This week on "Sunday Morning": "A Nation Divided?" (September 3)

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?"

The time more than two decades 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.

Watch a rebroadcast of this special episode – nominated this year for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Recorded News Special – Sunday, September 3 on CBS, and streaming on cbsnews.com and Paramount+.

COVER STORY: Secession – Why some in Oregon want to move the border with Idaho
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 returns to Oregon for an update on his story (originally broadcast Oct. 16, 2022), in which he talks with advocates of the Greater Idaho movement about why they believe the time is right for this "radical" idea. 

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
• Western States Center

HISTORY: History lessons – When America's politics turn ugly, violent
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 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 Bookshop.org
• Smithsonian Institution

BUSINESS: Trade secrets
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
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
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
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 Bookshop.org

      
COMMENTARY: David Sedaris on coming out, all over again
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 Bookshop.org

TELEVISION: Norman Lear on the power of laughter to unite Americans
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, having recently turned 101, 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
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 Bookshop.org
• brianrosenwald.com
• Talkers Magazine

U.S.: Braver Angels – Seeking to de-polarize America
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: Gen. Stanley McChrystal on what would help close the divide in America
The retired four-star general says the political divisions tearing apart the very fabric of American society can be healed by bringing together young people for a common purpose. 

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

WEB EXCLUSIVES:

FROM THE ARCHIVES: "The Price Is Right" host Bob Barker (YouTube Video)
Longtime TV game show host and passionate animal rights advocate Bob Barker died on Saturday, August 26, 2023 at age 99. In this profile that originally aired on "Sunday Morning" October 19, 2008, Barker talked with correspondent Rita Braver about his career, activism, retirement, and the time when a "Price Is Right" contestant revealed more than just her enthusiasm after being called to "Come on down!"  

GALLERY: Summer music heats up 2023
Live performances are in full swing this summer. Scroll through our concert gallery, featuring pictures by CBS News photojournalist Jake Barlow and photographers Ed Spinelli and Kirstine Walton.

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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