Radio Times

Guests: Dick Polman, Mickey Edwards, Wendy Schiller

Senator John McCain died on Saturday at the age of 81, leaving behind a much-lauded yet often contradictory record. Today, we’re going to discuss the political career of John McCain; his votes in the Senate, his two Presidential runs including his pick of Sarah Palin for VP, and his legacy as a “maverick.” Joining us will be DICK POLMAN, who writes about politics for WHYY and The Atlantic, MICKEY EDWARDS, former Oklahoma Congressman, and WENDY SCHILLER, professor of political science at Brown University.

Guests: Rebecca O’Brien, Andy Wright

Tuesday was one of the most consequential days of the Trump presidency with the back-to-back legal spectacles of Paul Manafort’s corruption conviction and Michael Cohen’s guilty plea that implicated the President in illegal use of campaign funds. We still do not yet know how these events will affect the presidency and the broader political landscape, but there is a sense that the ever-mounting legal scrutiny could be grave for Trump, his presidency, his family, and his businesses. Today on the show, guest host Mary Cummings-Jordan will examine the ins-and-outs of these two cases, and discuss the latest in the fallout from both the Manafort verdict and the Cohen plea. We’re joined by Wall Street Journal white-collar crime reporter REBECCA O’BRIEN, and ANDY WRIGHT, senior fellow and founding editor of Just Security.

Guests: Cathy Snyder, Gail Koskela, Jess Niederer

Today, three different perspectives on farming in the greater Philadelphia area with JESS NIEDERER, CATHY SNYDER, and GAIL KOSKELA. After studying to be a conservation biologist, Niederer instead took over her family farm in Pennington, New Jersey. She now grows organic vegetables and flowers on land first worked by her grandfather. Snyder is the Founder and Executive Director of Rolling Harvest Food Rescue, a Bucks County organization that connects hunger-relief sites with local farmers to distribute extra produce to the food insecure. Synder previously worked in broadcasting and started Rolling Harvest after she noticed a shortage of fresh foods when volunteering at her local food bank. Koskela is an animal science teacher at Walter B. Saul High School, an agricultural school that’s part of the Philadelphia public school district. She’ll tell us about what it’s like to teach animal behavior and husbandry, and what students can gain from an agricultural education, regardless of whether or not they end up farming.

Guests: Mark Eichmann, Nick Corasaniti, John Micek

Today, we get a tri-state political update. Guest host Mary Cummings Jordan starts off in Delaware, discussing the Senate race between three-term Tom Carper and primary challenger Kerri Evelyn Harris. Then we turn to the Garden State and discuss some of the competitive House races and the tougher than expected battle between Senator Robert Menendez and Republican Bob Hugin. And we end the hour on Pennsylvania politics, looking at the governor and Senate races. Our guests are MARK EICHMANN, deputy managing editor of WHYY’s Delaware Desk, NICK CORASANITI reporter for The New York Times, and JOHN MICEK, editor of the editorial and opinion pages for The Patriot-News and PennLive.

Guests: Keith O’Brien, Bonnie Tiburzi Caputo

Air shows of the 1920s and 1930s were competitive, dangerous and often deadly events. Hundreds of thousands of spectators watched pilots race through the skies in rickety, single-propeller, open-cockpit planes and crashes were common. It was a sport not welcoming to women but that didn’t stop Amelia Earhart, Ruth Nichols, Louise Thaden, Ruth Elder, and Florence Klingensmith from taking to the skies and breaking records crossing oceans and continents. KEITH O’BRIEN chronicles these pioneers in his new book, Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History. We talk with O’Brien about these fearless women who were a part of the early days of aviation, and their struggle to fly in a male-dominated field. And we hear from BONNIE TIBURZI CAPUTO, the first woman to be hired by a major US airline in 1973, about her experience breaking into aviation.

Guests: Andrea Bonior, Deborah Tannen

Friendships end for many reasons —  a change of lifestyle, growing geographical distance, differing values, a misunderstanding or disagreement. But, whether it’s because of a natural shift in life or something more dramatic, the loss of a close friendship can be heartbreaking. Today on Radio Times, we talk about how to cope with ending friendships, and how to move on.  We’ll talk with ANDREA BONIOR, a psychologist, columnist and author of Friendship Fix and Georgetown linguistics professor DEBORAH TANNEN whose most recent book is You’re the Only One I Can Tell:  Inside the Language of Women’s Friendships.

Guests: Henry Hockeimer, Bradley Moss, Timothy L. O’Brien

This morning on Radio Times, we’ll get perspective on some of the major news stories of the week. The trial of Paul Manafort is winding down with jury deliberations underway. HENRY HOCKEIMER, of the law firm Ballard Spahr, joins us to explain the case against Manafort, how the proceedings were conducted, and some potential questions that the jury will consider.  Then, how and why the President had authority to revoke the security clearance of former CIA director John Brennan. We’re joined by national security lawyer BRADLEY MOSS.  Lastly, we’ll wrap up the hour with journalist TIMOTHY L. O’BRIEN, talking about what the relationship between Donald Trump and Omarosa Manigualt Newman says about our President and the people around him. O’Brien is the author of TrumpNation: The Art of Being The Donald.

Guests: Michael Southerton, Gerald Dessus, Monique Trauger

The school year is almost underway. Teachers are busy writing lesson plans, organizing classrooms, and attending meetings. But before the first bell rings, we’ve invited three middle school teachers to talk about why they teach (the joys and the headaches), how they connect with and engage students, and the challenges of managing the classroom. Our guest are MICHAEL SOUTHERTON, a 7th and 8th grade teacher at Crossroads Accelerated Academy, GERALD DESSUS, an 8th grade social justice teacher at Mastery Charter Schools, and MONIQUE TRAUGER, an 8th grade English teacher at Thomas K. Finletter in the Olney section of Philadelphia.

Guests: Kevin McCorry, Mark Rozzi, Lawrence Persico

On Tuesday, Pennsylvania Attorney General released a scathing grand jury report detailing sexual abuse of children by 301 “predator priests” in 6 diocese and a cover up by church leadership. The report follows a two-year investigation providing graphic details and naming names of the perpetrators.  Today, we’ll discuss the findings of the report, what it means for the victims of abuse, as well as the implications for the Catholic Church. WHYY’s KEVIN McCORRY who has been following the story will join us to discuss the lead-up and fallout from the report’s release. State Representative MARK ROZZI of Berks County joins us next. He was raped by a priest as a young boy, testified before the grand jury and advocated for the release of the report. And lastly, we’ll hear from Bishop LAWRENCE PERSICO of the Catholic Diocese of Erie Pennsylvania to get his thoughts on the report and what the church should do next.

Guests: Nasser Arrabyee, Lee Keath, Shireen Al-Adeeimi, Joshua Landis

Dozens of children were killed in a Saudi-led airstrike in Yemen last week, including a school bus full of youngsters on their way to summer camp. This attack has been called the low-point of a four-year civil war that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Yemenis. We begin today’s show discussing the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. First, we’ll hear from freelance journalist, NASSER ARRABYEE, in the capitol city of Sana’a. Then, we’ll talk to  in assistant professor at Michigan State University SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI, and Associated Press reporter LEE KEATH about the fighting there. Lastly, we’ll talk about the Syrian war may be coming to an end, when we speak to JOSHUA LANDIS, director of the Center of Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma.