What’s on MPR News – 1/30/19

Wednesday Jan. 30, 2019
(Subject to change as events dictate. This page is updated throughout the day.)

9 a.m. – MPR News with Kerri Miller (Tiffany Hanssen hosts)
Yesterday, Roger Stone, a former adviser to President Trump. pleaded not guilty to several criminal charges. What is the significance of Stone’s chargs and trial to the Mueller investigation?

Guest: Former prosecutor Scott Fredericksen

9:20 a.m. – Why is it so hard to say the words “I’m sorry” without qualifications or excuses? How to craft better apologies.

Guests: Molly Fischer, host of “The Cut on Tuesdays” podcast; Steve Almond, co-host of the podcast “Dear Sugars” with Cheryl Strayed and the author of several books. His latest one is called “Bad Stories.”

10 a.m.- 1A with Joshua Johnson
The Constitution requires that the president “shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” But this year’s edition is a little more complicated. After the shutdown led Speaker Nancy Pelosi to temporarily disinvite President Donald Trump from speaking to a joint session of Congress, some are wondering whether the speech is worth delivering to begin with. What’s the history behind the State of the Union? Is it obsolete?

Guests: Mitch Daniel, president of Purdue University, former governor of Indiana; Cody Keenan, former senior advisor to President Barack Obama, lead writer for four State of the Union speeches; Donna Hoffman, professor, Department of Political Science, University of Northern Iowa.

11 a.m. – MPR News with Angela Davis
Are you ready for some sunshine and heat? Today’s show will reveal the best ways to escape the cold without spending a lot of money.

Guests: Kyle Potter, editor-in-chief of Minnesota-based Thrifty Traveler, an online travel blog that shows the best flight and travel deals; Ted Blank, a manager and luxury travel advisor with Travel Leaders in Stillwater.

11:45 a.m. – The St. Paul Winter Carnival, with its ice palaces and mischievous Vulcans, is the oldest winter festival in the nation. It was first held in 1886 after, as the story goes, a visitor from the East Coast likened Minnesota to Siberia, “unfit for human habitation.”

Guest: Bob Olsen, the unofficial historian of the Winter Carnival and an ice palace historian.

12 p.m. – MPR News Presents
Christina Greer, Jason D. Hill and Leah Rigueur speak at the St. Olaf College Institute for Freedom and Community about “Race, Immigration, and the American Dream in the 21st Century.”

1 p.m. – The Takeaway
For millions of Venezuelans, economic conditions have made the country unlivable. As opposition leader Juan Guaidó declares himself president, can he make conditions better?

2 p.m. – BBC NewsHour
How has the Venezuelan opposition’s call for protest been answered? What are the destinations for women fleeing Saudi Arabia? And Europe’s response to the British Prime Minister’s latest Brexit pitch?

3 p.m. – All Things Considered
Oh, hey, it’s cold still; snow day songs; e-cigs as a quitting aid; the last Beatles appearance: the rooftop concert.

6:00 p.m. – Marketplace
After the U.S. financial crisis, the rate of home ownership for African-Americans hit a low. On this episode: How a campaign in Houston is planning to reverse the trend.

6:30 p.m. – The Daily
For weeks, House Democrats have found their agenda overshadowed by the struggle to reopen the government. Now that it’s open, they have a plan.

Guest: Nicholas Fandos, who covers Congress for The New York Times.

7 p.m. – The World
Two nuclear programs are on our minds, on the heels of testimony by chief intelligence officers to the US Senate committee. Marco Werman talks with Ernest Moniz, who negotiated the Iran nuclear deal, about the direction of that country’s program now. And, we’ll examine what we know about North Korea’s weapons program, in advance of a summit between Kim Jung-Un and President Trump.

Also, a doctor in Caracas gives us her first-person account of protesting against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and then returning to her clinic to care for patients.

And one man’s effort to erase hate, with a power washer. Montreal’s Corey Fleisher is removing hate-filled graffiti symbols across Montreal, to the delight of tens of thousands of social media followers.

8 p.m. – Fresh Air
Composer, arranger, pianist Nicholas Britell’s score for If Beale Street Could Talk is nominated for an Academy Award. He also wrote the score for Vice. He scored the films Moonlight and The Big Short, and composed the theme for HBO’s series Succession. He composed and arranged the spirituals and work songs for 12 Years a Slave.