Radio Times

Guests: Ken Kalfus, Gary Shteyngart, Beatrice Jona Affron, David Fox

On today’s edition of Radio Times in Review: we’re bringing you three interviews involving Russia, considering the nation has been so heavily discussed in the news these days.  First, we’ll hear from writer KEN KALFUS, who joined us to talk about his collection of short stories Pu-239 and Other Russian Fantasies.  We’ll also hear Marty’s conversation with writer GARY SHTEYNGART.  He joined us to talk about his childhood in Leningrad and his move to the US at a young age.  He chronicled all of this in his memoir, Little Failure. We’ll close out the hour with a discussion about the popularity of Russian composer Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker ballet, particularly at this time of year. We were joined by Pennsylvania Ballet conductor BEATRICE JONA AFFRON and University of Pennsylvania lecturer DAVID FOX.

Guest: Wesley Lowery

Washington Post reporter WESLEY LOWERY spent a year trying to better understand the problem of police violence in America, by talking with victims’ families, including the family of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager who  was shot and killed in 2014 by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. In his new book, "They Can't Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore and a New Era in America's Racial Justice movement," Lowery draws on those hundreds of interviews from Cleveland to Charleston, South Carolina, offering insight into the reality of police violence and a portrait of the people who are working to end it across America.

Guests: Jack Rakove, Lara Brown

Electoral College voters will meet to cast their ballots for the next President on Monday.  In states where Donald Trump won, some electors are being pressed to vote their conscience, since Trump lost the popular vote by a wide margin.  Only twice in the last 16 years, has a President-elect won the electoral vote but lost the majority of voters and now, once again, people are calling for the end of the Electoral College, a system originally put in place to balance the influence of urban and rural states.   Today we’ll debate the Electoral College and look at its history, what the founding fathers had in mind when they designed it, and what the alternatives are.  Marty talks with JACK RAKOVE, professor of history and American Studies at Stanford University, and LARA BROWN, associate professor and interim director of the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University.

Guests: Hannah Riley Bowles, Nancy Rothbard

Philadelphia will soon have a new ordinance barring employers from asking a job applicant their salary history. The rule aims to address pay inequities that women and minorities often face. This got us thinking about salaries and the challenges of negotiating better pay. This hour, the art of negotiation at work -- how to ask for a raise or more flexibility. We’ll also look at the gender wage gap and why women are less likely to ask for more money. Our guests are HANNAH RILEY BOWLES, senior lecturer at Harvard University’s Kennedy School, and NANCY ROTHBARD, professor of management at the Wharton School.

Guests: Aaron Moselle, Jon Geeting, Jen DeVor and Matt Wolfe

On Monday, former U.S. Representative Chaka Fattah was sentenced to 10 years in prison for stealing hundreds of thousands in public funds to repay an illegal campaign loan, accepting bribes from a wealthy friend, and using campaign cash to help pay off some of his son's college tuition debt. It is one of the longest terms ever imposed on a member of Congress for federal corruption crimes. We’ll talk about the trial and Fattah’s legacy with WHYY reporter AARON MOSELLE. Then, we’ll discuss the new faces that are hoping to change the Philadelphia Democratic Party. JON GEETING, Director of Engagement at the political action committee Philadelphia 3.0, will talk about the increased interest people have shown in running for political office since the Presidential election.  And we’ll be joined by JEN DEVOR, a South Philadelphia committee person, who worked with the existing Democratic political structure in her Point Breeze neighborhood to win the seat as an outsider. It’s not just the Democrats. For the perspective of a Philadelphia Republican, we’ll call MATT WOLFE, a Ward Leader in West Philadelphia.

Guest: Dava Sobel

We’ll explore the captivating, little-known true story of women’s groundbreaking contributions to astronomy. We’ll be joined by DAVA SOBEL, a former New York Times science reporter, and author of the new book The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars. Drawing on letters and memoirs, Sobel documents the women who worked in the Harvard College Observatory during the mid-nineteenth century, interpreting the observations their male counterparts made via telescope each night. Their work is captured in a virtual “glass universe,” a collection of half a million glass plates photographic plates the women used to study the stars.

Guests: Karoun Demirjian, Glenn Carle, Clint Watts

On Friday, a secret CIA report was leaked suggesting that Russia worked deliberately to influence the Presidential election in favor of Donald Trump. If true, the allegations call into question the ability of elections to fend off foreign intervention.  Donald Trump has dismissed the claims, furthering his tendency to mistrust American intelligence organizations.  Some lawmakers have called for an investigation into how the Russians were able to meddle in the election.  Today on the show, we’ll get the latest on the intelligence community’s findings on Russian intervention and what American politicians are doing about it when we speak with KAROUN DEMIRJIAN, who covers defense and foreign policy for The Washington Post. We’ll then speak with former CIA officer and national security expert GLENN CARLE to get his perspective on the CIA’s assessment.  Lastly, we’ll get some insight into Russia and cyber-espionage from CLINT WATTS of the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

Guests: Anisha Vora, Jim Carpenter and Danielle Keats Citron

New Jersey was the first state in the nation to ban non-consensual pornography, so-called “revenge porn,” in which an ex-spouse, partner or other individual that distributes sexually graphic images of another person without their consent. Since New Jersey’s law went in to effect in 2004, 33 other states have also made it illegal. We’ll discuss the impact that exploitation can have on victims with ANISHA VORA, whose ex-boyfriend was jailed for six months after he posted sexually explicit photos of her on several websites. JIM CARPENTER, Chief of the Family Violence and Sexual Assault Unit at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, will explain the law in Pennsylvania and why victims are often reluctant to prosecute, and University of Maryland School of Law professor DANIELLE KEATS CITRON will explain the economic ramifications of sexual privacy invasion and how she believes nonconsensual pornography laws can be written so that they do not infringe on free speech.

Guest: Michael Lewis

In this special edition of Radio Times, Marty heads to WHYY’s Hamilton Media Commons auditorium to interview renowned author MICHAEL LEWIS for an audience of WHYY members. Lewis is a best-selling non-fiction author whose most prominent works include Moneyball and The Big Short – both of which were adapted to Oscar-nominated films.  His new book is The Undoing Project, and is about two Israeli psychologists and their breakthrough research on decision making and human irrationality.

Guests: David Cole, Jon Grinspan, Ahkil Reed Amar

On today’s edition of Radio Times in Review, we’ll be taking a look at American history, The US Constitution, and elections.  President-elect Trump recently tweeted that people who burn the flag should be stripped of their citizenship. So, we’ll take a listen to Marty’s conversation with civil liberties lawyer DAVID COLE.  He joined us last week to discuss Trump’s tweet as well as other statements from Trump and their constitutionality. We’ll also hear Marty’s conversation with historian JON GRINSPAN.  He joined us earlier this year to talk about the history of the youth vote, specifically how younger people influenced elections in the 19th century. Then, we’ll revisit Marty’s talk with AKHIL REED AMAR who examines the way each state and region affects individual’s interpretation of The U.S. Constitution.