Marilyn Monroe at the Hotel Bel Air, 1962. Credit: Bert Stern/TASCHEN

This Sunday marks the 50 year anniversary of the death of Norma Jeane Mortenson, more commonly known as Marilyn Monroe.

She legally changed her name in 1956, officially becoming the iconic actress we know and love. The original blonde bombshell has fascinated fans for decades. Her memory is still very much alive. Her affairs are still speculated upon. Her glamour and fashion sense often considered unparalleled. But her greatest accomplishment was her tragically short career.

Though she was often typecast as the wide-eyed, breathy-voiced vixen, Monroe still managed to captivate audiences and critics alike with her performances. Her most famous on screen moments include the musical number “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” from “Gentlemen prefer Blondes” and the always iconic subway grate scene in “The Seven Year Itch.”

She was able to show off her impeccable comic timing in “Some Like It Hot,” holding her own against talented actors Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis. In Arthur Miller’s “The Misfits,” Monroe took on the meatier role of divorcee Roslyn, a darker and more troubled character than any she had portrayed before. Miller wrote the role for her, hoping it could launch her career as a more serious actress, though “The Misfits” ended up being the last film she completed before her death.

Our critics weigh in on Marilyn Monroe’s career, her best performances and worst flops. What’s your favorite Marilyn Monroe movie or moment?

Guests:

Wade Major, film critic for KPCC and boxoffice.com

Claudia Puig, film critic for KPCC and USA Today

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign event with Republican Governors at Basalt Public High School on August 2, 2012 in Basalt, Colorado. Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The discussion over presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s refusal to release his tax returns heated up after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid accused Romney of not paying any taxes for the past ten years. After receiving criticism for his initial remarks, Reid stood by his words by making the accusation official on the Senate floor.

Reid claims the source of his information is an anonymous but credible Bain Capital investor. In addition, Reid issued a written statement citing Romney’s “secret, overseas accounts” saying, “It’s clear Romney is hiding something, and the American people deserve to know what it is.”

Romney responded during an interview with Sean Hannity saying Reid needs to “put up or shut up,” because the allegations are “untrue, dishonest, and inaccurate.” It seems clear Reid isn’t backing down, but should he? Why would he risk the political backlash to put pressure on Romney?

Guests:

Niels Lesniewski, Staff Writer, Roll Call, a Washington DC publication covering Capitol Hill

Darry A. Sragow, Attorney and long-time democratic strategist

The Curiosity rover is set to make its landing this Sunday. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

This Sunday night at 10:31 pm, the “Curiosity” Mars rover will land on the “Red Planet.” The research project, which has been in the works since April of 2004, marks one of the most sophisticated attempts at learning about our red planetary neighbor.

The instruments which comprise the Curiosity rover are the most advanced we've seen yet, and there are a lot of them. In fact, the rover is equipped with so many instruments that it literally weighs a ton. Never dealing with a rover of this size before, the project team at Jet Propulsion Laboratory had to devise a completely new and unique landing system for Curiosity, which we will finally get to see unveiled in all of its glory on Sunday night.

Scientists hope to use the abundance of data coming back to Earth to determine Mars’ habitability, learn about the planet’s climate and geography, and serve as a precursor to a manned mission sometime in the future.

Will you be staying up this weekend to watch the footage of the landing? How much time and effort went into getting this project off the ground (and back on it again)?

Guest:

John Grotzinger, Project Scientist on the Curiosity team of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

Curiosity's Seven Minutes of Terror

Experts at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory ( JPL ) share the challenges of Curiosity's rover final 7 minutes to landing on the surface of Mars on the 5th of August,2012

LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 28: (L-R) Actors Bryan Cranston, Jessica Biel, Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, and Director Len Wiseman Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Larry is joined by KPCC film critics Wade Major and Claudia Puig to review this week’s new movies, including Total Recall, Celeste and Jesse Forever, 360, Killer Joe, The Imposter and more. TGI-FilmWeek!

