This week on "Sunday Morning" (April 23)

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 12:00 p.m. ET. (Download it here.) 

Host: Jane Pauley

WATCH THE FULL APRIL 23 BROADCAST!

      
COVER STORY: De-extinction: Bringing animal species back from the brink | Watch Video
The Frozen Zoo in San Diego is at the forefront of the emerging field of de-extinction – resurrecting DNA to restore animal species that are in danger of disappearing forever, through such methods as genetic editing and cloning. Correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti talks with scientists at the Frozen Zoo (whose bank of frozen cells could help save an estimated one million species) about their efforts to bring back the black-footed ferret. He also talks with the founder of Colossal Biosciences, a Texas company working to bring back long-extinct species like the woolly mammoth and dodo bird.

For more info:

• National Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center, Carr, Colo.
• The Black-Footed Ferret Project (Revive & Restore)
• San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Frozen Zoo
• Colossal Biosciences, Dallas
• Paleogeneticist Beth Shapiro, University of California, Santa Cruz

MOVIES: Rachel McAdams talks "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret." | Watch Video
Judy Blume's beloved coming-of-age story is finally reaching the screen, in a movie adaptation introducing Abby Ryder Fortson as Margaret and Academy Award-nominee Rachel McAdams as her mother. Correspondent Tracy Smith talks with real-life mom McAdams about bursting into fame with "Mean Girls" and "The Notebook," and then hitting pause on starring roles; and why she's back in the long-awaited film of "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret."

To watch a trailer for "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.," click on the video player below:

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Judy Blume: Resilient, in life and fiction (2015)

For more info:

• "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret." opens in theaters April 28
• "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret." By Judy Blume (Atheneum Books for Young Readers), available in Hardcover, Paperback, eBook and Audio formats via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound
• Thanks to Annabelle's Book Club L.A. in Los Angeles
• The Book Truck
• Let America Read

BOOKS: War of words - The fight over banning books | Watch Video
Between 2020 and 2022, the number of book titles that have been banned in U.S. libraries and schools spiked more than 1,100%, to more than 2,500, while activists in 37 states have challenged school districts for offering non-fiction and fiction books that discuss race and racism, slavery, sex and gender identity. Correspondent Martha Teichner talks with opposing forces on the reading battlefield today: Tiffany Justice and Tina Descovich, founders of Moms for Liberty, whose members campaign to sit on school boards; Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom; Linda Johnson, president and CEO of the Brooklyn Public Library, which helps students access books that have been banned by their schools; Summer Boismier, a tenth grade English teacher in Norman, Okla., who was removed from her classroom and accused of distributing pornography; and cartoonist Art Spiegelman, whose Holocaust-themed graphic novel "Maus" has been targeted by book banners.

For more info:

• American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom
• Moms for Liberty
• Cartoonist Art Spiegelman (Instagram)
• Brooklyn Public Library
• Books Unbanned: Brooklyn Public Library
• Chicago Public Library

BOOKS: Chita Rivera on the secret behind her "guts" and "courage" | Watch Video
The original star of such musicals as "West Side Story," "Bye Bye Birdie," "Chicago" and "Kiss of the Spider Woman," theater legend Chita Rivera, now 90 and author of "Chita: A Memoir," talks with correspondent Mo Rocca about her long career; some of the men in her life; and what it takes to succeed on Broadway.

READ AN EXCERPT: "Chita: A Memoir" by Chita Rivera with Patrick Pacheco

For more info:

• "Chita: A Memoir" by Chita Rivera with Patrick Pacheco (HarperOne), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound
• Follow Chita Rivera on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
• Joe Allen Restaurant, New York City
• New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark
• Seth Rudetsky

PASSAGE: Remembering Dame Edna (and Barry Humphries) (Video)
Saturday saw the passing, at age 89, of the Tony Award-winning comedian Barry Humphries, better known as his alter ego, Dame Edna Everage, a buoyant crowd-pleaser on stage and screen for some seven decades.

     
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Dame Edna, Australian "giga-star" (2010)
Australian comedian Barry Humphries, whose alter-ego, the self-aggrandizing Dame Edna Everage, died Saturday, April 22 at age 89. In this "Sunday Morning" profile that originally aired April 4, 2010, Dame Edna talks with Russ Mitchell about her celebrity (which is bigger than anyone else's), her Broadway appearances, and her "manager" (Humphries), who "resents the fact that I'm so popular." Humphries, meanwhile, discusses the rather non-PC Edna who, he reflects, is "not very nice really."

