Radio Times

Guests: Donna Copper and Bill Green

After nearly 16 years of contentions debates, including walkouts and other forms of demonstrations by political leaders, education advocates, parents and students, the School Reform Commission (SRC) has voted to end its control of the School District of Philadelphia. On Thursday, the five-member body approved an end to the commission after this academic year. On July 1, the District will return to a local Board of Education which will be made up of nine members. So, what comes next? In this hour, Marty talks with DONNA COOPER, executive director of Public Citizens for Children and Youth, KENDRA BROOKS, organizing member of Parents United and member of Our City Our Schools and BILL GREEN, SRC commissioner about the history of the state takeover, charter school expansion and the future of Philadelphia’s schools.

Guests: Sabrina Siddiqui, Dick Polman

We have a lot of politics to discuss today. The GOP tax plan just passed the House, making Republican’s long-sought after cuts more possible and mark the first big legislative victory of the Trump era. We’ll talk about what’s in the plan, what its effect would be, the likelihood of a similar version passing the Senate, and how that would impact next year’s election. And, we’ll look at the political fallout from the Roy Moore and Al Franken scandals, and if the #metoo moment will continue to shake-up the government. Also – more information has come to light regarding the Trump campaign’s communication with Julian Assange and Wikileaks. Attorney Jeff Sessions testified in a House Judiciary committee hearing last week, where he was heavily questioned about the Trump team’s contacts with the Russian government. We’ll talk about the latest in the ongoing Russia probe that’s been looming over the Trump presidency since last year’s election. SABRINA SIDDIQUI of The Guardian and WHYY’s DICK POLMAN will join us for our political roundtable.

Guests: Keith Wailoo, Lenny Bernstein

Pharmaceutical companies, drug distributors, doctors, drug stores and illegal street dealers have all played a role in the opioid epidemic. Overdoses from opioids killed 64,000 people last year – over 900 in Philadelphia alone—making this the deadliest drug epidemic in American history. Last month President Trump declared it a national health emergency, but has yet to request funds to combat the crisis. This hour, we’ll dissect the epidemic and look at its roots with Princeton University professor KEITH WAILOO and author of Pain: A Political History, and LENNY BERNSTEIN, health and medicine reporter for The Washington Post.

Guests: Michelle Goldberg, Tyler Coates

This is unmistakably an historic moment when it comes to powerful men getting their comeuppance for sexual indiscretion. Today on the show we’re going to talk about what all of the headline-grabbing allegations of sexual assault portends for politics, and for the entertainment industry. We’ll begin with the most pressing instance – that of, Roy Moore, senate candidate in Alabama. New York Times columnist MICHELLE GOLDBERG joins us to discuss Moore, other prominent politicians alleged of sexual assault, and what is says about the culture in politics. Then, we’ll move on Hollywood. Kevin Spacey and Louis CK are the latest to have been outed and their careers have been upended as a result. So where does this put TV and movie fans? Is it now amoral to watch the work of Hollywood elite who have done despicable things? We’re joined by Esquire’s senior culture editor, TYLER COATES.

Guests: Kareem Shaheen, Wendy Pearlman

While no longer on the front pages of American newspapers, Syrian civil war continues. Since its start in 2011, hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed, millions have been internally displaced and five million have fled the country. A recent report by Amnesty International details Assad’s strategy of starving the besieged cities where some 500,000 are still trapped. We start this hour, speaking with The Guardian’s KAREEM SHAHEEN about the conflict, the lives of the Syrian people, and the near defeat of ISIS there. Then, WENDY PEARLMAN, a political science professor at Northwestern University, comes in to talk about her collection of interviews with Syrian refugees. Pearlman traveled around the Middle East and Europe speaking to hundreds of refugees in camps and at border crossings–businessman, doctors, accountants, housewives, and teenagers–who were forced to flee Assad’s brutal regime. She’s collected their stories in the book, We Crossed A Bridge and It Trembled: Voices of Syria.

Guests: Damian Paletta, Jesse Drucker

The Paradise Papers, millions of leaked documents from the Bermuda law firm Appleby, detail the ways that the wealthy and powerful hide their money in offshore tax havens.  The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) have poured through the documents and found how celebrities, politicians, and business leaders like Wilbur Ross, Yuri Milner, Bono, Queen Elizabeth, as well as corporations like Apple and Nike, use these offshore vehicles to evade paying taxes. This hour, we’ll discuss what the Paradise Papers reveal and their global impact with JESSE DRUCKER, a reporter for The New York Times who is also part of the ICIJ Paradise Papers investigative team. But first, we’ll look at what’s in the Republican tax plan and where it stands with the Washington Post’s DAMIAN PALETTA.

Guest: Isabel Allende

Novelist ISABEL ALLENDE has written a new book, In the Midst of Winter, about an enduring love. The story begins in the middle of a snowstorm in Brooklyn when Richard Bowmaster, 60-year-old human rights scholar, hits the car of Evelyn Ortega, a young, undocumented immigrant from Guatemala. This minor accident takes a more dramatic turn when Evelyn shows up at Richard’s house needing help. Richard turns to his tenant, Lucia Maraz—a 62-year-old lecturer from Chile—for her advice. In this hour, Mary Cummings-Jordan talks with Allende about her new novel, which moves from present day Brooklyn and Guatemala to 1970s Chile and Brazil, and about the themes of human rights and immigration that run through it.

Guest: Dan Rather

Veteran broadcaster DAN RATHER has interviewed every president since Dwight Eisenhower, save for Donald Trump, and has covered the world’s biggest stories of the past six decades. In his book, What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism, Rather shares his observations about the American identity, the state of journalism, and the institutions that make up the nation.  In this hour, Marty talks with Rather about journalism, American history and why he is hopeful for the future.

Guests: Brigid Harrison, Dave Davies, David Weigel

 Tuesday was on off-year election with a few interesting races taking place in our region. We’ll begin by looking at the election of Democrat Phil Murphy, who won the New Jersey governorship over Chris Christie acolyte Kim Guagdano by a larger margin than expected. Montclair State University professor of political science BRIGID HARRISON joins us to talk about what the election will mean for New Jersey. Then, we’ll talk with WHYY’s DAVE DAVIES about the winner of the race for District Attorney of Philadelphia, Democrat Larry Krasner. And we’ll talk about what the ‘yes’ vote of the ballot question will mean for Pennsylvanian’s property taxes. We close out the hour looking at the election results in Virginia, and if the Democratic victories down there are a referendum on President Trump. Also the Democratic National Committee is infighting following former chairwoman Donna Brazile’s claims that the Clinton campaign had an unfair advantage in the 2016 primary. DAVID WEIGEL of The Washington Post joins us.

Guests: Lily Raff McCaulou, Melissa Jeltsen, Allison Anderman

The plague of mass shootings in America continued this weekend, when a man entered a Texas church and open-fired, killing 26 and injuring 20. As we continue to parse through the motives and background of the shooter, some familiar patterns have emerged. He had a history as a domestic abuser, having been court-martialed in 2012 for assaulting both his wife and child. And, he used a military-style weapon, the AR-15, which allowed him to murder a lot of people in a short amount of time. Today, we’ll talk about both the link between domestic abuse, as well as the laws around high-capacity firearms when we speak with MELISSA JELTSEN who writes about domestic abuse and gun laws for The Huffington Post, and with ALLISON ANDERMAN, managing attorney for the Giffords Law Center to prevent gun violence. But first, we’ll hear from LILY RAFF McCAULOU. She advocates for responsible gun ownership with Gun Owners for Responsible Ownership, who advocate for stricter background checks, and fight open-carry laws.