Bob Collins
Friday May 24, 2019
(Subject to change as events dictate. This page is updated throughout the day.)
9 a.m. – 1A with Joshua Johnson
Domestic news roundup. This week, former White House counsel Don McGahn defied a subpoena to appear before the House Judiciary Committee. We discussed the likelihood that Congress will impeach the president earlier this week. Meanwhile, we may be close to seeing the president’s financial records after rulings from two federal judges and a bill approved by New York state lawmakers. We’re also following the latest on abortion legislation around the country. Finally, CBS first reported that a ten-year old migrant girl from El Salvador died in custody at the U.S.-Mexico border last year. She was the first of six children to die soon after being released or while detained. We cover all this and more.
Guests: Lisa Desjardins, correspondent, PBS NewsHour; Edward Luce, chief U.S. columnist and commentator, Financial Times; Anita Kumar, White House correspondent and associate editor, Politico.
10 a.m.- 1A with Joshua Johnson
International news roundup. After about six weeks of voting, Indians elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a second term, representing a landslide victory. Modi’s brand of Hindu nationalism and a strong commitment to national security proved to be a winning strategy with voters. What will Modi pursue with such broad support during another term? And the world leadership news certainly did not stop there. Embattled British Prime Minister Theresa May’s position becomes more precarious each day. The pressure on May to quit has intensified as she tries to broker another Brexit deal. On Tuesday, the American government said it had “seen signs” that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad could be using chemical weapons, according to Reuters. Further, the U.S. called for a ceasefire as fighting spiked in northwestern Syria, the last stronghold of opposition forces. We wrap up the global news from a busy week.
Guests: Mark Landler, White House correspondent, The New York Times; Susan Glasser, staff writer, The New Yorker; Paul Danahar, Washington bureau chief of the BBC
11 a.m. – MPR News with Angela Davis
It might not seem like it, but it’s almost summer. And summer means grilling season. Cooking outside the kitchen is a great way to commune with nature, but it’s also a great way to give your dinner guests salmonella. There are some simple rules to follow when it comes to food preparation and storage.
Guests: Dr. Pritish Tosh, infectious disease researcher at Mayo Clinic and formerly of the CDC; Kim Carlton, environmental health supervisors, Minnesota Department of Health; Craig Hedberg, professor, School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota.
12 p.m. – The Takeaway
Forty-four men have held the office of the presidency (Grover Cleveland is counted twice). This week’s show broadcasts from the Presidential Ideas Festival at the University of Virginia. And we’ll get a look at the evolution of the executive office.
1 p.m. – Science Friday
An outbreak of Ebola has killed more than 1,000 people in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. A check-in with a healthcare worker on the ground trying to stop it. Plus a new play about climate change asks how we can best tell a story that encourages action.
2 p.m. – BBC NewsHour
The British Prime Minister Theresa May has announced June 7 as her departure date; the attempt to connect 3.3 million people who don’t have access to the internet via space; new espionage charges against Julian Assange
3 p.m. – All Things Considered
The week in politics; new political openings in Cuba; Europe’s far right online; the end of Theresa May’s government; a review of Aladdin.
6:00 p.m. – Marketplace
The high cost of tying the knot. From destination bachelor parties to dress try-on brunches, weddings these days are getting much more elaborate and pricey.
6:30 p.m. – The Daily
Three months ago, a recording of Sterling Van Wagenen, a founder of the Sundance Film Festival, appeared on an obscure website for whistle-blowers in the Mormon Church. We spoke with our colleague about the story that recording told.
7 p.m. – The World
The news was a long time coming, but British Prime Minister Theresa May has now made it official. She is stepping down early next month, her three years in the job having been consumed by the unending failure to enact Brexit. Whether May was solely to blame, or the caretaker of an impossible situation, could come more into focus after her successor picks up the challenge. The World’s Orla Barry in London explains why all eyes are on provocative Conservative politician Boris Johnson, who brought the Brexit movement to prominence in the first place.
Also today, gay rights stories from around the globe. In Taiwan, the first gay marriages have been celebrated, a week after a court made same-sex marriage legal on the island. In Brazil, a court has ruled that homophobia is illegal. And in Kenya, activists are disappointed in a ruling that could have opened up significant civil rights for LGBTQ people there. Host Marco Werman talks with Aida Holly-Nambi, a producer for the podcast AfroQueer based in Nairobi, Kenya.
And, President Trump travels to Japan with a loose agenda that includes sumo wrestling and steak dinners. The World’s Jason Margolis reports that, long before he was president, Trump’s business interests in Japan helped form his aggressively competitive approach to trade policies.
Plus, how much does a kilogram weigh, really? The answer is more complicated than you might think, as Edgar B Herwick reports from station WGBH in Boston.
8 p.m. – Fresh Air
Michael Pollan is best known for his books about food, but his latest book is about the history of psychedelic drugs, and current experiments with them in therapeutic settings—to treat depression, fear of death, and addiction. . The book also recounts his own recent personal experiments with LSD and psylocibin.
