Friday, December 6 – Friday, December 13

The U.S. and its allies took steps toward curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions by agreeing to ease some economic sanctions. In Afghanistan, tribal leaders approved a bilateral security agreement, but so far, President Hamid Karzai has refused to sign it. Anthony Cordesman, a former Defense Department and State Department official now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, joins us to discuss the deals.

An essay in the current edition of “Foreign Affairs” magazine says the practice of synthetic biology holds great promise for humankind—it could lead to anything from cleaner water to a cure for cancer. But unchecked, it could also lead to Armageddon. The essay’s author, Laurie Garrett, Senior Fellow for Global Health at the Council on Foreign Relations, joins us to discuss the “synbio” revolution.

In his new book, “Ebony & Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America’s Universities”, MIT history professor Craig Steven Wilder writes that the nation’s colonial-era colleges “stood beside church and state as the third pillar of a civilization built on bondage”. Professor Wilder joins us from Boston to discuss the relationship between slavery and Ivy League schools.

As a young aide to Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, Tavis had a life-changing moment—he escorted Muhammad Ali and Sidney Poitier into Mayor Bradley’s office to meet Nelson Mandela. On the occasion of Mandela’s death, Tavis pays tribute by sharing his special memory.

Gospel great Jimmy Carter of the Blind Boys of Alabama must be somewhere near the top of the list of miles traveled in a lifetime. He’s been on the road touring with the Blind Boys for 70 years, and he’s got plenty of miles ahead of him. He joins us from Minneapolis to discuss his lengthy career and the gospel group’s newest recording, “I’ll Find a Way”.