Midday on WNYC

CBS News’ Elections and Surveys Director Anthony Salvanto discusses his new book Where Did You Get This Number?: A Pollster's Guide to Making Sense of the World. Salvanto takes readers on a tour through the world of polling and elections and what they say about America today. This segment is guest hosted by Duarte Geraldino.

Katherine Kornei discusses her recent article in Scientific American, “Tiny Worms Survive Forces 400,000 Times Stronger Than Gravity on Earth.” Recent research about worms that can withstand conditions found in space and other harsh environments may potentially shed light on how life began on Earth. This segment is guest hosted by Duarte Geraldino. 

Nicholas Confessore discusses his New York Times Magazine cover story, “Under Their Thumb,” (online as "The Unlikely Activists Who Took On Silicon Valley — and Won"). He explores the battle between big tech companies and activists who are pushing legislation to stop personal data mining.  This segment is guest hosted by Duarte Geraldino. 

Tina Jordan, editor and columnist for the New York Times Book Review, discusses book reviews written by a Sing Sing prisoner and published in The New York Times back in 1911. In the article, "These Are Some of the Best Book Reviews We’ve Ever Read. A Sing Sing Prisoner Wrote Them Over a Century Ago," Jordan explains how these reviews were discovered and why they were published.  This segment is guest hosted by Duarte Geraldino.     

Will Menaker, Brendan James and Matthew Christman discuss their new book The Chapo Guide to Revolution: A Manifesto Against Logic, Facts, and Reason. The creators of the cult-hit podcast Chapo Trap House deliver a satirical manifesto in which the authors offer a fully ironic ideology for all who feel politically hopeless and prefer broadsides and tirades to reasoned debate. On August 21 The Chapos will be at Strand Bookstore at 7 pm. The Chapos also has two live podcast events at The Bell House in Brooklyn on September 18. This segment is guest hosted by Duarte Geraldino.

New York Times Magazine staff writer Sam Anderson discusses his literary debut, Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding, Its Apocalyptic Weather, Its Purloined Basketball Team, and the Dream of Becoming a World-Class Metropolis. Anderson utilizes an idiosyncratic mix of American history, sports reporting, urban studies, and memoir to tell the story of an American city whose unique mix of geography and history make it a fascinating microcosm of the democratic experiment.  On August 21 at McNally Jackson (Prince Street) Sam Anderson will be in conversation with The New Yorker staff writer Mark Singer.  This segment is guest hosted by Duarte Geraldino.   

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Chris Hedges discusses his new book America: The Farewell Tour.  Hedges says many of the diseases Americans are suffering from such as drug abuse, gambling, suicide, magical thinking, xenophobia, and a culture of sadism and hate are really symptoms of larger issues like unemployment, deindustrialization, and a collective sense of hopelessness that have resulted in an epidemic of diseases of despair.  This segment is guest hosted by Duarte Geraldino. 

Emily Mortimer discusses starring in the new film, The Bookshop. Set in 1959 England, the film follows widow Florence Green, played by Mortimer. She receives resistance and affection when she opens a bookstore carrying the controversial works of Ray Bradbury and Vladimir Nabakov. Mortimer also discusses starring in Disney’s upcoming film Mary Poppins Returns as the now grown up “Jane Banks." The Bookshop opens on August 24th. This segment is guest hosted by Duarte Geraldino.

National Geographic editor-in-chief Susan Goldberg and Dr. Maria Siemionow of the Cleveland Clinic discuss the cover story for the magazine’s September issue: “How a Transplanted Face Transformed a Young Woman’s Life.” Following the story of Katie Stubblefield, the youngest face transplant recipient in U.S history; the National Geographic team documented this incredible journey.  This segment is guest hosted by Duarte Geraldino.

Craig Unger discusses his new book  House of Trump, House of Putin: The Untold Story of Donald Trump and the Russian Mafia, which offers the first comprehensive investigation into the decades-long relationship between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, and how Putin used the Russian Mafia to execute a masterful strategy to undermine Western democracy.   This segment is guest hosted by Duarte Geraldino.

Last month the NYPD reported that overall crime in the city has declined, but the Bronx has seen murders nearly double in 2018. This comes two years after a massive gang takedown in the Bronx, where 120 people were arrested. WNYC’s Mirela Iverac looks at whether the mass arrest has actually made the Bronx any safer, in a new radio series, “Takedown in the Bronx.”  This segment is guest hosted by Duarte Geraldino.

Nicholas Schmidle's story for the August 20 issue of The New Yorker is titled “Rocket Man: The ace pilot leading Virgin Galactic's billion-dollar quest to make commercial space travel a reality” (online: "Virgin Galactic's Rocket Man"). Schmidle reports on Virgin Galactic, the company owned by British billionaire Richard Branson, which is in a space race with Blue Origin owned by Jeff Bezos and SpaceX owned by Elon Musk to be the first to bring commercial space travel to market.  This segment is guest hosted by Beth Fertig.  

Curator Emma Enderby discusses Tauba Auerbach's exhibition Flow Separation. Her work transforms the historic fireboat John J. Harvey with a "dazzle camouflage" design, developed during World War I to disguise ships from enemy fire. Flow Separation is on view at Pier 6 at Brooklyn Bridge Park and is also open for free boat rides and onboard visits.  This segment is guest hosted by Beth Fertig.    

For Please Explain, we are joined by Jennifer Schiff Berg, director of graduate food studies at NYU; Mohamed Attia, a former vendor and the new co-director of the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center; and Matt Shapiro, a legal director of the Street Vendor Project. They break down the history and current state of street food while taking listener calls and answering questions.  This segment is guest hosted by Beth Fertig.

We The Animals is a new film by Jeremiah Zagar starring Raul Castillo, based on the 2011 debut novel by Justin Torres. The film follows three brothers who share an unbreakable bond amidst family dysfunction while being raised in rural upstate New York during the 1980s. We The Animals opens on August 17 at The Landmark at 57 West and Angelika Film Center New York. This segment is guest hosted by Beth Fertig.