NPR Cross Currents with Scott Widmeyer

With the Paul Manafort guilty verdict and Michael Cohen's guilty plea, President Trump faced one of his toughest weeks since taking office. What's ahead? How does he hold his base and/or grow it ahead of the midterms? Where is the US headed around big foreign policy matters? We talk with NY Times's Peter Baker and the New Yorker's Susan Glasser.

President Trump's tirades against the media may be rallying his followers as he labels the press "the enemy of the people," but much of US opinion goes other way. We interview two leading US journalists--Peter Baker, Chief White House correspondent/NY Times; and Susan Glasser, columnist/NewYorker for their assessment. And we talk about how more than 200 US media orgs take to the editorial page to challenge President.

As President Trump continues to attack media as "enemy of the people," we sat down and talked with two top journalists--Peter Baker, chief White House correspondent/NY Times, and Susan Glasser, columnist/New Yorker, and heard their thoughts on the impact of his words. All of this coincides with more than 200 US media outlets expounding on importance of a free media.

The march to make marijuana legal in many states is underway. But, the debate continues on whether this is medically sound and practical. We interview proponent Matt Simon from the Marijuana Policy Project and doubter Dr. James Berry, addiction specialist/WVU School of Medicine.

Today we are more aware than ever that our environment is changing, but what happens if we intentionally alter it? MIT’s Kevin Esvelt joins Cross Currents to discuss how he and the Sculpting Evolution Group are using genetic alterations to fight disease. 40% of Nantucket residents have had Lyme disease, and he may have a solution. Kevin and his team want to genetically alter wild organisms – mice – and release them into the environment to kill off the tick population that carries Lyme. Then, the adventurous author Crocker Snow Jr. discusses his new book Nantaska, which takes a stunning look at the similarities between the small island of Nantucket and the huge expanse of Alaska.

30 million Americans deal with diabetes on a regular basis, and 60% of those people are taking statin drugs. Dr. Peter Toth startled many with research revealing that diabetes patients with high triglycerides face risks like heart attacks and strokes when they take statins. Join us as we learn what this data means, and how the public can stay informed and take control over their health. Then, economist and bestselling author David Smick returns to Cross Currents to discuss the Trump Fiscal Doctrine and foreign relations.

The 2016 presidential election saw the rise of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders - a political backlash brought on by “main street” America feeling forgotten in our world of corporate capitalism. David Smick predicted that backlash. Smick is an expert on macroeconomics, has advised politicians on both sides of the aisle, from Bill Bradley to Ronald Reagan, and authored the bestselling book The Great Equalizer. He joins us at Cross Currents to break down the state of the American economy and the American Dream, and how they're both being influenced by a sense of hatred running through the country.

Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy returns to Cross Currents to discuss the state of our states leading up to November's midterm elections. We dive into the administration, the new Supreme Court nomination, and what the middle class needs today.

As the 4th of July approaches, Cross Currents looks at the state of America today, 242 years after its inception. Co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus, Congressman Tom Reed (R-NY) offers his take on the deficit, tariffs, and the Trump administration. Plus, college students Evan Rufrano and Brittany Brown, finalists in the Peterson Foundation’s Up to Us competition, discuss the national debt and Generation Z’s outlook on America.

On this episode of Cross Currents, we turn our attention to issues impacting the broader gay community 50 years after the Stonewall Riots. We talk with former Houston Mayor and the President/CEO of Victory Fund, Annise Parker, as she discusses the uptick in LGBTQ candidates winning elections, and with Sean Allen about his effort to bridge a generational gap by organizing Nantucket's first Pride March.