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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Caring For Our Vets
This hour, from NPR headquarters in Washington, we’ll talk about keeping our veterans healthy and helping them to return to civilian life with Dr. Harold Kudler, chief consultant for Mental Health Services; and Michael Fisher, program analyst for the VA’s Readjustment Counseling Service.
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D.C. On TV And Film
Political television shows such as House of Cards and Veep just wouldn’t feel authentic if they didn’t film at least some of their scenes in the nation’s capital. This hour, we’ll talk about shooting TV and movies in America’s most security conscious city with Angie Gates, director of the D.C. Office of Motion Picture and Television Development; and House of Cards location manager Patrick Burn.
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