This week on "Sunday Morning" (July 5)
Guest host: Lee Cowan
WATCH THE FULL JULY 5 EPISODE!
THEME: "Abblasen" performed on the piccolo (Video)
Laura Benning, of Laytonsville, Maryland, offers "Sunday Morning" viewers her rendition of our theme song, "Abblasen," that is perfect for Independence Day!
COVER STORY: Socially-distancing crowd pleasers: Exploring the future of fun | Watch Video
From music to movies to sports, correspondent Susan Spencer takes a look at large-venue events in America, and how they might change in the wake of the pandemic.
For more info:
- Alan Jackson (Official site) | Concert info
- Dr. Dhruv Khullar
- Amy Huchthausen, America East Conference
- Snowden Grove Park Baseball, Southaven, Miss.
CORONAVIRUS: COVID Update:
As of yesterday, 129,440 Americans have died from the coronavirus. There have been 11,100,000 confirmed cases worldwide. Last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday saw increases of more than 50,000 confirmed new U.S. coronavirus cases each day, setting new records for viral spread. (Source: Johns Hopkins University.)
IN MEMORIAN: The essence of comedy giant Carl Reiner | Watch Video
Carl Reiner, the legendary comedy actor, writer, director and producer, died Monday at the age of 98. Correspondent Mo Rocca talks with two of his longtime friends – TV producer Norman Lear, and actor Dick Van Dyke – about Reiner's extraordinary life and career.
FROM THE ARCHIVE: Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner and George Takei with advice for the "Next-Greatest Generation" (2020)
FROM THE ARCHIVE: Golden boys (2017)
FROM THE ARCHIVE: Carl Reiner: Still making us laugh (2015)
FROM THE ARCHIVE: Carl and Estelle Reiner on love that works at any age (2007)
For more info:
MUSIC: Gary Clark Jr.: "Music is my religion" | Watch Video
Gary Clark Jr. is still clearly uncomfortable being heralded as one of the best guitarists in a generation. He's played the White House, and toured with the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton. This year his blues/rock album, "This Land," won three Grammy Awards. Kristine Johnson talks with the musician who describes himself as a "simple dude from Austin, Texas who picked up a guitar." (An update of a story first broadcast January 12, 2020.)
You can stream Gary Clark Jr.'s album "This Land" by clicking on the embed below (Free Spotify registration required to hear the tracks in full):
For more info:
- garyclarkjr.com
- "This Land" by Gary Clark Jr. (Warner Bros.), in CD (Amazon, Barnes & Noble), Vinyl (Amazon, Barnes & Noble), Digital Download (Google Play, iTunes) and Streaming (Spotify) formats
COMMENTARY: Jim Gaffigan: 2020, please turn your notifications off | Watch Video
Much of Spring and Summer of 2020 was cancelled by COVID, but comedian Jim Gaffigan still received pre-programmed calendar alerts to events that never happened – a reminder of all the things he's missing in life.
For more info:
- jimgaffigan.com
- Follow @JimGaffigan on Twitter
- Watch "Dinner with the Gaffigans" on YouTube
HISTORY: Frederick Douglass' admonition on the moral rightness of liberty for all | Watch Video
Contributor Kelefa Sanneh of The New Yorker magazine reflects on the abolitionist orator's 1852 speech, "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?"
For more info:
- Speech Text
- Amanda Kowalski Photography
- Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, Northampton, Mass.
- Somerville Museum, Somerville, Mass.
- Frederick Douglass Neighborhood Association, Brockton, Mass.
- "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" (Podcast)
- Community Change
- Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Mass.
- Museum of African-American History, Boston
- Kelefa Sanneh. The New Yorker
HARTMAN: Drive-thru citizenship (Video)
In America, you can get almost anything in a drive-thru. And this year, because of the pandemic, immigrants who have completed all the requirements of citizenship are pulling into parking lots from San Diego to Des Moines to Detroit for socially-distant naturalization ceremonies. Steve Hartman visits with some newly-minted U.S. citizens in Albany, N.Y. where the oath was taken behind the wheel.
BOOKS: Jim Carrey's "nonsensical belief" in himself and the universe | Watch Video
If you think Jim Carrey is merely a brilliant-but-quirky actor-comedian, just wait until you read his new book titled "Memoirs and Misinformation." Correspondent Tracy Smith talks with Carrey and co-author Dana Vachon about the "semi-autobiographical novel."
READ AN EXCERPT (WITH AUDIO): "Memoirs and Misinformation" by Jim Carrey and Dana Vachon
For more info:
- "Memoirs and Misinformation: A Novel" by Jim Carrey and Dana Vachon (Knopf), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available July 7 via Amazon
- Follow @JimCarrey on Twitter
- Follow @DanaVachon on Twitter
PASSAGE: Hugh Downs | Watch Video
The newsman's smooth voice and unruffled delivery was a longtime fixture of NBC and ABC television.
NEW YORK CITY: With pandemic, NYC taxi drivers' livelihoods hang in the balance | Watch Video
Since the taxi medallion bubble burst in 2015, New York City cab drivers have been drowning in financial debt. Special contributor Ted Koppel reports on how the pandemic could mark the end of an industry, and an urban icon.
For more info:
COMMENTARY: Nancy Giles | Watch Video
The "Sunday Morning" contributor discusses cellphone video that millions see – undeniable proof of the racist acts that some of us have lived with for a long time.
SNAPSHOT: Expressions of America (Video)
On this Fourth of July weekend, Lee Cowan reflects on the things that give us hope and keep us connected, especially amid the turmoil of the past few months, with images by photographer Lou Bopp of St. Louis, Missouri.
For more info:
BOOKS: New York Times bestseller lists (Video)
NATURE: Cape Cod National Seashore (Extended Video)
This holiday weekend, when many can't make it to the beach, "Sunday Morning" takes us to look at sunrise at Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts. Videographer: Scot Miller.
For more info:
- Cape Cod National Seashore, Wellfleet, Mass.
WEB EXCLUSIVES:
THE BOOK REPORT: Reviews from Washington Post critic Ron Charles (July 5)
Book excerpt: "The Taste of Sugar" by Marisel Vera
The author of "If I Bring You Roses" has written a story of a small coffee farm in late 19th century Puerto Rico, an island hard-hit by war, natural disaster and social upheaval.
Book excerpt: "The Lincoln Conspiracy"
In their latest book Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch (authors of the bestselling "The First Conspiracy") turn to a failed attempt to murder Abraham Lincoln before the 16th president could even be sworn into office.
Book excerpt: "A Burning" by Megha Majumdar
In this debut novel set in contemporary India, a girl's flippant comment on a Facebook post leads to an accusation of terrorism.
Book excerpt: "The Vanishing Half" by Brit Bennett
In the latest novel by the author of "The Mothers," twin sisters living in the Deep South in the 1960s choose separate lives as one secretly passes for White.
"SUNDAY MORNING" MATINEE: "For Good," from "Wicked" (Video)
In a time of pandemic, the cast and crew of the Broadway musical "Wicked" – featuring Ginna Claire Mason and Lindsay Pearce – present a message of hope for frontline workers, "For Good."
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