We’ll talk this hour about the ADA’s unlikely path from idea to law with Lennard J. Davis, author of Enabling Acts: The Hidden Story of How the Americans with Disabilities Act Gave the Largest US Minority Its Rights.
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The Life Of A Speechwriter
We’ll talk about the process of populating all those TelePrompters with Barton Swaim, a one-time speechwriter for former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford.
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From Lawyer to Desert Diplomat
We’ll talk to for U.S. Ambassador Robert Jordan about the role he played in building relationships in the Middle East, which he writes about in Desert Diplomat: Inside Saudi Arabia Following 9/11.
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Spies Spying Spies
For three years, American Naveed Jamali filtered sensitive information to a Russian spymaster. What the Russians didn’t know was that Jamali was doing this work as a double-agent working for his native country.
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Same-Sex Marriage Becomes Legal
We’ll talk about what the ruling means for gay couples with Mark Pharris and Victor Holmes, the Plano men who were among the plaintiffs suing to have Texas’ law against same-sex marriage overturned.
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Finding Constants In A Changing Constitution
What would the Founding Fathers think of our interpretation of the Constitution? We’ll ask the question to Carol Berkin, professor of history at Baruch College and author of ‘The Bill of Rights: The Fight to Secure America’s Liberties.’
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Reviewing Reagan
Ronald Reagan guided the U.S. through the last days of the Cold War and ushered in a new breed of conservatism that still reverberates today. We’ll take inventory of his legacy this hour with biographer H.W. Brands.
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Fairness In Paid Time Off
In his State of the Union address this year, President Obama called for comprehensive paid leave for American workers. We’ll talk about the idea with Lauren Sanders, who writes about it for The New Republic’s current issue.
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A Full Inventory Of Our 44th Presidency
We’ll spend this hour with David Bromwich, whose essay in the June issue of Harper’s is “What Went Wrong: Assessing Obama’s Legacy.”
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Execution Horror
The death penalty has always been controversial, but with recent shortages of lethal injection drugs and a number of questionable occurrences in U.S. death chambers, there’s a new furor.
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The CIA From al Qa’ida to ISIS
Michael Morell was with President Bush on Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists struck the U.S. And he was at President Obama’s side when the U.S. raided Osama bin Laden’s compound. This hour, we’ll talk to the retired deputy director of the CIA about securing peace through back-channel negotiations, which he writes about in The Great War of Our Time: The CIA’s Fight Against Terrorism–From al Qa’ida to ISIS (Twelve).
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An American Spymaster’s Story
This hour, we’ll talk to Jack Devine, former head of the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, about the world of espionage.
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