Sam Phillips, the man who brought Elvis Presley to the world, died yesterday at age 80. Phillips crossed the color line in the segregated South of the 1950’s with recordings of blues and rockabilly artists.
Guests:
Nick Spitzer, producer and host of the public radio series “American Roots,” Professor of Folklore at the University of New Orleans

A look at the ineptitude of sons of dictators.
Guests:
Franklin Foer, associate editor at The New Republic

All the world’s a global stage. And we all know it’s a lot more complicated than just having McDonald’s Golden Arches firmly planted in Paris and the introduction of the Euro.
Legendary investor Jim Rogers decided the only way to really understand what’s going on in this global galaxy, was to see it first-hand. [...]

The latest developments from Iraq.
Guests:
Ann Scott Tyson, The Chrstian Science Monitor

The war to oust Saddam and his alleged weapons of mass destruction employed fewer soldiers than the first gulf war but pacifying the Iraqi resistance may require additional troops. Is the American military stretched too thin?
If conflict flared in North Korea or elsewhere ,would the U.S. have the ability to respond? Questions about preparedness are [...]

Rebels advance toward Monrovia as indicted President Charles Taylor hides out in his seaside mansion. President Bush won’t commit to a large U.S. military presence. The fighting seems far away for most of us. But for the large Liberian communities here, in places like Providence, Rhode Island, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Houston, [...]

When Sean O’Malley is installed today as the archbishop of Boston, beleaguered Roman Catholics are watching with equal parts hope and skepticism. It’s been a long, bad run for Catholics in the U.S. Are they still able to keep the faith?
Guests:
Fred Thys, WBUR News
James Post, President, Voice of the Faithful and Professor of Management at [...]

The Saudi Government met with Washington today. Riyadh wants to declassify the redacted sections of Congress’s 9-11 report. But why? Is it time to save or sever U.S. relations with the world’s number one oil producing nation?
Guests:
Victor Davis Hanson, author of “Our Enemies, the Saudis” in Commentary Magazine
Thomas Lippman, adjunct scholar at the Middle East [...]

Kobe Bryant, the L.A. Lakers all-star, was charged with sexual assault this month. The name of his accuser, in accordance with journalistic precepts, was not released by mainstream media. Yet an L.A. radio talk show host named the alleged victim on the air in his drive time program, prompting outrage among victims’ rights advocates and [...]

The hunt for Saddam Hussein intensifies. USA Today Pentagon corespondent John Diamond has the latest information.
Guests:
John Diamond, Pentagon correspondent with USA Today

The romance of Empire. In the saga on the battle against Iraq and the war on terror, a distinct storyline has started to emerge. Of good and evil. Of Bush the Bold versus Saddam the Bad. Is this a Hollywood epic or the new reality of the 21st century? And [...]

Bob Hope died yesterday, almost two months after turning 100. A working-class lad from England, Bob Hope’s career is a map of 20th century superstardom. He made it big on Vaudeville, Broadway, radio, film, and television. His work onstage during the 47 USO tours made him a legendary, all-American comedian. The life, laughs and legacy [...]

President Bush spoke today to the National Urban League about how the US economy is improving. The President spoke about the various policies that he supports such as tax cuts and how he plans to aid schools in need.
Guests:

Tough going in Iraq. An economy in the dumps. Unemployment woes. There’s still over a year to go, but are these the first chinks in President Bush’s seemingly impenetrable armor?
Guests:
David Broder, columnist, The Washington Post
Ruy Teixeira, senior fellow, The Century Foundation
Mona Charon, syndicated columnist, CNN commentator, and author of “Useful Idiots: How Liberals [...]

When no job is safe. Mighty IBM, and many more American corporations, prepare to ship even white-collar jobs abroad. Is it helping or hurting American business?
Guests:
Jim Zarroli, business reporter, NPR
Marcus Courtney, president, Washington Alliance of Technology Workers
Ravi Kumar, professor of information and operations management, University of Southern California
Pete Engardio, senior international news editor, Business [...]

