TWO REPORTERS 27041

Hitler and the Nazis assaulted universities, museums and art institutions; purged them of people that Hitler perceived as enemies; and rewrote textbooks and museum exhibits to tell Hitler's (fake) version of history. Sound familiar? Historian Joan Clinefelter, who just retired from the University of Northern Colorado, says that there are major differences between Hitler in his early days and Trump.  "But I think they have the same ultimate goal," Clinefelter tells us, "which is ideological purity, sort of a cultural cleansing of history [and] of culture - so that it only gives the message that they believe is appropriate - and getting rid of anybody who has any sort of dissenting point of view."

The US government outlawed debtors' prisons in the 1830s, the Supreme Court has ruled they're unconstitutional, and you'll find sentences like this on the internet: "Today it is illegal to put someone in prison because of a debt." So how is it that courts across the country lock up thousands of low-income people each year, according to estimates, because they haven't paid up their traffic tickets, garbage collection bills and other minor violations? Lisa Foster, a former judge and co-founder of the Fines and Fees Justice Center, says many courts have become "a place of oppression" because they "make the measure of justice the measure of someone's wealth. That is fundamentally un-American and it is unjust," Lisa tells us. "But our system does it every day."

I think it is (Danny's writing this) - especially when the author is my co-host, David K. Shipler.  Dave's new novel, The Interpreter, takes us into the rice paddies and twisting alleys of Vietnam, right after US troops fled the war there in 1973. But Dave explores provocative issues that would resonate in Iraq or Afghanistan or any other country where interpreters play a crucial role for Americans. David Ignatius, the acclaimed associate editor and columnist of the The Washington Post, reviews it like this: "Shipler captures the awful truth that every correspondent knows - that we are unworthy of the brave men and women who act as our translators and ‘fixers,’ the solitary heroes living between two languages and cultures but refusing to take sides." Dave's novel raises provocative questions, sure, but some of my favorite parts are like Vietnam travelogs, painting images of streets pulsing with motorbikes piled with families, chickens and guavas; lush jungles and spidery canals; and Vietnam's foul-smelling but magical-tasting fish sauce.  

Two Israeli educators argue, with evidence to back them up, that Israel's schools have indoctrinated people over the decades to detest and mistrust Palestinians - and to be primed to fight them (Palestinian schools have done a similar job poisoning their own students against Israelis). Daniel Bar-Tal and Nimrod Tal are convinced that revamping the curriculum could help change Israelis' mindsets, and make them more open to working toward  peace. Wait until you hear how Nimrod taught teachers-in-training last year about distressing, little-known aspects of Israel's history - and how that opened their hearts (at least a bit) to Palestinians.

AI recreations of real people, which clone their faces, distinctive voices and all, have become so convincing that even top computer specialists are finding it hard to tell the difference between fakery and reality. Creative "deep fakes" aren't all bad - they can bring dead artists and historical figures alive, to energize museums and schools - but most uses so far have been evil: Think fake pornographic videos of your sister or daughter, or scams that bilk people out of millions of dollars. Our guest, law professor Danielle Citron at the University of Virginia, has been advising companies and government officials on how to protect the public from the terrible harm that deep fakes can cause, but executives like Elon Musk don't want to listen. Her worst fears haven't come true yet - such as a deep fake that changes an election or triggers a war - but it's hard not to expect them. 

Dazzle friends with the grammar smarts you'll get from our second chat with Bryan Garner, one of America's language gurus. Finally, you're about to learn if you can - or cannot - end a sentence with a preposition; if you can use "like" instead of "as"; and if you can banish "whom" and "whomever" from your brain. Just wait until you hear Bryan's rant about lawyers' terrible writing. Speaking of which, can you guess which common five-letter word (which lawyers love) causes endless legal battles? 

... we've never had so much fun debating it! Bryan Garner, one of America's grammar gurus, tells us where we're going wrong grammatically - and what we're getting right. You're sure to find (you'll surely find?) answers to some of your own burning questions, like (or is it "such as"?): should you feel bad ing adverbs? Or should you feel badly? How will this episode impact your own language? (Actually, is "impact" even a verb?) After hearing our conversation with Bryan, you might not write or speak quite the same way.

Our guest warns that some of this is so secret that even of Congress don't know it: Past Presidents have drawn up astonishing plans to wield sweeping emergency powers, possibly including seizing control of the internet. Elizabeth Goitein, of the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice, has unearthed dozens of these little-known emergency presidential powers - and she says they should scare you. 

In this uplifting chat, John Marks s us again to tell how Search for Common Ground created radio and TV programs from Africa to Asia - designed to help bring former enemies together. His case studies from Burundi, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo show how Search’s broadcasts helped soothe conflicts between warring groups, and reduced the scourge of rape by rampaging soldiers. The programs obviously are no panacea, but as John says, they are “keeping hope alive.”

