This week on "Sunday Morning": "A Nation Divided?" (October 16)

The Emmy Award-winning "CBS Sunday Morning" is broadcast on CBS Sundays beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET.  "Sunday Morning" also streams on the CBS News app beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET. (Download it here.) 

"Sunday Morning: A Nation Divided?"

Twenty-one years ago, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, may have been the last time that the United States was openly – even defiantly – united, in pain and patriotism. Since then, we have drifted apart, gone to our separate corners, hunkered down in our respective silos. In this special edition of "Sunday Morning" hosted by senior contributor Ted Koppel, we look at us – the things that are keeping us apart, and the many ways we can still come together.

Sunday, October 16 on CBS, and streaming on cbsnews.com and Paramount+.

WATCH THE FULL OCTOBER 16 EPISODE!

COVER STORY: Over the line – Why some Oregonians want to become part of Idaho | Watch Video
In a state dominated by progressive politics, some residents in rural Oregon east of the Cascade Mountains want to move the border so that their counties become part of Idaho, a more conservative state that more closely aligns with their values. Correspondent Lee Cowan talks with advocates of the Greater Idaho movement about why they believe this idea may not be so far-fetched.

For more info:

• GreaterIdaho.org
• "Break It Up: Secession, Division, and the Secret History of America's Imperfect Union" by Richard Kreitner (Little, Brown and Co.), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound
• richardkreitner.com

U.S.: Seeking common ground – Younger and older generations speak (Video)
"Sunday Morning" contributor Kelefa Sanneh visits Bethlehem, Pa., and sits down with four people over the age of 60, and four under 40, to find out what differences and similarities they see across generations.

For more info:

• Thanks to Bonn Place Brewing Company, Bethlehem, Pa.
• The Taste Smokers, Bethlehem, Pa.
• Joe's Hair Center, Bethlehem, Pa.
• "Generation Gap: Why the Baby Boomers Still Dominate American Politics and Culture" by Kevin Munger (Columbia University Press), in Trade Paperback and eBook formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound

HISTORY: History lessons – When America's politics turn ugly, violent | Watch Video
Historian Jon Grinspan, a curator at the Smithsonian Institution, has studied how intense partisanship in the 19th century was driven by people feeling isolated, their lives unstable, feeding an aggressive, even violent political discourse. He talks with CBS News' John Dickerson about his new book, "The Age of Acrimony: How Americans Fought to Fix Their Democracy, 1865-1915," and how our nation's ugly trends in politics have returned, from partisan news to the white supremacists' march in Charlottesville and the January 6 insurrection.

READ AN EXCERPT: "The Age of Acrimony"

For more info:

• "The Age of Acrimony: How Americans Fought to Fix Their Democracy, 1865-1915" by Jon Grinspan (Bloomsbury), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound
• Smithsonian Institution

BUSINESS: Trade secrets | Watch Video
Not everyone is interested in a white collar job or college degree (or in racking up student loan debt). "Sunday Morning" senior contributor Ted Koppel meets plumbers and apprentices about their chosen profession, who talk about their work and how it's perceived by others.

For more info:

• Plumbers & Gasfitters of Local 5 Training Facility, Lanham, Md.

ACTIVISM: Musician-social activist John Legend on the continuing struggle for justice | Watch Video
The award-winning singer-songwriter is an advocate for prison reform in America, a nation that has incarcerated more of its citizens than any other. John Legend talks with "Sunday Morning" senior contributor Ted Koppel about our penal system, racial inequality, and fighting for a stronger democracy.

For more info:

• johnlegend.com
• Free America
• "Legend" by John Legend (Republic Records)

REAL ESTATE: Wyoming's new land rush | Watch Video
Teton County in Wyoming is home to the widest income divide in America, with a median house price of more than $3.5 million and an average income of $312,000. Correspondent Ben Tracy looks at how the wealthy, drawn to the state's picture-perfect settings, have been squeezing out the middle class – the very people needed to keep the community running.