The much anticipated congressional report on the failures of intelligence agencies pre-September 11th was released today but what was left out of the report might be more interesting than what was in it.
The Senate Select committee on Intelligence has been wrangling with just about every tentacle of the federal government for the past seven months [...]

Ambassador L. Paul Bremer presents a plan to restore order in Iraq in a speech to the National Press Club on July 23, 2003.
Guests:

If you want to see a wild battle royale in American politics and courtrooms today, take a look under the dry heading of “tort reform.” For decades, American trial lawyers have been taking multi-million, even billion-dollar corporate scalps on behalf of citizens suing for all kinds of injuries.
It’s worked for the attorneys, their clients and [...]

State colleges and universities are set to impose the steepest tuition and fee increases in a decade. Knee-deep in budget pressures, governors and legislatures are cutting aid to state schools, which means students will have to foot more of the tuition bill — 21 percent more in Maryland and almost 30 percent in Virginia.
Click the [...]

What good are feelings? Neuroscientist Antionio Damasio will tell you that they are behind human self-preservation. From joy to sorrow, feelings are the cornerstone of our survival and well-being. An exploration of the feeling brain–and why this may be a 21st century revolution in understanding what makes us who we are.
Guests:
Antonio Damasio, [...]

Americans keep dying in Iraq. Soldiers long to return home. President Bush once talked about a quick ouster. But the fighting drags on as U.S. tolerance for war casualties wears thin. The army is struggling to hand over power in a country still in shambles.
U.S. soldiers have a long, down-in-the-trenches battle ahead in Iraq, said [...]

Iraqi guerillas have been taking a toll on US troops. Another US soldier and Iraqi interpreter were killed in a Baghdad attack earlier today. Pentagon correspondent John Hendren for The Los Angeles Times reports from Baghdad on the continuing occupation.
Guests:
John Hendren, Pentagon correspondent, The Los Angeles Times

The tech boom and bust has come and gone, but what about the ideals that drove the tech revolution? No single figure did more to shape how the public perceived the movement than Louis Rossetto, founder and editor of Wired Magazine. Author and Insider Gary Wolf reveals the man who helped spark a revolution. Rossetto’s [...]

Guests:

“The United States and North Korea are drifting toward war, perhaps as early as this year,” warned President Bill Clinton’s defense secretary William Perry in a pointed interview with the Washington Post last week. He’s not the prominent Korea watcher ringing alarm bells. Mohamed ElBaradi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is calling [...]

John Mellencamp has ridden the rails of American music from arena rock to Farm Aid slogans to unplugged folk. Now, he’s pulled into the tradition of the troubadour, with an album of covers in the uniquely American tradition. In another American tradition, he’s made them his own.
Guests:
John Mellencamp, musician

Bitter cold, oxygen deprived, and deadly, Everest, at its summit, is 29,035 feet above sea level, the closest you can come to walking in space. And yet the history of humankind and Everest is a history of longing to be up there at the top of the world.
On May 29, 1953, a New Zealand beekeeper [...]

Beijing promised a “one country, two systems” policy for Hong Kong, but pro-democracy rallies have rattled the Chinese leadership. We look at China, Hong Kong and democracy in the Far East.
Guests:
Philip P. Pan, Hong Kong correspondent, the Washington Post
Keith Bradsher, Hong Kong bureau chief, the New York Times
Veron Hung, associate fellow at the [...]

Ralph Nader set out to set the Democratic Party straight in the 2000 presidential campaign. Many from the party blame him for the Bush victory, while supporters give him credit for keeping Democrats true to their mandate. Will he run again in 2004? If he does, some say it will crush Democratic hopes of victory.
Progressives [...]

Man’s best friend? Author, dog owner and trainer Jon Katz says that the relationship between dogs and their owners has gone way beyond master and pet; that increasingly we’re treating them as family members and human surrogates.
Katz says that in America today we give our dogs human names, they sleep on our beds, we [...]

Man’s best friend? Author, dog owner and trainer Jon Katz says that the relationship between dogs and their owners has gone way beyond master and pet; that increasingly we’re treating them as family members and human surrogates.
Katz says that in America today we give our dogs human names, they sleep on our beds, we [...]

