For decades Steve Schmidt was a communications strategist working for President George W. Bush and Senator John McCain. He's now a co-founder of The Lincoln Project, a political action committee formed in 2019 by a group of Republicans determined to defeat Trump in the 2020 election. He joins Michel Martin to explain what's next for the project and for the party.

Preet Bharara spent years as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York until he was fired by President Trump. He joins Christiane to analyze the string of legal battles the president is waging surrounding the election and the lawsuits he could soon face as a private citizen.

It's been ten years since Sophia Loren lit up the screen in a feature role. Now 86, the Oscar-winning actress is bringing her star power to Netflix in the film "The Life Ahead." Loren plays a Holocaust survivor who cares for children of sex workers. The film is directed by Loren's son, Edoardo Ponti. They join Christiane from Geneva to discuss their personal and professional collaboration.

Eleni Kounalakis, Lieutenant Governor of California, is the first female ever to hold that post. One of her earliest endorsements came from her friend Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, and Kounalakis is being considered to fill Harris' Senate seat after the inauguration in January. The Lieutenant Governor joined Christiane from Sacramento to speak about the state of the pandemic in her state.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has been in power nearly 35 years -- longer than many Ugandans have been alive. In the beginning, Museveni won praise for bringing stability to the nation. But over time he tightened his grip on power and cracked down on dissent. With elections due in January, Museveni is facing an unlikely challenger: the pop-star-turned-politician of the people, Bobi Wine.

When COVID-19 overran Wuhan, the Chinese government imposed a 76-day lockdown. In his harrowing new documentary, "76 days," filmmaker Hao Wu takes us inside four city hospitals to share the gripping stories of frontline workers and their patients. Here he is talking with our Hari Sreenivasan about the desperate effort to combat what was then a mysterious illness sweeping through the city.

As the delivery of vaccines now gathers pace worldwide, discussion abounds about who should get those precious initial doses. Dr. Moncef Slaoui is the chief scientific adviser to Operation Warp Speed, the federal program that helped get the vaccine to the U.S. market in record time. He speaks with Walter Isaacson about the effort and why safety is the key issue.

Can the Black Lives Matter movement finally lead to actual change? Author and minister Michael Eric Dyson explores America’s troubled racial history in his new book, in which he addresses the many martyrs to the cause of the Black struggle.

Yusuf/Cat Stevens shot to stardom 50 years ago with music and lyrics that were full of poetry and spirituality. The year 1970 saw the release of two seminal albums, "Tea for the Tillerman" and "Mona Bone Jakon." To mark the anniversary of their release, Yusuf is not just re-releasing them, but reimagining them. He joins the show to discuss his life and career, and to give an impromptu performance.

President-elect Biden has a clear and consistent message on foreign policy: America is “back at the head of the table.” While some world leaders may welcome a restoration of stable U.S. foreign policy, is Biden’s vision fit for purpose? Peter Beinart argues it’s not in his latest piece for the New York Times. He joins the show to debate this topic with former Pentagon official Kori Schake.

In such a difficult year, sometimes all you can do is laugh to stay sane. That’s the attitude of friends, comedians and "Politically Re-Active" podcast co-hosts W. Kamau Bell and Hari Kondabolu. They speak with Hari Sreenivasan about what they call the “dumpster fire that is American politics.”

With COVID deaths at an all time high, America is facing a bleak winter before the rollout of a vaccine takes effect. New York City was one of the hardest hit places in the country and is once again suffering a significant rise in cases. Mayor Bill de Blasio joins the show to discuss how the city is coping and what lessons he learned from the spring.

UK health regulators gave emergency authorization for the Pfizer BioNTech coronavirus vaccine. Britain is the first country to place its seal of approval on this extraordinary feat of science. To discuss Britain’s approval of the vaccine and the projected rollout in the U.S., Christiane speaks with public health experts on both sides of the Atlantic.

For musicians, sound is their life. What if it all falls silent? The new film "Sound of Metal" follows a heavy metal drummer whose life is thrown into free fall when he loses his hearing. British actor Riz Ahmed stars in the lead role as a man trying to hold together his career, his sobriety, and his relationship all at once. He joins the show to discuss the project alongside the film’s director.

Jonathan Alter is an award-winning journalist and author of three bestselling presidential biographies. His latest, "His Very Best," examines the life and career of one-term president Jimmy Carter. Alter tells Walter Isaacson why he believes President Carter’s tenure in the White House has been grossly underrated.

Three senior members of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) -- one of Egypt's most respected human rights groups -- have just been arrested and jailed on terrorism charges. Karim Ennarah is one of them. His wife Jess Kelly and EIPR founder Hossam Bahgat discuss the situation.

In her latest 10-part series, "Sincerely Michelle," Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary gets personal about race and finance. In an emotional conversation, she tells Michel Martin why she wrote this series and what she hopes readers will take away from it.

In the new National Geographic series "Trafficked," award-winning investigative journalist Mariana Van Zeller pulls back the curtain on black markets across the world. She joins Christiane to explain what she learned from this project.

Today is World AIDS Day, and this year marks the 30th anniversary of "Red Hot + Blue," an album created by John Carlin and Leigh Blake to raise money and awareness for the AIDS crisis. The album brought together musicians like Debbie Harry, Annie Lennox, David Byrne and k.d. lang, to re-interpret the music of Cole Porter. John Carlin and k.d. Lang join Christiane to reflect on the project.

Even before assuming office, President-elect Joe Biden faces major issues on the global stage. Most immediate is the Thanksgiving weekend assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist, which could thwart Biden’s aim to bring the U.S. back into the Iran nuclear deal. The EU called the assassination criminal and Iranian hardliners have sworn revenge. Ellie Geranmayeh joins the show to discuss.