For more info:

• Justin Farrell, Yale School of the Environment
• "Billionaire Wilderness: The Ultra-Wealthy and the Remaking of the American West" by Justin Farrell (‎Princeton University Press), in Hardcover, Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound
• One22 (supporting the Greater Teton community)
• Community Foundation of Jackson Hole

• Shelter JH

     
SOCIAL MEDIA: How online behavior turns people from Jekyls into Hydes | Watch Video
Online anonymity has made it easy, and depressingly common, to be nasty without fear of repercussions – a lack of restraint that psychologists call online disinhibition effect, or ODE. Correspondent David Pogue talks with experts who discuss why exchanges on the Internet can devolve into hateful, spiteful rages and name-calling that would never be acceptable when talking face-to-face.

For more info:

• Communications educator Paul Viggiano
• Cyberpsychologist Mary Aiken
• "The Cyber Effect: A Pioneering Cyberpsychologist Explains How Human Behavior Changes Online" by Mary Aiken (Spiegel & Grau), in Hardcover, Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound

      
COMMENTARY: David Sedaris on coming out, all over again | Watch Video
The humorist has some thoughts about the term "queer" and how people today (or perhaps just humanities professors) identify themselves.

For more info:

• davidsedarisbooks.com
• "Happy-Go-Lucky" by David Sedaris (Little, Brown), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound

TELEVISION: Norman Lear on the power of laughter to unite Americans | Watch Video
TV legend Norman Lear, whose credits include such hit series as "All in the Family" and "Maude," always managed to make audiences laugh about dangerous topics: Racism, sexism, bigotry, homophobia. And today, at age 100, he's determined to find out if we'll still laugh together. He sits down with "Sunday Morning" senior contributor Ted Koppel to discuss his upcoming projects, including a possible remake of one of the most controversial sitcom episodes of all time.

For more info:

• The Norman Lear Effect (YouTube channel)
• normanlear.com
• Follow Norman Lear on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

       
COMMUNICATIONS: Talk radio – Widening the airwaves' great divide | Watch Video
The repeal of the FCC's Fairness Doctrine in 1987 opened the floodgates for extreme partisanship on the airwaves, making commercial talk radio a landscape ripe for controversial opinions aimed at attracting listeners. Correspondent Jim Axelrod looks at how increasingly radical talk radio has unquestionably divided Americans and hardened our politics.

For more info:

• "Talk Radio's America: How an Industry Took Over a Political Party That Took Over the United States" by Brian Rosenwald (Harvard University Press), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound
• brianrosenwald.com
• Talkers Magazine

U.S.: Braver Angels – Seeking to de-polarize America | Watch Video
In an effort to help bridge the nation's political chasm, the non-profit Braver Angels uses a workshop approach analogous to a marriage counselor, to bring together red and blue. Correspondent Martha Teichner visits Traverse City in Michigan, a battleground state, where participants work to get over their fear of the other side, to find common ground – and even friendship.

For more info:

• Braver Angels

      
COMMENTARY: Do you get incessant messages from politicians asking for money? Jim Gaffigan does, too | Watch Video
The comedian says he's being obsessively stalked by the Democratic and Republican Parties, who have one thing in mind. 

For more info:

• jimgaffigan.com
• Follow @JimGaffigan on Twitter

       
NATURE: San Juan National Forest
"Sunday Morning" takes us to San Juan National Forest in Colorado. Videographer: Scot Miller.
      

Web Exclusives: 

FROM THE ARCHIVE: Angela Lansbury, "liberated" by Broadway (Video)
Hollywood and Broadway star Angela Lansbury, who earned Five Tony Awards and three Oscar nominations, and who scored 12 Emmy nominations for her role as mystery author-sleuth Jessica Fletcher on the TV series "Murder, She Wrote," died on October 11, 2022 at the age of 96. In this interview that aired on "Sunday Morning" December 6, 2009, Lansbury talked with CBS News' Katie Couric about her unparalleled career on stage and screen.

MOVIES: 2022 New York Film Festival highlights: "She Said," a journalistic takedown of Harvey Weinstein
Director Maria Schrader's procedural, starring Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan, is one of the notable premieres at this year's festival.

"HERE COMES THE SUN": Comedian Billy Eichner and the boll weevil (Video)
Comedian and actor Billy Eichner sits down with Jonathan Vigliotti to discuss his new film, "Bros." Then Conor Knighton travels to Enterprise, Alabama, to learn about the boll weevil. 

The Emmy Award-winning "CBS Sunday Morning" is broadcast on CBS Sundays beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET. Executive producer is Rand Morrison.

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"Sunday Morning" also streams on the CBS News app beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET. (Download it here.) 

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