 2012: A look back at London & NBC August 13
Hour 2 The 2012 Olympics are over, and in this hour of Radio Times, we look back on the remarkable athleticism, struggles and successes, defeats and drama, hype and history of the London Games. From Michael Phelps dripping [...]

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 [...]

Extreme weather and climate change July 30
Hour 1 We’re in the midst of the worst drought in 50 years. The last 12 months have been the hottest on record.  Heat waves, storms, floods and wildfires have been wreaking havoc this spring and summer in [...]

Jim Thorpe's 1912 Olympic dominance & a London preview July 27
Hour 2 Before the Opening Ceremonies of the London Olympics tonight, we look back to the remarkable Olympics 100 years ago in Stockholm, Sweden. Those games were a fascinating moment in time – differences from today’s Olympics included [...]

Americans with Disabilities: The Act's anniversary & today's challenges July 26
Hour 1 Twenty-two years ago today, the first President Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act, which recognized and protected the civil rights of people with disabilities ranging from physical conditions affecting mobility, stamina, sight, hearing, [...]

Character and leadership July 25
Hour 1 What makes a great leader? Why do some companies thrive in uncertainty and others fail? New technologies, the unstable economy and the unconventional habits of high-profile CEOs show leadership has different skills and sensibilities. Our guest, [...]

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 [...]

Making sense of shootings: Aurora, CO & Utoya, Norway July 23
Hour 1 Yet another mass murder by gun has claimed too many lives in the United States and inflamed the nation's bitter debate about gun safety and legislation. Friday morning's slaughter in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater premiering [...]

America’s Greatest Naval Architect and His Quest to Build the S.S. United States July 23
Hour 2 “Getting there is half the fun,” is rarely a desire of the modern traveler, but back when the S.S. United States made its maiden voyage, this passenger luxury liner was built for speed and comfort. It [...]

Mexico's post-election politics & violent cartels July 19
Hour 1 On July 1st, Mexican voters returned the PRI – the Institutional Revolutionary Party that controlled the Mexican presidency for 71 years until 2000 – to power by electing its telegenic candidate, former Governor Enrique Pena Nieto. [...]

Tax havens: Mitt Romney and the state of Delaware July 11
Hour 1 A new Vanity Fair article investigates Mitt Romney’s use of offshore and foreign tax havens and is drawing more attention to the Republican presidential candidate’s finances. In the August issue, journalist NICHOLAS SHAXSON tracks Romney’s accounts [...]

Big Banks, regulation and the Volcker Rule July 6
Hour 1 This week, Barclays Plc chief executive Robert Diamond resigned over an interest-rate fixing scandal. Other big banks including Bank of America, Citibank, and JPMorgan are being investigated by regulators in the U.S., Europe and Asia for [...]

Obama's Shadow War July 5
Hour 1 The Obama administration is facing mounting criticism for its use of armed drones to kill suspected terrorists in foreign countries.  A recent op-ed by former President Jimmy Carter in The New York Times pointed to a [...]

Ed Rendell sees 'A Nation of Wusses' June 26
Hour 2 Former two-term Pennsylvania Governor and Philadelphia Mayor ED RENDELL comes in to discuss his new book, “A Nation of Wusses: How America’s Leaders Lost the Guts to Make Us Great.” He looks back on his years [...]