Guests:

Wade Major, film critic for KPCC and boxoffice.com

Claudia Puig, film critic for KPCC and USA Today

Trailer for Total Recall

Trailer for Celeste and Jesse Forever

Is the noise of air traffic from helicopters too much? Credit: John Shearer/Getty Images

Look! Up in the sky! It’s…another annoying helicopter. While they are definitely part of the culture in Los Angeles, that doesn’t mean that citizens accept them unconditionally.

With the closing of the 405 Freeway last July and the lack of automobile noise, Westsiders realized just how loud the police, news, paparazzi and touring helicopters can be. Parts of the San Fernando Valley have been complaining about the noise for years, and in Pasadena there’s even a Facebook group dedicated specifically to the annoyance of local police choppers.

As the deafening roar reached a fever pitch, Congressman Howard Berman (D-Valley Village) petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration for a public hearing to address helicopter noise over Los Angeles County. The FAA granted Berman’s request, and will be holding an event tonight (MON) at 6:30 pm in Sherman Oaks. It’s open to the entire community, and the public testimonies heard there will comprise an FAA report to be released within a year.

What complaints do you have about the chopper buzz? Will you attend the meeting tonight? Is this simply just a part of life? And what about other areas of Los Angeles where helicopters serve as one of the main deterrents of crime? How can a compromise be reached there?

The project leadership team for the Curiosity mission to Mars prepares to take a bow before a press conference at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena late Sunday night. Credit: Grant Slater/KPCC

Tears, yells, hugs, high fives. When the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Curiosity rover successfully touched down on Mars Sunday night, fans of space exploration and those involved in the $2.5-billion NASA mission rejoiced across the United States, from Pasadena to New York City’s Times Square.

The Mars rover is considered the most advanced spacecraft ever sent to another planet, and comes on the heels of privately held space transport company SpaceX making history by sending a cargo payload to the International Space Station.

Is space making a comeback? The primary mission of the Curiosity research project, in the works since April 2004, is expected to last 687 days, culling data and images from the so-called “Red Planet,” a staggering 154 million miles from Earth. Already the rover has delivered various images, including one grainy picture of its wheels on a crater.

Did you stay up to watch the Mars rover landing? Will an increased fascination with space exploration and space travel lead to more funding for NASA, and more missions? In the hopeful words of “Toy Story” toy astronaut Buzz Lightyear, “To infinity and beyond!”

Guest:

Luther Beegle, group supervisor, JPL’s Mars Science Laboratory

People console each other at the command center near the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin where yesterday a gunman fired upon people at service August, 6, 2012 Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Credit: Darren Hauck/Getty Images

Six people and a gunman are dead after a shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin. The gunman has been identified as Wade Michael Page, an Army veteran and a former leader of white-supremacist band End Apathy. The Southern Poverty Law Center called the shooter, a "frustrated neo-Nazi."

According to officials and witnesses, Page walked into the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and started shooting people preparing for Sunday services. Reports say Page killed six people and critically wounded three others before he was shot to death by police. Police are calling this domestic terrorism. We check in with a reporter Wisconsin Public Radio’s Chuck Quirmbach for the latest on the story.

Guest:

Don Walker, Reporter, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

What does home look like to you?
Credit: South L.A./Flickr

Many animals are known to create a home – a den, burrow, nest or web – using survival instincts codified many millions of years ago. But the human animal’s nesting instinct has been evolving since the days of the hominids, and continues to reinvent itself today.

The early campfire sites of nomadic hunter-gatherers gave way to houses designed for protection from the elements as humans expanded to higher latitudes. The shift to agricultural societies led to the need to homestead, and its attendant accumulation of goods and supplies that couldn’t be easily transported.

As tribes began to settle down, the home became more sophisticated. Art and symbolism moved from cave walls to interior and exterior decoration. Communities sprang up as people organized their living spaces into pueblos, villages, walled cities.

All of these trends are echoed in the variety of form and function employed in modern dwellings. In his new book, anthropologist Jerry Moore follows the thread of human habitation and its variations from ancient times to the present, and explores the many meanings of the word “home.”

Guest:

Jerry D. Moore, Ph.D., author of “The Prehistory of Home” (University of California Press); professor, department of anthropology at California State University Dominguez Hills

How do the needs of baby boomer addicts compare to those of younger addicts? Credit: PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

For the baby boomer generation, being “born to be wild,” as the freewheeling Steppenwolf 1960s anthem declares, is a double-edged sword when it comes to addiction.

A Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration report from September 2011 says an aging baby boomer generation – those born between 1946 and 1964 - is leading to increased levels of addiction among adults over 50, requiring double the availability of treatment services by 2020. For those aged 50 to 59, the rate of illicit drug use, including prescription drug use, increased from 2.7 percent in 2002 to 5.8 percent in 2010, according to the study.

Addiction experts say painkillers and sedatives such as Xanax and Ativan are top categories of abused drugs among middle aged and elderly Americans, with both genetic and environmental triggers such as financial stress, loneliness, age-related pain and isolation jumpstarting addictive behavior. Add to that addiction treatment not covered by Medicare and the difficulties of detoxing older patients.

How do the needs of baby boomer addicts differ from younger addicts when it comes to treatment and recovery? If you’ve battled addiction as a baby boomer, what were the challenges involved?

Guests:

Dr. Westley Clark, M.D., director of the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

Dr. Lynn Webster, M.D., a longtime addiction specialist and medical director of CRI Lifetree Clinical Research, a clinical research facility specializing in drug development for addiction and pain in Salt Lake City, Utah

Dr. Barbara Krantz, M.D., medical director of the Hanley Center, a nonprofit addiction recovery center in West Palm Beach, Florida

(L-R) Churandy Martina of the Netherlands, Ryan Bailey of the United States, Usain Bolt of Jamaica, Justin Gatlin of the United States, Yohan Blake of Jamaica and Tyson Gay of the United States compete in the Men's 100m final on Day 9 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on August 5, 2012 in London, England. Credit: Julia Vynokurova/Getty Images

Yesterday, the world was anxious to see whether Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt would once again electrify the 100-meter final. The fastest man alive did it again, but half a world away television viewers could not witness it live.

Even though the race happened at 1:50 p.m. PDT/4:50 p.m. EDT on a Sunday, NBC Television delayed the race until prime time. That has been the story of NBC coverage of these 2012 Olympics. NBC slices and dices what they think viewers want to see, and broadcasts it all many hours after events have happened live. It hasn't hurt their rates, but would it if viewers had a choice?

Guest:

Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times television critic

Helicopters fly over the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before the Boston Red Sox take on the Los Angeles Dodgers on March 29, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. Credit: Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

Look! Up in the sky! It’s … another annoying helicopter.

While they are definitely part of the culture in Los Angeles, that doesn’t mean that citizens accept them unconditionally.

With the closing of the 405 Freeway last July, the lack of automobile noise coupled with the choppers covering “Carmageddon,” Westsiders realized just how loud the police, news, paparazzi and touring helicopters can be.

Residents of the San Fernando Valley have been complaining about the noise for years, and in Pasadena there’s even a blog dedicated specifically to the annoyance of local police choppers.

“We do have an almost 500 mile square city that we try to cover. And you know when you look at 9500 or so police officers to do that it makes it very difficult. We recognize that and we deploy helicopters as a force multiplier to assist policing the city,” said Lieutenant Phil Smith, Assistant Commanding Officer, Air Support Division, LAPD.

The police are not the only helicopters that dominate the Los Angeles skyline. There are media choppers, private and corporate helicopters and of course medical ones. One of the groups that doesn’t want to take all the blame, according to Jeff Baugh, longtime airborne reporter for KNX and KFWB, is the legitimate broadcast news media.

“Not only am I an airborne reporter but I certainly live with a bunch of noise myself...The legitimate media here in Los Angeles we have a very distinguished past. I mean it’s aircraft that has brought the listeners of radio and the viewers of TV first reports of some major events here in Los Angeles,” said Baugh.

He admits that there is a problem when helicopters sit and hover over one area for long periods of time. Baugh says he and other media are working together to avoid this for the sake of everyone in Southern California.

Despite this, the complaints have become too much for Congressman Howard Berman (D-Valley Village) who petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration to attend a public hearing to address helicopter noise over Los Angeles County.

“I think there is an opportunity to bring some restrictions that protect the integrity of the neighborhoods. The airspace above the neighborhoods is kind of open right now and a lot of times there are great helicopter pilots that respect the residential community. And there’s some others that may not, particularly in the hillsides,” said Anthony Braswell, President, Neighborhood Council Valley Village.

Congressman Berman is hosting the event tonight tonight at 6:30 pm at Millikan Middle School in Sherman Oaks. It’s open to the entire community, and the public testimonies heard there will comprise an FAA report to be released within a year.

Weigh In:
What complaints do you have about the chopper buzz? Will you attend the meeting tonight? Is this simply just a part of life? And what about other areas of Los Angeles where helicopters serve as one of the main deterrents of crime? How can a compromise be reached there?

Guests:

Anthony Braswell, President, Neighborhood Council Valley Village
Jeff Baugh, longtime airborne reporter for KNX and KFWB

Lieutenant Phil Smith, Assistant Commanding Officer, Air Support Division, Los Angeles Police Department

Information about the hearing tonight can be found here.

Red Ink: Inside the High-Stakes Politics of the Federal Budget

In the 2011 fiscal year, the United States budget reached nearly $3.6 trillion dollars, and brought in $2.3 trillion in revenue. How did the U.S. budget and deficit balloon to such a massive figure? And where does all the money actually go?

David Wessel, in his book “Red Ink: Inside the High-Stakes Politics of the Federal Budget,“ breaks down the process of the national budget to explain to readers how the money gets spent. Nearly two-thirds of all annual federal spending is what Wessel calls “on autopilot.” That includes Social Security benefits, spending on Medicare and Medicaid, and interest payments on government bonds, which are all paid without any congressional approval, and already accounts for more money than the government brings in annually.

Through interviews with David Jack Lew, the White House Chief of Staff and former Office of Management and Budget director, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and Paul Ryan, the Republican chairman of the House Budget Committee, Wessel dives into the nitty-gritty details of the national budget to explain how, and why, the federal budget needs to be fixed.

Guest:

David Wessel, Author of Red Ink: Inside the High-Stakes Politics of the Federal Budget (Crown Business); Economics Editor and writer of the Capital column for the Wall Street Journal

The mug shot handed out by the FBI of the suspect Wade Michael Page after a press conference on the shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin Credit: Handout/Getty Images

The shooter who killed six people at a Wisconsin Sikh temple yesterday was a known white supremacist with financial troubles and a questionable military record.

Wade Michael Page, who was killed by police on the scene, played in skinhead, metal bands and was active on Internet forums about white supremacy. According to the Associated Press, “[Page] described himself as a member of the 'Hammerskins Nation,' a skinhead group rooted in Texas that has branches in Australia and Canada.” His band's lyrics talked of genocide against Jews and other minorities.

Page worked as a driver for a trucking company from 2006 to 2010. But he was fired for driving a personal vehicle “while subject to an impairing substance,” the company Barr-Nunn Transportation said in a statement Public records show his North Carolina home was foreclosed on in January.

In the 1990s, Page served in the U.S. Army. He had been disciplined for drinking on duty and going AWOL. He was discharged in 1998. Experts who monitor hate groups and white supremacists had tracked and interviewed Wade Michael Page. Yesterday a U.S. attorney based in Wisconsin confirmed Page had legally purchased the handgun he used in the shooting.

How much did authorities know about him? How did Page compare to others in the white power movement? What is the current state of white supremacist groups?

Guest:

Brian Levin, Director, Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino

Host Larry Mantle with the late composer Marvin Hamlisch Credit: Collin Walzak

He was a prolific composer who dazzled audiences with his unforgettable score of the Broadway musical, “A Chorus Line” and the scores to the films “The Way We Were,” “The Sting” and “Ordinary People.”

He also held the rare distinction of winning all top four entertainment prizes: the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. Marvin Hamlisch’s unexpected death yesterday at the age of 68 has left the music world stunned. He had just recently signed a three-year contract with the Pasadena Symphony and, according to the L.A. Times, at the time of his death, was the principal pops conductor for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Pasadena Pops, Seattle Symphony and San Diego Symphony.

