captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> sreenivasan: good evening. i'm hari sreenivasan. judy woodruff is away. on the newshour tonight: bitter cold freezes much of the united states as americans brace for a frigid new year. then, contemporary perspective on the #metoo movement from a scholar of the ancient world. >> we have to re-look at what we think about women and men and power, and what we think power is. >> sreenivasan: and it's friday. mark shields and david brooks are here to analyze the week's news. and, the year in music. a recap of the tunes that defined 2017. all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

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and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: an arctic cold wave still dominates the nation's weather tonight. it's blamed for several deaths, and it's making life miserable for millions of people. that includes new york, where a dozen people died last night, in the city's worst residential fire in decades. john yang begins our coverage. >> yang: it was just 15 degrees when the bronx blaze erupted, forcing firefighters to battle both the fire and the cold.

residents escaping the flames had to brave the elements. >> all i see is a bunch of kids on the fire escape-- cold, and with no jacket, no pajamas, no nothing. >> yang: the city's fire commissioner said today the fire was started by a child playing with a stove. >> the stairway acted like a chimney. it took the fire so quickly upstairs that people had very little time to react. >> yang: new york's cold was part of the deep freeze gripping the midwest and east with record or near-record cold. in parts of the deep south, temperatures are dipping into the 20s. >> i like cold weather, but this is getting to the point of ridiculous. thank god i'm not in erie or out in the midwest or minnesota, or i would move. >> yang: president trump remained at his florida resort, but he warned new year's eve revelers in the east to bundle up, while taking another shot at climate science, suggesting that, "perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old global warming." around the country, the bitter cold left icy impressions, like this blanket of steam hovering above the harbor in rockport,

maine. but the beauty belies the danger. across the country, officials are working to get the homeless off the streets, and urging people to help elderly neighbors. forecasters say the cold wave could last well into next week. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. >> sreenivasan: we'll return to the issue of the weather and climate change, after the news summary. in the day's other news, authorities in puerto rico now say power has been restored to 55% of the island's customers since hurricane maria struck in september. the rest of the 1.5 million customers are still waiting. the u.s. army corps of engineers says it will be may before all have power back. a gunman in egypt opened fire outside a coptic christian church, sparking a shootout with police. at least nine people died, including the attacker. officials say some 350 worshippers were attending the church in a cairo suburb. police had tightened security at the site during the holidays. it was the latest attack targeting egypt's christian minority.

the islamic state group claimed responsibility. for the fourth consecutive friday, thousands of palestinians turned out in gaza and the west bank. they were protesting president trump's decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital. israeli soldiers fired tear gas at rock-throwing protesters. the military said it also used live fire against instigators. palestinian health officials say dozens of protesters were injured. militants in gaza also fired several rockets, and the israelis answered with tank and aircraft fire. there were no reports of injuries. china today denied that it is violating u.n. sanctions and allowing oil to reach north korea. south korean reports say chinese ships have transferred oil to north korean vessels at sea 30 times since october. and, the u.s. treasury says satellite images show one of the transfers. but in beijing, the foreign ministry rejected the reports, and president trump's claim that china had been "caught red- handed."

>> ( translated ): the vessel involved has not docked at any port in china since august. there is no record of its entry and exit at china's ports. we have no knowledge of whether it visited any port in other countries. therefore, the series of recent reports do not accord with the facts. >> sreenivasan: meanwhile, south korea announced it has seized a ship from hong kong that is suspected of off-loading oil to a north korean ship. president trump says he thinks special counsel robert mueller is going to be "fair" in his probe of russian meddling in last year's election. he spoke to the "new york times" and insisted again there was no collusion between his campaign and russia. he did not call for an end to mueller's investigation, but he did say "it makes the country look very bad. so the sooner it's worked out, the better it is." the people of liberia have chosen a new president. former soccer star george weah was formally declared the winner today of a runoff election. supporters anticipated the victory, and began celebrating yesterday and on into the night. weah ran on promises to fight corruption and revive the