Trump has already shown that when he moves back to the White House, he's likely to use the strategies of dictators he ires, such as Viktor Orbán of Hungary: pack courts and agencies with ideological cronies, intimidate and harass the press, and continue to denigrate opponents as “evil,” “low IQ,” "vermin" and “enemies from within.” Harvard professor Steven Levitsky, co-author of How Democracies Die and Tyranny of the Minority, tells us why it could take years to rescue America’s democracy. Even if you heard this episode when we first posted it, we think you’ll want to listen again now that Trump is returning to the Oval Office.

John Marks says yes - and he and the organization he founded, Search for Common Ground, have made it happen. He tells us surprising stories about how they get people to listen to each other, across hard lines of hatred and suspicion: Russian and American intelligence officers, Iranians and Americans, Israelis and Arabs, Hutus and Tutsis in Africa -  and more. John's memoir, From Vision to Action: Remaking the World Through Social Entrepreneurship, is like a how-to guide - filled with candid s of his successes and failures.

Scientist Michelle Fournet and her colleagues from the University of New Hampshire hang out with humpback whales in Alaska, recording their daily communications - and then sending whale recordings back to the giant animals to see if and how they respond. Some of her latest findings could break new ground: she can identify individual whales by their sounds. Michelle tells us the moving story of how she morphed from broke actor to internationally-respected whale researcher - and how she hopes research on humpbacks' "language" can help humans protect them.

Four more have been murdered by a teen with an assault-style rifle - many more were injured - at Apalachee High School in Winder, GA. Still, this episode gives us a glimmer of hope: specialists in “behavioral threat assessment” have been quietly trying to spot potential killers for decades, in places from schools and companies to government agencies - and the latest carnage could probably have been avoided if authorities had followed their manual. Our guests, practitioners Monique Boudreaux and Matt Talbot, say everybody in America needs to help them instead of looking the other way.

Lee Bollinger, who was president of Columbia University and the University of Michigan, predicts that the number of black students at many colleges will plummet to low levels they haven't seen since the 60s and 70s. He says Chief Justice John Roberts and the other Republican extremists on the Court misinterpret the Constitution. And as for the belief that under affirmative action, college officials generally itted blacks who weren't qualified? Lee says: Not true. 

Trump, the Republican party and Project 2025 are echoing Orbán's autocratic playbook - along with strategies of other leaders who got elected democratically and then turned their nations into autocracies. Key steps: pack courts and agencies with their cronies, slander and intimidate the media, and denigrate their opponents as "evil" and "vermin." Harvard professor Steven Levitsky, co-author of How Democracies Die and Tyranny of the Minority, tells us why it could take years to rescue America's democracy - even if Trump loses the election.

Sesame Street changed TV by using music to help kids learn how to spell and how to share. Singer-songwriter Anya Rose and the group Ants on a Log write social action songs to help children in primary school learn edgier lessons, about problems from environmental pollution to racist and sexist behavior - inspired in part by 60s satirist Tom Lehrer. After hearing these tunes, the 9-year-olds in your family might feel inspired to research a problem in your own neighborhood - and then write your of Congress about it! 

Now that Judge David S. Tatel has retired from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, he feels freer to warn us all: the Supreme Court is threatening America's democracy by inventing spurious legal doctrines and grabbing more power for itself. There are also lighter moments in this revealing interview, as David pulls the curtain aside and tells us how the judges on this powerful court really do their work. Spoiler alert #1: It used to involve a red children's sand pail. Spoiler alert #2: Because David is blind, he used to hire "readers" who rattled off every word of laws, books and briefs out loud to him, at such mind-boggling speeds that most people couldn't understand them. 

David Tatel - who retired recently from the U.S. Court of Appeals - has led what he calls a "braided life" that intertwines hardship and accomplishment. With his wife, Edie, he describes how he struggled to hide his gradual loss of sight from friends and colleagues alike - including tricks like counting rows and seats in a movie theater and following the clicks of high heels. Meanwhile, David became an accomplished lawyer who fought landmark civil rights cases. You can read their full story in David's new book, Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice. David will return in Part 2 to take us behind the scenes of the second most important court in the nation.

Lewis Simon's Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting, in collaboration with colleagues, helped spark an international scandal and topple a corrupt dictator in the Philippines; he tells us in this episode how they did it. Lew also gives us remarkable insight into how he could do his work - taking notes as people got beaten to death and blown up in front of him, in countries like Cambodia and Bangladesh - and survive emotionally. And finally, a roving correspondent talks honestly about the toll that constant traveling took on his spouse. After hearing Lew, you might think differently about what  reporters face when they tell you the latest from Ukraine and the Middle East. 

Next time you hear details of the horrific wars in Ukraine and Gaza, think about how you're learning them: journalists are risking their lives to report from the front lines. Lewis Simons won the Pulitzer Prize during decades of reporting on the Vietnam war and other conflicts across Asia. He lived by a motto: "Whatever the threat or danger, I had to be there."