Advertise on podcast: Q&A

Zayd Ayers Dohrn, author of "Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young," spent the first three years of his life on the run from the law with his fugitive parents, Weather Underground founders Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover once called his mother the "most dangerous woman in America." Zayd Ayers Dohrn talks about his parents' upbringing and revolutionary politics, the violence committed by the Weather Underground during the 1970s, and his life after his parents turned themselves in to federal authorities in 1980. His book has been nominated for the National Book Award this year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NBC News Chief Washington and Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell talks about some of the big stories and important people – including U.S. presidents and world leaders – she has covered during her nearly 50 years with the network. Mitchell also talks about her upbringing, her early years in radio and TV in Philadelphia, and her marriage to the late Alan Greenspan, who served as chair of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eleven days after the attacks on September 11, 2001, Congress passed a law establishing the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund to compensate families who lost loved ones on 9/11. Attorney Kenneth Feinberg, author of "What Is Life Worth?," was chosen to head up the taxpayer-funded effort and was solely responsible for determining how much each family would get paid. In all, 5,500 people received a combined total of $7.1 billion, with the average payout being $2 million. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To mark the 25th anniversary of the attacks on September 11, 2001, we present first-hand accounts of that day from first responders, journalists, political figures, and others. You'll hear from New York City firefighter Tim Brown, World Trade Center owner Larry Silverstein, photographer Doug Mills, reporters Ann Compton and Andrea Mitchell, President Bush assistant Anita McBride, Rear Admiral David Thomas, Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD), and F-16 pilot Major Heather Penny. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York Times staff photographer Doug Mills has won 3 Pulitzer Prizes for his work covering the White House & Washington, Super Bowls, Olympics, and many other major events. He tells us that he's taken over one million photographs of President Trump alone. In our conversation, he talks about some of the events he's covered going back to the Reagan administration. He talks about being in the Oval Office and on Air Force One, photographing the Clinton/Gore campaign in 1992, accompanying President George W. Bush on September 11, 2001, and taking the photograph of the attempted assassination of President Trump in 2024, which won him his third Pulitzer Prize. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the Supreme Court of the United States, Justice Neil Gorsuch discusses his children's book, "Heroes of 1776," about the signers of the Declaration of Independence and other, lesser known, revolutionaries who put their life, liberty, and property on the line to gain independence from the British. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Q&A, it's a rare interview with one of America's leading historians. We tour the New York City office and home library of Pulitzer Prize-winning bestselling biographer Robert Caro, who is currently working on the final volume of his 5-volume biography of Lyndon Johnson. During the tour, Mr. Caro talks about his research and writing process on the LBJ series, and the impact of "The Power Broker," his bestselling 1974 biography of NYC Parks Commissioner Robert Moses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Smithsonian Institution National Air & Space Museum's Jennifer Levasseur discusses the history of the 135-mission Space Shuttle program (1981-2011), its accomplishments, and two tragic failures that led to the deaths of 14 shuttle astronauts. Ms. Levasseur, the curator in charge of the Space Shuttle Discovery at the Air & Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia, where this interview took place, also takes us on a tour of the shuttle orbiter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Actor Mark Harmon and retired NCIS special agent Leon Carroll, Jr., discuss their book "Ghosts of Sicily," the latest in their series about real-life Naval intelligence operations. "Ghosts of Sicily" tells the story of the U.S. government's use of the American mafia to fight the Nazis and Italians during World War II. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tad Devine, former chief campaign strategist for Bernie Sanders and the author of "How the Democrats Screwed Bernie," argues that Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee used dirty tricks, dark money groups, and the mainstream media to thwart Sen. Sanders' presidential run in 2016. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On February 1, 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana while re-entering Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts on board. Former Space Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach, who led debris recovery and reconstruction efforts following the accident, talks about the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and the investigation into its causes. Mr. Leinbach is the co-author of "Bringing Columbia Home: The Untold Story of a Lost Space Shuttle and Her Crew." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, former U.S. ambassador David McKean and former State Department historian M. Todd Bennett, co-authors of "The Flag Was Still There," look back at the 1776 founding and the four previous semi-centennial celebrations of America in 1826, 1876, 1926, and 1976. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York Times White House Correspondents Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan discuss their just-published bestseller about the first year of the second Trump administration. They discuss his inner circle, the decision-making process on some of the major issues, and what they found inside the Oval Office and the Situation Room. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mollie Hemingway, editor-in-chief of The Federalist and author of "Alito," discusses the life, career, and legal opinions of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who joined the Court in 2006. She talks about Justice Alito's role in overturning Roe v. Wade, the flag controversy involving his wife Martha-Ann, and the backlash that he and other justices on the Court have received in response to their legal decisions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the Supreme Court's term winds down, with some notable cases still to be decided, we take a behind the scenes look at the Supreme Court and how it operates with SCOTUSblog editor Sarah Isgur. Her new book on the topic is titled "Last Branch Standing." In part two of our discussion, we talk to Sarah Isgur about the power of Chief Justice John Roberts, the personalities and influence of the other justices, and her relationship with Justice Elena Kagan, who was dean of Harvard Law School when Isgur was a student and chapter president of the Federalist Society there.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices