What’s on MPR News today? 4/20/18

Friday April 20, 2018
(Subject to change as events dictate)

Until 9 a.m. – Morning Edition
More on the decision to charge no one in the death of Prince; a look at Saturday’s First Congressional District meeting in Le Sueur to endorse a candidate to run for the seat Rep. Tim Walz is vacating; and a preview of the gun rights rally. Plus:
StoryCorps: Why I went to prison.

9 a.m.- 1A with Joshua Johnson
Domestic news roundup. The news is usually about what’s happening on the ground. But not always. In the headlines this week a courageous crash-landing, Comey’s confession and a coffee shop confrontation.

Guests: Priscilla Alvarez, assistant editor, The Atlantic; Josh Gerstein, senior reporter, Politico; Alexis Simendinger, national political correspondent, The Hill.

10 a.m. – 1A with Joshua Johnson
International news roundup. This week America’s ambassador to the United Nations made one thing very clear – she does not get confused. Also, Cuba is now Castro-less. And the British Prime Minister faces a storm of protest over the “Windrush” generation.

Guests: Courtney Kube, national security and military reporter, NBC News; Paul Danahar, Washington bureau chief of the BBC; Nancy Youssef, national security reporter, The Wall Street Journal.

11 a.m. – MPR News at 11 (Mike Mulcahy hosts)
Friday political roundup. First up: The race to be Minnesota’s next governor is in full swing. Delegates to the state’s political conventions will meet in early June –the Republicans in Duluth, the DFLers in Rochester — to endorse a candidate. In advance of those conventions, we’re talking with the leading candidates. Today: DFL Congressman Tim Walz.

Then: There’s still no agreement at the Minnesota Capitol over how to rewrite the state’s tax code. Republicans have been critical of Gov. Mark Dayton’s plan, but so far haven’t released a plan of their own. Republican Rep. Greg Davids joins MPR’s Mike Mulcahy to talk about why, and what’s to come.

And finally: MPR reporters Tim Pugmire and Brian Bakst join the program for a look at the governor’s race… and what happened at the Minnesota Capitol this week.

12 p.m. – MPR News Presents
Invisibilia: “The Stories We Tell.” In this episode, we talk to a 74-year old woman whose husband’s death has led her to skydiving, and a beekeeper who thinks his hives have been stolen by mobsters. Then we travel to Mogadishu to learn about a reality show called “Inspire Somalia,” which is trying to remind a country that’s been terrorized by Islamic extremists that it could once again be the kind of place where people can sing in public.

1 p.m. – Science Friday
California is bracing for The Big One by planning stronger aqueducts, unbreakable water pipes and cell towers that can survive shaking. Seismologist Lucy Jones joins Ira Flatow to talk about how the state will survive a ‘tectonic time bomb.’ Plus…how geologists are tracing small earthquakes back to hydrofracking…and learning where the risk is highest.

2 p.m. – BBC NewsHour
A telephone hot line set up between North and South Korea – will it help to cool tensions?

3 p.m. – All Things Considered
Why is it so hard to find a place in Minnesota to charge your car; the week in politics; the Columbine shooting anniversary; the CIA’s PR campaign; the national students walkout.

6:00 p.m. – Marketplace
In cities across the country, the number of luxury apartment buildings is growing. These shiny, new apartments have everything: pools, gyms, and rooftop decks. The one thing they’re missing? Tenants.

6:30 p.m. – The Daily
James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, had an elaborate plan to make public his memos documenting his interactions with President Trump, in the hopes of prompting the appointment of a special counsel. In an interview, he explains his decision to take matters into his own hands.

Guest: Mr. Comey.

7 p.m. – The World
A global problem you may not realize is even a problem: loneliness. Also, the seemingly never-ending power blackouts affecting Puerto Rico.And, are North Korea’s Soviet-era planes too old to fly?

8 p.m. – Fresh Air
Milos Forman died last Friday. We listen back to his April 4, 1994 and December 13, 1996 interviews. He was an Academy Award-winning director known for the films “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, “Hair”, “Amadeus” and “Ragtime”. Forman will tell us about making films in America, and his formative days in Czechoslovakia. He said that growing up under the Gestapo was a tragedy, and life under the Communists was absurd.