Bob Collins
Wednesday Feb. 6, 2019
(Subject to change as events dictate. This page is updated throughout the day.)
9 a.m. – MPR News with Kerri Miller
President Trump delivered his State of the Union address last night in front of a divided Congress and an increasingly polarized nation. Did his message build bridges for people who find themselves on opposite ends of the political spectrum? Or did the speech leave people feeling even more entrenched in their previously held beliefs? And, throughout history, has any SOTU successfully swayed public opinion?
Guest: Timothy Walch is director emeritus, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and the author or editor of a number of books on the history of the presidency.
9:20 a.m. – Bob Inglis talked to MPR News host Kerri Miller about religion, climate, and politics as a part of the “This American Moment” series.
10 a.m.- 1A with Joshua Johnson
Reaction to the State of the State address.
Guests: Dara Lind, senior immigration reporter, Vox; David Barker (PhD), director, Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University.
11 a.m. – MPR News with Angela Davis
It’s day two of the Winter Member Drive at MPR, so we’re replaying our favorite programs. Angela Davis led a panel discussion about treating and caring for kids with emotional issues. This was part of Call to Mind, MPR’s initiative to foster new conversations about mental health.
12 p.m. – MPR News Presents
Rebroadcast of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech and Democratic response from Stacey Abrams.
1 p.m. – The Takeaway
What’s threatening the State of our Union? After the President’s address, a discussion of the biggest challenges facing America today.
Also: A conversation with Akelo Zuluka, an asylum seeker from a country in Africa; exploring the legal background of Neomi Rao, nominated to fill Brett Kavanaugh’s seat on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals; and the last child refugees being held in the Pacific atoll of Nauru are expected to reach the United States under a deal reached by the Obama administration.
2 p.m. – BBC NewsHour
The Pope admits clerics have sexually abused nuns; the Taliban says Afghan women “should not worry” about the group’s growing influence in the country; and the Dutch mystery of ‘20,000 seabird deaths’
3 p.m. – All Things Considered
State of the Union reality check; the Virginia governor and race; snow farmers rescue ski race; when there aren’t enough bus drivers.
6:00 p.m. – Marketplace
We may live in the era of big data, but some brands stilly rely on focus groups to design their products. Why do companies still use a room full of strangers and a two-way mirror to decide what consumers want?
6:30 p.m. – The Daily
In his first State of the Union address since losing control of Congress, the president repeatedly spoke of bipartisan unity. But a history of these speeches suggests that it’s everything else he said that will best predict how he actually governs.
Guest: Mark Landler, who covers the White House for The New York Times.
7 p.m. – The World
Observers of US foreign policy are trying to reconcile inconsistent approaches to world threats that President Trump signaled in last night’s State of Union address. We’ll compare how the US is approaching nuclear weapons programs in Iran and North Korea, and how the US responds to humanitarian and human rights concerns in Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and North Korea.
Also, the asylum policy known as ‘Remain in Mexico’ is now in effect, but the implementation has been rocky for central American migrants who are trying to request asylum at the Tijuana-San Diego border. Marco Werman gets the story from reporter Sarah Kinosian, at the border.
And, absent in the State of the Union was an examination of environmental priorities. The World’s environment editor Peter Thompson gives us a State of the Planet.
8 p.m. – Fresh Air (Dave Davies hosts)
Award-winning photographer James Balog explores the relationship between humans and nature. In the new documentary, The Human Element, he visits the people and places affected by climate change. He goes to Tangier Island in Chesapeake bay where rising sea levels are threatening to submerge the island; to Denver, Colorado where children with asthma caused by air pollution go to special schools, and he went to wildland firefighter training school where fighters are learning to fight fires that are bigger, longer-lasting, and more ferocious.
