Friday, January 17 – Friday, January 24

“A Woman’s Nation Pushes Back from the Brink”, a study released this week by The Shriver Report and the Center for American Progress, found that one in three American women lives in or near poverty. Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, joins us to discuss the study’s findings.

We roll out a new segment this week called “Five Things You Should Know About…”. Thanks to the bone-chilling weather hitting the country, we thought it fitting to offer tips on lowering your heating bill. Alex McAdams, personal finance analyst for NerdWallet.com, offers his advice.

Kshama Sawant made history this year when she was sworn in to the Seattle City Council as an avowed socialist. She joins us to talk about how her socialist agenda fits into a capitalist society. We also hear from Karen Kubby, a former council member in Iowa City, who talks about her 11-year tenure as the council’s lone socialist.

Powerhouse singer Jennifer Holliday started belting out hits with her Broadway debut in “Dreamgirls” in 1981. She joins us to discuss her career and “The Song Is You”, her first new pop album in 23 years.

On January 1, Colorado became the first state in the nation to permit legal sales of marijuana for recreational use. Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), an organization that supports legalizing drugs, hopes more states will follow. The executive director of LEAP, Neill Franklin, joins us to explain why.

Seattle is the 5th whitest city in the nation, with African Americans making up just 7 percent of the population. Freelance broadcast journalist Tonya Mosley set out to explore the community and produced a four-part radio series, “Black in Seattle”, that was broadcast on public radio station KUOW last fall. We discuss the project with her and Darryl Lorenzo Wellington, a journalist and poet living in Santa Fe, NM, who offers his perspective on African American life in another largely white town.

George Johnson shares his thoughts on the season-long suspension of New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez in his 3-minute sports drill.

In 1962, filmmaker Sterlin Harjo’s grandfather disappeared from the town of Sasakwa, OK. As the Native American community searched for the missing man, they sang the hymns their ancestors sang while being forced out West along The Trail of Tears. Harjo joins us to discuss his documentary, “This May Be The Last Time”. Hugh Foley, professor of cinema and Native American Studies at Rogers State University, also joins us the discussion to offer a historical perspective.