Hamlisch’s lifelong career started brilliantly at the age of 7 when he was accepted to The Julliard School, the youngest student ever to attend the prestigious arts school.

Larry Mantle spoke with Hamlisch several times, most recently just last June, and remembers him as a larger-than-life personality who never lost his passion for composing, conducting or telling a great story.

Guests:

Larry Mantle, host of KPCC’s Airtalk

Michael Giacchino, television and film composer, known for his work on Lost, Alias, Up, Ratatouille, and Cars 2

Paul Jan Zdunek, Chief Executive Officer, Pasadena Symphony and Pops

Morning commuters travel the 210 freeway. Credit: David McNew/Getty Images

For over forty years, the plan to connect the 710 freeway to the 210 has been debated fiercely. After the project was on hold for decades, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) have presented 12 alternative concepts for construction.

Now, as Metro and Caltrans are in the process of narrowing the 12 alternatives down to a few and preparing to conduct an extensive Environmental Impact Report (EIR), various groups are still concerned, to say the least. Questions abound regarding where the route will travel, how much damage and pollution it will yield for nearby neighborhoods, and how much the project will ultimately cost taxpayers.

So what are the options? How soon will the project actually begin? Can any option satisfy all stakeholders and leave a minimal dent in taxpayers’ pockets?

Guests:

Doug Failing, Executive Officer of Metro’s highway program

Dr. Ron Paler, President, San Rafael Neighborhoods Association (SRNA); member of the No 710 Action Committee

Have the tough economic times had an effect on your relationships? Credit: iStockphoto.com

Chances are, you’ve seen or felt at least some of the effects of the Great Recession on your checkbook.

Perhaps you’re grappling with job security, or cutting back on anything from dining out to movie tickets. If such cutbacks and worries take a toll on our own mental state, what are they doing to dating and relationships?

Depression, low morale, and less money to spend can put pressure on both men and women when it comes to dating and marriage.

“One of the first thing that tends to go wrong in relationships is that you lose the economy of gratitude that makes a good relationship go on. You’re less likely to notice the things that your partner does that make you happy and that make your life easier. And more likely to notice the things that make life stressful,” said Stephanie Coontz, Professor of History and Family Studies, The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.

Stress caused by money worries can also cause health issues and physical symptoms that can even affect libido. The recession may also be one of the factors for a decrease in marriage and birth rates.

David from Century City said his new dating life has been affected greatly by the recession. He now feels he is a prospect rather than a person when meeting new women.

Steven from Hollywood felt financial issues contributed to the ultimate demise of his first marriage and are affecting his current partnership as well.

“Relationships [in the 1950s and 60s] were just deals. Where women looked at men as the only chance they had to get supported and men looked at women as ok I’m gonna take on this financial burden and what I want in return is deference and sexual services and all these things. And we’d really started to move away from that...but under economic stress, I think some people are falling back into that old [pattern],” said Coontz.

It’s not all bad news. Some couples are getting through these hard times by coming closer together.

Joe from Cypress said he felt he and his wife had come closer together and realized what was important and what wasn’t. Wendy, whose husband lost her job shortly after they were married, felt it gave him a new respect for her contribution to the family.

“It’s very important to remember that it’s not your partner’s fault. That this is a systemic problem not an individual problem. You should try to help each other as much as you can,” Coontz added.

Weigh In:
So what is to be done? How can one keep the romance alive when they may not even have a job in the morning? How have these tough times affected your love life?

Guest:

Stephanie Coontz, Professor of History and Family Studies, The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington; Director of Research and Public Education for the Council on Contemporary Families; Author, A Strange Stirring: The Feminine Mystique and American Women at the Dawn of the 1960s, and Marriage, A History: How Love Conquered Marriage

Does the American Dream still exist? Credit: Flickr inkknife_2000

What is the “American dream?” Is it a big house and two cars in the garage? A big screen TV? Education and a stable job?

In their latest book,“The Betrayal Of The American Dream,” Pulitzer prize winners Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, explain that the American dream boils down to the belief that if you “worked hard and followed the rules you would prosper in America, and your children would enjoy a better life than yours.”

