Today marks the 50th anniversary of the 'Back To School Jam' in the Bronx that helped launch hip hop culture into global popularity.

On Today's Show:
Joycelyn Wilson, assistant professor of hip-hop studies and digital media at Georgia Tech, explains the long relationship between hip hop, its artists, and politics.

GOP candidates like to use the word "freedom" in their campaigns. On a key civil rights anniversary, we reflect on what 'freedom' means in 2023.

On Today's Show:
Jonathan Lemire, host of “Way Too Early" on MSNBC, Politico White House bureau chief, and the author of The Big Lie: Election Chaos, Political Opportunism, and the State of American Politics After 2020 (Flatiron Books, 2022), discuses the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s march on Washington, as well as the latest national political news, including the arrest and mug shot of former President Trump.

The BRICS summit is a meeting of major emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China and now including South Africa.

On Today's Show:
Yinka Adegoke, editor of Semafor Africa, previews the summit and explains how Russia and China in particular are hoping to have a stronger influence on African countries.

Late last week, the Department of Justice named a special counsel to oversee investigations into the business conduct of presidential son Hunter Biden.

On Today's Show:
Idrees Kahloon, Washington bureau chief for The Economist, talks about the latest national political news.

Indictments were announced overnight in Georgia against former President Trump and 18 others, including former NYC Mayor Giuliani.

On Today's Show:
Elie Honig, senior legal analyst at CNN, host of the CAFE podcast "Up Against The Mob," former New Jersey and federal prosecutor and author of Untouchable: How Powerful People Get Away With It (Harper, 2023), discusses the charges.

This week, some of the hopefuls in the race for the GOP nomination will face off on a debate stage, though former President Trump, who's leading in the polls, will not be among them.

On Today's Show:
Susan Page, USA Today Washington bureau chief and the author of Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power (Twelve, 2021), rounds up the latest news from Washington, including a look ahead to Wednesday's GOP debate in Milwaukee.

Swing-state Georgia will be pivotal in the upcoming presidential election which means the legal process playing out over the outcome of the 2020 election could have a big political impact.

On Today's Show:
Stephen Fowler, political reporter for Georgia Public Broadcasting and host of the podcast Battleground: Ballot Box, talks about the indictments of former President Trump and 18 others and how they are playing out in Georgia's political landscape.

A multibillion-dollar recovery effort is underway in Hawaii following the deadliest fire in the U.S. in over a century.

On Today's Show:
Kaniela Ing, a seventh-generation indigenous Hawaiian from Maui and the national director of climate justice organization Green New Deal Network, discusses how residents now worry that wealthy outsiders will stand to make a profit, and Alana Casanova-Burgess, co-creator, host and producer of the podcast La Brega, from WNYC Studios and Futuro Studios, explains what Hawaii can learn from Puerto Rico’s recovery after Hurricane Maria.