     
HARTMAN: A pen pal's unswerving faith (Video)
Twenty-five years ago, an inmate serving a life sentence in a Missouri prison wrote to a church outside St. Louis hoping that someone would write back. Ever since, Ginny Schrappen corresponded with Lamar Johnson, convinced that his 1995 murder conviction was wrong. In February 2023, Johnson was exonerated and released from prison. Now, the 80-year-old retired schoolteacher could finally welcome the former inmate in her home. Steve Hartman reports.

TV: James Corden on ending "The Late Late Show": "What have I done to deserve such memories?" | Watch Video
After eight years of reinventing late-night TV, British entertainer and Tony-winning actor James Corden is leaving his post as host of CBS' "The Late Late Show." Corden talks with Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz about the highlights of his tenure (including singing in a car with Paul McCartney), and why he's chosen to leave the show, and the country, at the top of his game.

For more info:

• "The Late Late Show with James Corden" on CBS and Paramount+
• The definitive list of every "Carpool Karaoke"

     
COMMENTARY: Amy Silverstein speaks up for change in drugs tied to organ transplants, "while I still can" | Watch Video
For the past 35 years Amy Silverstein, author of "Sick Girl" and "My Glory Was I Had Such Friends," has lived thanks to two donor hearts. But she recently learned that she has an incurable cancer in her lungs, which she attributes to years of taking immunosuppressive drugs that can wreak havoc on the body. In this commentary she calls for changes needed to improve drugs necessary for organ transplants.

For more info:

• amysilverstein.com
• Follow Amy Silverstein on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
• "My Glory Was I Had Such Friends: A Memoir" by Amy Silverstein (HarperCollins), available in Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound
• "Sick Girl" by Amy Silverstein (Grove), available in Hardcover, Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound

BROADWAY: John Kander, Lin-Manuel Miranda on "New York, New York" on Broadway | Watch Video
The theater legend who co-wrote, with Fred Ebb, such classic musicals as "Cabaret" and "Chicago" has a new musical opening on Broadway. "New York, New York," adapted from the 1977 film, features never-before-heard songs by Kander and Ebb, and new songs by Kander and "Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. Correspondent David Pogue talks with the 96-year-old Kander, Miranda, and director-choreographer Susan Stroman about the show, in which aspiring performers try to make it in "a city that never sleeps."

To watch a preview of the new Broadway musical "New York, New York" click on the video player below:

For more info:

• "New York, New York" at the St. James Theatre, New York City | Ticket info
• John Kander (Masterworks Broadway)
• Lin-Manuel Miranda
• Susan Stroman
• David Thompson (IBDB)

NATURE: Murphy the eagle steps in as stepdad (Video)
At World Bird Sanctuary in Valley Park, Mo., the plight of Murphy, a bald eagle who was reduced to incubating a rock, aroused social media sympathy, until an orphaned eaglet was brought to the sanctuary for care, and the two have hit it off. Jane Pauley reports.

For more info:

• World Bird Sanctuary, Valley Park, Mo. 

     
MILEPOST: An addition to our "Sunday Morning" family (Video)
Congratulations to "Sunday Morning" producer Mark Hudspeth and his wife, Dana Karin, on the birth of their second daughter, Naomi Ruth Hudsin.

      
NATURE: Geese in Massachusetts (Extended Video)
We leave you this Sunday morning with geese and goslings gallivanting in the green grasses near Princeton, Massachusetts. Videographer: Doug Jensen.      

WEB EXCLUSIVES:

TV: Mo Rocca on "The Young and the Restless" (Video)
The long-running CBS soap opera "The Young and the Restless" has had numerous guest stars playing recurring characters during its 50 years on air. Recently "Sunday Morning" correspondent Mo Rocca returned as Milton, the divorced accountant (and HR nightmare), who carries a torch for stripper-turned-corporate executive Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott).

For more info:

• "The Young and the Restless" on CBS, and streaming via Paramount+

TECH: What's that bird? Merlin Bird ID app works magic | Watch Video
The free app, hatched by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, can help birders identify more than 6,000 species on six continents by look or song. "Sunday Morning" producer Roman Feeser reports.

Apple: Merlin Bird ID runs on iPhones and iPads with iOS 15 or newer, and M1/M2-equipped Apple computers. Download app here.
Android: Merlin Bird ID runs on devices with Android 6 or newer. Download app here.

"HERE COMES THE SUN" : Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, and Vermeer (Video)
Actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon sit down with Tracy Smith to discuss their film "Air." Then, Seth Doane travels to Amsterdam to view the sold-out Johannes Vermeer exhibit.

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 12:00 p.m. ET. (Download it here.) 

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