Radio Times

Guests: Dominic Tierney, Bobby Ghosh

President Trump faces a decision on the Iran nuclear deal next week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to the stage to claim that Iran was violating the terms, intended as a message to Trump that he should pull out of the current deal. The fact that Trump has surrounded himself with Iran deal skeptics seems to indicate that he will indeed scrap it or try to renegotiate a new agreement, worrying our allies who would like the current deal to remain intact. Meanwhile, peace talks on the Korean peninsula have brought renewed hope for de-escalation, with North Korean president Kim Jong Un even putting denuclearization on the table. Today on the show, we’ll talk about the two simultaneous nuclear negotiations taking place. Our guests are associate professor of political science at Swarthmore College, DOMINIC TIERNEY, and journalist BOBBY GHOSH.

Guests: Alan Stern, David Grinspoon

NASA’s New Horizons spaceship launched in 2006 to visit tiny Pluto at edge of our solar system, the longest journey ever attempted. The plutonium-powered spacecraft traveled three billion miles over nine years, zooming by Pluto in 2015, and was the fastest probe ever built.  The spacecraft gathered data and took pictures of the icy planet and its moons. It’s still flying and sending back information from the frigid Kuiper Belt. New Horizons mission leader, ALAN STERN, and astrobiologist, DAVID GRINSPOON, join Marty to talk about the mission, the close calls that nearly sidelined the 26-year-long project, and what we’re learning about the Pluto system. Their new book is, Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto.

Guest: Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin, Joseph Cappella

Vaping is becoming increasingly popular among teenagers. They are even sneak vaping at in classes at school. It’s becoming so prevalent among teens that the FDA has begun cracking down on e-cigarette sales to minors. The Juul brand has become particularly trendy, which looks like a flash drive and has as much nicotine as a pack of cigarettes. Why has vaping become so cool among kids? Is it because of the advertising and the 7000 different flavors? And what do we know about the health effects of e-cigarettes on adolescents? Marty talks with Yale University psychiatry professor SUCHITRA KRISHNAN-SARIN, and University of Pennsylvania professor of communication JOSEPH CAPPELLA.

Marty talks to Washington Post columnist DANA MILBANK about the White House Correspondents’ Dinner – the nature of the yearly gala as well as comedian Michelle Wolf’s performance which is has received both praise and condemnation.

Guest: Jason Reitman

In the new film Tully, Charlize Theron plays an already stressed-out mother who’s just given birth to a third child. It’s a realistic depiction of life for 40-somthings and the different ways that modern Americans manage middle-age and family life. It marks the third collaboration between screenwriter Diablo Cody director, JASON REITMAN – the previous being Juno and Young Adult which also starred Theron. Reitman’s other previous films include Thank You for Smoking and Up in the Air. He joins Marty to talk about the new film, his frequent collaborators and his approach to filmmaking.

Guest: Raquel Salas Rivera 

Philadelphia’s new Poet Laureate RAQUEL SALAS RIVERA holds many identities — queer, non-binary, Puerto Rican, Philadelphian — and uses the gender-neutral pronoun “they.” Rivera sometimes reads their poetry first in Spanish, even when most of the people in their audience aren’t Spanish speakers. “I believe the discomfort can be a teaching movement,” they say. “You might have to briefly experience what so many people experience when they first move here, not having power.” Their work explores these communities and their intersections, as well as the many communities and voices of Philadelphia. They join Marty to talk about queer and national identity, translation in poetry, and what it means to call both Puerto Rico and Philadelphia home. Their new collection of poetry is called “The Tertiary.”

Guest: Laura Benshoff

Thursday’s guilty verdict in the trial of Bill Cosby will most likely send the disgraced comedian to jail. Today we discuss the trial , what the verdict means for Cosby, how sentencing will proceed, and the reactions from the plaintiffs and Philadelphia. WHYY reporters LAURA BENSHOFF  and BOBBY ALLYN have been covering the story and join us today.

Guests: Kevin McCorry, Jovan Weaver

Across the country, public schools have struggled to meet the needs of children in deep poverty, especially students of color. That’s also true in Philadelphia. Keystone Crossroads reporter KEVIN McCORRY spent a year at Wister Elementary School in the East Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia to examine some of the causes and proposed solutions to this ongoing problem. In the new season of McCorry’s podcast, “Schooled,” we hear from teachers, students, administrators, and community members as the school considers transitioning to a charter. McCorry joins us along with Wister Elementary principal, JOVAN WEAVER, who is the subject of the premier episode of this season of “Schooled.”

Guest: Gregory Pardlo

Poet GREGORY PARDLO’S father was an air traffic controller who was fired by Ronald Reagan during the strike of 1981. That experience not only shaped the rest of his father’s life, but his own life as well. Pardlo writes about his complicated relationship with his dad in his new memoir, Air Traffic: A Memoir of Ambition and Manhood in America.  In the book, Pardlo explores his efforts to break away from his father’s legacy, his stint in the Marine Corp, his marriages, and his struggles with alcoholism. Pardlo won a Pulitzer for his 2015 collection of poetry, Digest. He teaches at Rutgers University-Camden and  joins Marty to talk about poetry, family, masculinity, race and finding his own way.

Guest: Leslie Odom Jr.

You may not have scored the tickets to see the original cast of “Hamilton,” but LESLIE ODOM JR. is stopping by Radio Times today to talk about his Tony award-winning role as Aaron Burr, his career since the Broadway smash, and his life growing up in Philadelphia. He has a new memoir that’s just come out, Failing Up: How to Take Risks, Aim Higher, and Never Stop Learning. [original air date: March 28, 2018]