But according to Barrett and Steele, that dream, and the American middle class that prospered because of it, is under attack. Between deregulation in industry, unequal tax practices and outsourcing of jobs, things are only getting worse.

Bartlett and Steele, however, have their own plan to restore the “American dream,” like reforming the tax code, making free trade fairer for American workers and investing in infrastructure here at home. Without that remedy, the “American dream” could become a nightmare.

Guest:

Donald L. Barlett, co-author of The Betrayal of the American Dream (Public Affairs Books); former investigative reporter for Vanity Fair, Time magazine and The Philadelphia Inquirer; recipient, with James Steele, of two Pulitzer Prizes for newspaper reporting and two National Magazine Awards

James B. Steele, co-author of The Betrayal of the American Dream (Public Affairs Books); former investigative reporter for Vanity Fair, Time magazine and The Philadelphia Inquirer; recipient, with Donald Barlett, of two Pulitzer Prizes for newspaper reporting and two National Magazine Awards

The latest ad campaign from the Romney camp goes after welfare programs Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A new campaign ad from GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney targets welfare programs across the country. It starts by applauding President Bill Clinton's 1996 overhaul of welfare – which added work requirements for recipients. It then asserts that President Barack Obama just made welfare reform a toothless tiger.

An excerpt from the ad says: "[U]nder Obama's plan, you wouldn't have to work and wouldn't have to train for a job. They just send you your welfare check." Analysts who fact-checked the ad said Obama's plan gives states more room to change their welfare programs, but it could be a leap to suggest states would go back to old welfare programs.

Just who are recipients of welfare and food stamps? How has that group changed since the economic downturn? What are plans for welfare going forward?

Guest:

Caroline Danielson, Policy Fellow, Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), specializing in social safety net programs lik CalWORKs, CalFresh, TANF, and SNAP.

How are you going to cope with higher gas and food prices? Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The fire at the Chevron oil refinery in Contra Costa County has been contained, but consumers could soon be feeling the burn.

Analysts predict that the price of gas could rise up to 35 cents per gallon due to this setback in the refinery process. California has a special blend of gasoline which pollutes less than anything else on the market, and very few other states produce it. Distributors might have to start importing from Singapore or Australia to make up for the loss in production. This also comes on the heels of rising prices of oil, which already notched up the price of gas about six cents.

And if that weren’t enough, the Midwest is going through a drought that is having a negative impact on the growth of corn and soybeans. Thus, gas prices will be going up at the same time as food prices. Beef, pork and poultry will be the first affected by the drought, as corn is the main source of feed for most American livestock. Of course, it is also a staple in the composition and production of a staggering amount of foodstuffs, so the spike will soon be seen all across the grocery store.

Just how fragile is the infrastructure for oil and gas in this country? What effects will these trends have on the overall economy? How will you as a consumer deal with the higher prices at the pump and in the checkout line?

Guests:

Tom Kloza, Chief Oil Analyst, Oil Price Information Service

Alan Bjerga, Bloomberg News Agricultural Policy reporter

"I Want You to Shut the F#ck Up: How The Audacity Of Dopes Is Ruining America"

As Americans, we’re faced with situations every day that seem completely illogical and absurd. We see the same things happen again and again in the media, with pundits saying the same talking points over and over, and no real progress is being made. It can make you want to scream and shout, but then people might think you’re crazy.

Fortunately for us, comedians don’t have to worry about that. D. L. Hughley, one of the original Kings of Comedy, is now the author of a new book, “I Want You to Shut the F#ck Up!” Being a touring comedian for decades means that Hughley has seen every corner of this country, as well as the diverse types of people that make up our citizenry. And Hughley isn’t so sure that the great melting pot has any idea what it’s doing.

Nothing is off-limits when Hughley has the floor: America’s role as the drunk guy at the bar, the power of guns over cops, why black men don’t feel sorry for other black men and how Republicans can win some of the black vote. What insights does Hughley have for America, and how would he suggest we get back on the right track?

Guest:

D.L. Hughley, Comedian and Author of “I Want You to Shut the F#ck Up!: How the Audacity of Dopes is Ruining America” (Crown Archetype)