This week on "Sunday Morning" (March 24)

The Emmy Award-winning "CBS News 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.) 

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Hosted by Jane Pauley

       
COVER STORY: Husband of U.S. journalist detained in Russia: "I'm not going to give up"
Alsu Kurmasheva, an American-Russian journalist working for Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty, was visiting her mother in Russia when authorities there confiscated her passports and jailed her. Kurmasheva faces charges that could lead to years of imprisonment because she edited a book of people's opinions about Russia's war with Ukraine. Correspondent Seth Doane talks with Kurmasheva's family and colleagues about the increasing dangers that journalists are facing from governments trying to mask the truth – what Jodie Ginsberg, chief executive officer of the Committee to Protect Journalists, calls "state-sponsored hostage-taking."

For more info:

• Alsu Kurmasheva, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
• Committee to Protect Journalists

       
ALMANAC: March 24
"Sunday Morning" looks back at historical events on this date.

BOOKS: Christian Cooper, the "Extraordinary Birder"
Christian Cooper made national news in May 2020 when, while birdwatching in New York's Central Park, a white woman called 911 to report that an "African American man was threatening her life" after he'd asked her to put her dog on a leash. His recording of their interaction went viral, just as the country was rocked by the George Floyd murder. Since then, he has hosted a National Geographic Wild series, "Extraordinary Birder with Christian Cooper," and written a memoir about growing up a closeted gay teenager on Long Island, titled "Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World." Nancy Giles reports.

For more info:

• "Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World" by Christian Cooper (Random House), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
• "Extraordinary Birder with Christian Cooper" on National Geographic Wild
• Follow christiancooperbirder on Instagram

GARDENING: Martha Stewart on keeping houseplants
The lifestyle entrepreneur and host of "Martha Gardens" offers advice on how to bring beauty into your home with potted plants, and how to keep them looking their best.

For more info:

• "Martha Stewart Gardening" is available on newsstands and via online retailers
• Watch "Martha Gardens" on the Roku Channel
• Read more of Martha's tips on houseplants at marthastewart.com

BOOKS: Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin on "An Unfinished Love Story"
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin's latest book is devoted to her late husband, Richard Goodwin, whose speeches for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson and Senator Robert F. Kennedy produced some of the most memorable phrases of the era. She talks about her upcoming book, "An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s," with CBS News chief election and campaign correspondent Robert Costa, and about how history and politics shaped their lives together. Goodwin also explains why she believes people who choose to tune out from participating in this year's critical presidential election are "cowardly."

For more info:

• "An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s" by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Simon & Schuster), in Hardcover, Large Print, eBook and Audio formats, available April 16 via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
• doriskearnsgoodwin.com

• Photo by Jacques Lowe courtesy of the Jacques Lowe Estate

     
PASSAGE: In memoriam

      
WORLD: The long struggle to free Evan Gershkovich from a Moscow prison
Last March 29, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was on assignment in Russia when he was arrested by security forces and accused of being a spy, a charge vigorously denied by Gershkovich, the paper, and the U.S. government. "60 Minutes" correspondent Lesley Stahl talks with Gershkovich's sister, Danielle; with Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker; and U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens about the ongoing negotiations to bring Gershkovich home. Stahl also talks with longtime Kremlin critic Gary Kasparov about how Russian President Vladimir Putin is using prisoners as pawns on his geopolitical chessboard against the West.

For more info:

• Evan Gershkovich, The Wall Street Journal

BOOKS: Writer Percival Everett: "In ownership of language there resides great power"
Author Percival Everett has challenged the schism of race in such satirical novels as "Erasure" (basis of the Oscar-winning film "American Fiction"). His latest, "James," re-tells the story of "Huckleberry Finn" from the point of view of Huck's enslaved friend, Jim, for whom language becomes a shield, and an avenue toward freedom. Everett talks with correspondent Martha Teichner about his writing, his artwork, and his penchant for privacy.

READ AN EXCERPT:  "James" by Percival Everett

For more info:

• "James" by Percival Everett (Doubleday), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
• USC Dornsife College of Letters Arts and Sciences
• Thanks to Vroman's Bookstore, Pasadena, Calif.
• Percival Everett at Show Gallery, Los Angeles

TV: Steve Martin: Comic, banjo player, and now documentary film subject
The comedian known for being wild and crazy is now the subject of a documentary on Apple TV+, titled "STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces." Correspondent Tracy Smith talks with Steve Martin, and with filmmaker and longtime fan Morgan Neville, about telling the 78-year-old legend's life story, from his comedy records and "SNL," to walking away from standup, to playing a mean banjo.

To watch a trailer for "STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces" click on the video player below:

For more info:

• "STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces" debuts on Apple TV+ March 29
• stevemartin.com

BOOKS: Fareed Zakaria decries the "anti-Americanism" in America's politics today
As host of CNN's "GPS," Fareed Zakaria dives into global issues with scholars, presidents, and the occasional celebrity. An optimist, Zakaria is nonetheless concerned about what he characterizes as a darkness in America brought on by people "who feel that they are not benefiting from all the changes in society." He talks with "Sunday Morning" contributor Kelefa Sanneh about his new book, "Age of Revolutions," in which he writes about how societies both embrace change and resist it.

For more info:

• "Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present" by Fareed Zakaria (W.W. Norton), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available March 26 via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
• "GPS" hosted by Fareed Zakaria on CNN

       
NATURE: TBD
     

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WEB EXCLUSIVES:

GALLERY: Notable deaths in 2024
A look back at the esteemed personalities who've left us this year, who'd touched us with their innovation, creativity and humanity.

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

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David Morgan

David Morgan is senior producer for CBSNews.com and the Emmy Award-winning "CBS News Sunday Morning." He writes about film, music and the arts. He is author of the books "Monty Python Speaks" and "Knowing the Score," and editor of "Sundancing," about the Sundance Film Festival.

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