Radio Times

Guest: Emma Donoghue

Marty talks with author EMMA DONOGHUE about her new novel The Wonder, in which an English nurse is brought to a small Irish village to observe what appears to be a miracle. Donoghue was born in Dublin in 1969 and is an Irish emigrant twice over: she spent eight years in Cambridge doing a PhD in eighteenth-century literature before moving to London, Ontario, where she lives with her partner and their two children. She migrates between genres, writing literary history, biography, stage and radio plays as well as fairy tales and short stories. Her international bestseller Room, about the lives of a mother and her young son who have been held captive in a single room for years, was a New York Times Best Book of 2010 and a finalist for the Man Booker Prize.

Guests: David Graham, Rob Sheffield

Hillary Clinton loves teen-pop.  Donald Trump is a classic rock guy. What does a politician’s favorite song or band say about their public and private self?  In this hour of the show, we’ll talk about the candidates for president, their running mates, and other prominent politicians, and what their musical tastes might suggest about their personality and even the way that they would govern. We’re joined by DAVID GRAHAM, staff writer for The Atlantic and by ROB SHEFFIELD, author and columnist for Rolling Stone.

The film "The Birth of a Nation" directed, written and produced by Nate Parker tells the story of Nat Turner—a Virginia-born slave, minister and leader of the famous 1831 slave rebellion that killed 55 white men, women and children. Marty talks with entertainment reporter KIMBERLY ROBERTS about the film, its title and controversy surrounding its director. Widener University associate professor of history SARAH ROTH and author of Gender and Race in Antebellum Popular Culturediscusses the historical facts about Nat Turner's life and why he should be taught in grade schools.

Guests: Sara Canuso and Carol Kinsey Goman

Body language tells us a lot: about politicians on the debate stage and about coworkers in the office. In this hour, we’ll learn about what we say through our body language, from the way we tilt our head to what we do with our hands. We’ll be joined by SARA CANUSO, the founder and president of Women That Influence, a Philadelphia-based consulting firm that empowers people to use non-verbal communication, image, and body language to communicate effectively. She has analyzed the non-verbal language of politicians, lawyers, and many others. And, we’ll learn about the role body language plays in the office with CAROL KINSEY GOMAN, a leadership contributor for Forbes and the author of twelve business books including “The Silent Language of Leaders: How Body Language Can Help – or Hurt – How You Lead.”

Guests: Jay Olshansky, David Sinclair

One hundred and fifteen years – that’s about as old as we can hope to get, according to a recent paper in the journal Nature. The authors argue that there’s a limit to the human lifespan, right around 115 years. But some scientists disagree. They believe that as we learn more about the biological mechanisms of aging, scientific breakthroughs might bring us big gains in longevity. Mary Cummings-Jordan talks with two researchers about the science of aging, whether there’s a ceiling on our lifespans, and about the ethical implications of increasing the length of our lives. Our guests are JAY OLSHANSKY, professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and DAVID SINCLAIR, a professor at Harvard Medical School and co-Director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biological Mechanisms of Aging.

Guests: Mike Newall and David Thornburgh

The Executive Director of the Philadelphia Parking Authority recently resigned, amid sexual harassment allegations, just before the board was set to fire him. The state Auditor General now says he is launching an audit of the agency's employment policies and procedures, including how it handles sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace. We’ll talk with Philadelphia Inquirer columnist MIKE NEWALL, who broke the news of the sexual harassment allegations, about the scandal and the resignation. And we’ll talk with DAVID THORNBURGH, President and CEO of The Committee of Seventy, about how the PPA was created and best practices in other cities for doing that work the agency now does in Philadelphia.

Guests: Ginger Gibson, Reid Wilson, Michael Delli Carpini, John Brabender

In this hour of Radio Times, Marty and her guests will discuss the presidential debate held Sunday night. The second debate of three came just days after a video of Donald Trump surfaced in which he describes his ability to grope women due to his star power.  The footage lead to a weekend of high-profile Republicans withdrawing their endorsements which further raised the stakes for Sunday night's event. We’ll be joined by GINGER GIBSON, campaign reporter for Reuters, REID WILSON, national correspondent for The Hill, and by MICHAEL DELLI CARPINI, dean of The Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.  But first, we'll talk with GOP strategist, JOHN BRABENDER, who has worked with Vice Presidential candidate Mike Pence in the past, to get his take on how the party will fare following the string of defections from its members.

Guests: Duncan Haldane, Mark Peplow, Ravi Amaravadi

The Nobel Prizes in chemistry, physics and physiology or medicine were announced last week. We thought we’d dig into the discoveries and the science behind them in this hour. We’ll start of talking with a new Nobel Laureate -- Princeton University physics professor F. DUNCAN HALDANE, who shared this year’s prize in physics for discoveries into strange forms of matter in extreme states. Then science writer MARK PEPLOW tells us about the award in chemistry which involves miniscule molecular machines. And RAVI AMARAVADI, associate professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, explains why the prize in physiology or medicine went to research on autophagy, how cells clean up and recycle their parts. It’s got many important applications for tackling cancer and neurological diseases.

Guest: David Cay Johnston

Donald Trump claimed $916 million in losses according 1995 tax return printed in the New York Times.  This might have allowed him to avoid paying federal income taxes for almost two decades. Trump responded to criticism of his tax avoidance by saying it shows that he’s “smart.”  Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter DAVID CAY JOHNSTON has been reporting on Trump since the 1990s when he was Atlantic City bureau chief for the Philadelphia Inquirer.  He has a new biography out on the candidate, The Making of Donald Trump.  Marty talks about to Johnston about what we know about Trump, his taxes, and the loopholes he might have exploited.

Guests: Zephyr Teachout, Matea Gold, Jane Mayer

On this week’s edition of Radio Times in Review: we’re going to explore the role that money plays in our political system.  We’ll play some of Marty’s conversation with ZEPHYR TEACHOUT, candidate for US congress from New York and law professor at Fordham University. She wrote of the historical efforts to prevent political corruption in her book Corruption in America. We’ll also listen to Marty’s interview with MATEA GOLD, who covers money and politics for the Washington Post.  We talked about the Supreme Court decisions that led to a gusher of spending and their impact on government. Lastly, we’ll hear from journalist and staff writer for The New Yorker, JANE MAYER.  She spent years investigating how the Koch Brothers became two of the most influential spenders in electoral politics.