The unfolding of the Derek Chauvin trial is a real demonstration of the power of the people, whose protests and involvement were driven in large part by the Black Lives Matter movement. The movement’s co-founder, Opal Tometi, joins the show to give her reflections.

Harvard professor and classicist Danielle Allen is an expert on how democracy and ethics intersect, and sees important parallels in history, all the way back to Ancient Greece. She speaks with Walter Isaacson about how the Chauvin verdict will impact police reform and our understanding of justice.

After three weeks on hunger strike, jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny is in solitary confinement in a prison hospital, being treated for what his team calls life-threatening symptoms. European and American leaders are warning of consequences for the Kremlin if Navalny should die. Leonid Volkov is Navalny’s chief of staff and speaks with Christiane from exile in Lithuania.

The U.S. has expelled Russian diplomats and imposed new sanctions on Moscow. The Kremlin, in response, has expelled U.S. diplomats. This latest exchange is part of a U.S. effort to discipline Russia over election interference and its SolarWinds cyber attack. Celeste Wallander served on the National Security Council under President Obama and joins the program to discuss.

In 2017, Larry Krasner became Philadelphia's first progressive DA. His leadership sparked reform movements in prosecutorial offices around the U.S. Now Krasner is up for re-election, and today marks the premiere of a new PBS series about his efforts in office, “Philly DA”, and the release of his new book, “For the People." He joins the show to discuss the ongoing fight for criminal justice reform.

Today’s cyber arms race is a truly global battle and the targets aren’t just nation-states: Each of us is individually vulnerable every time we log into our email, order a rideshare, or swipe our credit card. New York Times journalist Nicole Perlroth says the U.S. is not doing enough to protect its citizens. She joins Hari Sreenivasan to discuss cybersecurity and her new book.

Filmmaker Craig Foster was burnt out and depressed when he took up daily diving at home in Cape Town, South Africa. It was in the ocean that he struck up an unusual friendship with a wild octopus. Filmed over an eight-year period, "My Octopus Teacher" documents this unique bond. The film won a best documentary BAFTA and is nominated for an Oscar.

Both sides have laid out their closing arguments in the trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. This comes at a moment when policing in America is under intense scrutiny. The New York Times reports that, since day one of the Chauvin trial, there've been more than three police killings per day. To discuss, Christiane speaks with Janeé Harteau, former police chief of Minneapolis.

According to the CDC, suicide rates surged 33% between 1999 and 2019. This is a global problem. In the UK, suicide is identified as the number one killer of men under 45. British journalist Michael McCarthy’s son Ross took his own life in February as he struggled with depression in the midst of pandemic lockdowns. Michael joins the show alongside Andrew Reiner, author of "Better Boys, Better Men."

A controversial police encounter occurred in Virginia in December, when Army 2nd Lieutenant Caron Nazario was held at gunpoint and pepper-sprayed by two police officers during a traffic stop. Nazario is suing for one million dollars in damages. His lawyer speaks with Michel Martin about the incident in question.

There is an ongoing and largely ignored humanitarian crisis in Yemen, which threatens to pull America back into the Middle East. A famine is putting nearly half a million Yemeni children are at risk of starving to death. The Oscar-nominated documentary “Hunger Ward” shows this through the eyes of two female healthcare workers. The film's director joins us alongside CNN correspondent Nima Elbagir.

The year 2020 saw an unprecedented rise in urban crime across America. Fast-forward to today, with protests in Minnesota entering their fifth day over the killing of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man shot by police during a traffic stop on Sunday. Sociology professor Patrick Sharkey, founder of AmericanViolence.org, speaks with Michel Martin about strategies for confronting violence.

In Georgia, Stacey Abrams has called the state's broad new voting restrictions “Jim Crow in a suit and tie.” The bill restricts both absentee and in-person voting, giving the Republican-controlled state government new powers over conducting elections. Prominent corporate executives are speaking up and at least one movie has pulled its production from the state. Senator Jon Ossoff joins to discuss.

As Afghanistan’s President Ghani puts on a brave and diplomatic face, there are real fears – particularly among Afghan women – that their rights will be crushed if the Taliban were to seize control again. To discuss, Christiane speaks with Fawzia Koofi, formerly a member of parliament and now part of Afghanistan’s negotiating team in the ongoing peace talks.

Legendary songwriter Diane Warren has had three decades of hits like Cher’s “If I Could Turn Back Time” and Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.” Italian pop music star Laura Pausini is another veteran hitmaker, and now the two have come together to create the theme song for an acclaimed new feature film, “The Life Ahead,” which stars Sophia Loren, which they join the show to discuss.

Three U.S. presidents have tried and failed to end the war in Afghanistan, and President Biden says he refuses to be the fourth. By September, he will withdraw thousands of troops from the country known as “the graveyard of empires,” and NATO is likely to follow. William McRaven was the commander of the mission that killed Osama Bin Laden, and joins the show to talk about the latest news and his

The contributions of female journalists Kate Webb, Catherine Leroy and Frances Fitzgerald have long been overlooked, but now Elizabeth Becker – herself a former war correspondent – is telling their story in her new book, “You Don’t Belong Here: How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War.”

Is all that we know about the laws of the universe about to change? Physicists are over the moon about the discovery that a subatomic particle is behaving in a way nobody could have predicted. It means that there may be a new theory of nature out there, yet to be discovered. It’s a complicated matter, but for theoretical physicist Michio Kaku, it is truly thrilling. He joins Walter Isaacson.

How will rising tensions between Israel and Iran impact ongoing talks to revive the Iran Nuclear Deal? Senator Chris Coons is a close confidant of President Biden with an eye on foreign policy, having recently returned from a trip to Ethiopia. He joins the program from Capitol Hill.

What is going on between Israel and Iran, and what is the endgame? To explain what is happening and where it could lead, Christiane speaks with reporter Ronen Bergman.