What’s on MPR News – 10/18/18

Thursday October 18, 2018
(Subject to change as events dictate)

9 a.m. – MPR News with Kerri Miller
Cult classic movies can range from the hilarious to the delirious, but they can be so much more than that.

For example, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is more than just entertainment, it’s a representation of drag and LGBTQ culture. Host Kerri Miller spoke with two movies buffs about how cult movies can be a place where representation flourishes — and that should be taken seriously.

Guests: Lily Percy, an executive producer for On Being and the host of This Movie Changed Me; Paul Struthers, director of exhibition and programming at the Frameline Film Festival.

10 a.m.- 1A with Joshua Johnson
The midterms are about a lot of things. But mostly they’re about the president. Records will be broken, and some dreams will be dashed. With voting underway in some states, what does the map look like ahead of an election that could change everything?

Guests: Domenico Montanaro, lead political editor, NPR; Juana Summers, national political reporter, Associated Press; Katie Sanders, managing editor, PolitiFact; Casey McDermott, data and investigations reporter, New Hampshire Public Radio.

11 a.m. – 1A with Joshua Johnson
The last time the unemployment rate was this low, America looked very different. Some states have serious labor shortages, with jobs that are not getting filled. What does today’s buoyant economy need to stay afloat? And why is good help getting harder to find?

Guests: Dan Guillou, welder, educator at MAxT Makerspace; Russ Thibeault, president, Applied Economic Research; Ryan Nunn, policy director of The Hamilton Project and Fellow in Economic Studies at Brookings; Christine Carr, executive director for the NH Career and Technical Educators Association; Randy Maiers, president and CEO of Community Foundation of St. Clair County.

12 p.m. – MPR News Presents
Gary Eichten interviews former Vice President Walter Mondale and Augsburg University history professor Bill Green about President Lyndon Johnson, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Martin Luther King, and their efforts 50 years ago to pass “Great Society” legislation while the Vietnam War raged. Prior to their conversation you’ll hear actors perform highlights from the play, “The Great Society,” now on stage at the History Theatre in St. Paul. (recorded 10/14/18).

1 p.m. – The Takeaway
Nearly 2,000 migrants are traveling from Honduras across Central America. We’ll talk about why they people are fleeing, and the concerted effort to stop them from coming north.

2 p.m. – BBC NewsHour
A close friend of Jamal Khashoggi on what happened to the Saudi journalist and why the truth will eventually out.

3 p.m. – All Things Considered
Saudi reaction to the likely killing of a Washington Post columnist; more political horserace coverage; a look back at Prague 1968; dispatches from the shelters of Hurricane Michael.

6:00 p.m. – Marketplace
A look at the hurricane cleanup business. Communities in parts of North Carolina are still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Florence. But now, some of the cleanup crews are following the money to Florida in the wake of Hurricane Michael.

6:30 p.m. – The Daily
Nine months after admitting to sexual misconduct with multiple women, Louis C.K. dropped into a New York City comedy club unannounced and tried to make a comeback. And then he returned, again and again. We talk to the club owner who gave him that stage.

Guest: Noam Dworman, the owner of the Comedy Cellar in New York City.

7 p.m. – The World
A rare story about a North Korean defector. He survived torture and concentration camps, and he lives in South Korea now.But he helps people in North Korea by smuggling in food and information that could weaken the dictatorship of Kim Jong Un.

8 p.m. – Fresh Air
New York Times investigative reporters Susanne Craig and David Barstow. They were part of the team (with one other reporter) who investigated the Trump family finances, going back to Fred Trump, Donald Trump’s father who built the real estate empire. They examined more than 100,000 pages of documents, including confidential tax returns and financial records, turned over by a secret source or sources.