Among college campuses across the country, a new movement of conservatism is taking over. Dorm room walls, once adorn with peace signs and rock and roll banners are being replaced by American Flags, and gigantic posters of Reagan and Bush.
On campus, students are flocking to many right wing groups including College Republicans, United We [...]

Among college campuses across the country, a new movement of conservatism is taking over. Dorm room walls, once adorn with peace signs and rock and roll banners are being replaced by American Flags, and gigantic posters of Reagan and Bush.
On campus, students are flocking to many right wing groups including College Republicans, United We [...]

The International Monetary Fund’s new chief economist Raghuram Rajan says he’s out to save capitalism from the capitalists. We ask why and how.
Guests:
Raghuram Rajan, new chief economist at the IMF, author of “Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists”
Steven Radelet, senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, author of “Challenging Foreign Aid: A Policy Maker’s [...]

The Justice Department has refused to make terror witness Ramzi Binalshibh available for questioning to 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui. The judge is likely to dismiss the indictment against Moussaoui, making it more likely that the case could move to a military tribunal. University of Michigan law professor Robert Precht talks about the implications [...]

In a change of national mood, Americans are no longer fat and happy. Lawyers are readying to sue companies they say got us hooked on fast food, Kraft announces it will cut sugar and fat from foods, and food labels will now have to list trans fat content. (On Point)
Guests:
Walter Willett, chairman of the [...]

The evolution of body technology. From footwear to keyboards, Edward Tenner takes an anthropological look at intended and unintended consequences of technological advancement. At where the treadmill of progress taken us in the 21st century — and where it will take us next.
Guests:
Edward Tenner, author, “Our Own Devices: The Past and Future of [...]

The Bush administration has made it clear that re-building the Iraqi nation is far from done. Today, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld said that more troops will be needed to make it work. A new interim council of diverse Iraqi leaders has declared itself under the umbrella of occupation overseers. It’s a big step in what looks [...]

He’s the songwriter behind hits by Joe Cocker, Ray Charles and Jennifer Love Hewitt. Now he’s singing for himself. His music is dark and beautiful. Phil Roy, and his new album: “Issues and Options.”
Guests:
Phil Roy, his new album is “Issues and Options”

Questions about the accuracy of intelligence reports that were used to make the case for war in Iraq continue to arise. Critics of the administrations use of those reports want an open, bipartisan investigation. The administration is now admitting to inaccuracies but stands by its assertion that Iraq was an immanent threat to U.S. [...]

Guests:
Dr. Gregory Saracco, surgeon at Wheeling Memorial Hospital in Wheeling, West Virginia

It’s the summer blockbuster season, when Hollywood traditionally leaves its big budget heavy lifting to bulky male stars in musclebound movies like “The Hulk”, “X-Men 2″, and “Terminator 3″. But there’s another stream of films this summer, too, with women front and center. Charlie’s Angels is all curves and punch. Others are [...]

Secrecy and democracy collide in a report from some of the country’s top observers of the American press. Their toughest charge: The U.S. press has become a stenography pool for presidential PR. We look at the gradual de-clawing of the Washington press corps.
Guests:
Paul McMasters, First Amendment ombudsman at the Freedom Forum’s First [...]

It is the middle of President Bush’s trip to Africa. Today in Botswana, he reaffirmed U.S. commitment to help fight AIDS and overcome poverty. But Columbia University’s Jeffrey Sachs questions whether the promises of the developed world will still fall short of what Africa needs.
Guests:
Tamara Liper, White House correspondent, Newsweek
Jeffrey Sachs, director of [...]

Are we in the midst of a Republican Revolution? Taxes are the life blood of the federal government, from the military, and highways, to the entire system of social services; revenue from taxes pays the bills. Guest Grover Norquist believes that Americans would be better off keeping that money and letting social services wither on [...]

MIcrosoft says it will award stock, not options to employees.
Guests:
Jay Green, Seattle-based correspondent for Business Week