economy. in january, he will succeed ellen johnson sirleaf in liberia's first democratic transfer of power since 1944. back in this country, wall street closed out the year on a down note. the dow jones industrial average lost 118 points to close at 24,719. the nasdaq fell 46 points, and the s&p 500 dropped 14. overall, the market had its best year since 2013. the dow was up 25%, the nasdaq gained 28%, and the s&p was up 19%. and, life-long entertainer rose marie died thursday at her home in the los angeles area. she was best known for her role on "the dick van dyke show" in the 1960s. rose marie played the wise- cracking sally rogers on the sitcom. she said later it was a rare role at the time-- a woman who wasn't a wife, mother or housekeeper. she'd begun as a child singing star in the 1920s, and appeared on broadway as well. rose marie was 94 years old. still to come on the newshour: amid freezing temperatures, we

explore the difference between weather and climate. bombing hospitals as a strategy of war. perspectives on feminism from the ancient greeks. and much more. >> sreenivasan: let's return to our top story. president trump weighed in on twitter last night about the cold snap bracing much of the country, and he seemed dismissive, yet again, about the effects of climate change. at the same time, he seemed to conflate the latest weather with the broader issues around climate. john yang is here to help break down the differences. >> yang: hari, to help us understand that, and how climate change is viewed in the world of science, i'm joined by michael oppenheimer. he's a professor of geosciences and international affairs at princeton university's woodrow wilson school. michael oppenheimer, thanks for joining us.

let me just remind folks what the president said on twitter last night after noting the record forecast or the forecast for record cold on new year's eve on the east coast. he said, perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old global warming that our country but not other countries was going to pay trillions of dollars to protect against. bundle up. let's take that in two parts. first of all, is he confusing climate and weather? >> it's impossible to say what was in the president's mind, but he probably was trying to confuse other people about the reality of climate change. this cold snap is weather. weather is what you experience day to day. climate is the long-term average of weather over periods of years, decades, centuries or even longer. let me give you an amegy from the stock market -- an analogy from the stock market. it's perfectly possible for the stock market to be rising due to

understooded factors like favorable economic forecasts and yet to decrease significantly for one day, several days, a month or even several months. that happens all the time, even though the long-term trend might be continuing thereafter. it's the same thing with climate change. the earth's temperature is going up. it's been going up for about a century. that increase is due to the buildup of the greenhouse gases caused by, by and large, by the burning of coal oil and natural gas and, yet, climate has certain unpredictable factors about it which could cause variations like the current cold snap which could cause temperatures to drop below normal for relatively small areas if after what we're talking about is the northern half to have the united states. so there's a long-term trend of warming. this cold snap says nothing

about the trend and the trend will continue until we make a radical reduction in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. >> yang: given that distinction, do scientists see a connection between climate change and episodes of extreme weather? >> yes, some episodes of extreme weather can be tied directly to the buildup of the greenhouse gases caused by human activity. for instance, the incidents of extreme heat increased and heat waves are increasing faster than they'd without the buildup of greenhouse gases and that connection has been made clearly. similarly, incidents of very high water at the coast which is related to flooding, for instance when a storm comes along, has been tied in some cases to the buildup to have the greenhouse gases through its effect on sea level rise. so, overall, there are some episodes of extreme weather that are directly related to the

human buildup of greenhouse gases. >> yang: let's take the second part of what he said. he said the united states but not other countries was going to pay trillions of dollars to protect against climate change. i presume he's talking about the requirements of the paris accord. is that true, what he said? >> that's a complete fabrication. for instance, the cost of the u.s. proposal to cut its emissions by 26% to 28%, that reduction would have been obtained by and large by reductions in the power sector, the so-called clean power plant, electricity production, and those would have cost a few billion dollars, not a few trillion dallas and would have, in fact, produced for benefits in terms of reduced air pollution starting right now and eventually reduce climate damages they they would have -- than they would have cost. it was a winner but the trump

administration decided to rip it apart. >> yang: michael oppenheimer, princeton university, thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> sreenivasan: as the war in syria raged over the past six years, hospitals and clinics were repeatedly bombed. according to the geneva conventions, medical facilities are supposed to be "neutral parties" in war. but in syria, as well as yemen and a number of other conflicts around the world, they continued to be hit. "the new barbarianism" is a documentary that addresses this additional war casualty. the washington-based center of strategic and international studies made the film, and it was directed by former newshour foreign editor justin kenny. i taped a conversation on this topic earlier in the week, but first, an excerpt, which includes some images that are disturbing.

by april 2016, half of aleppo's population of 3 million were gone, displaced, in flight, dead or injured. (thunder) many who remained lived under siege with few means t to escap, as syrian president bashar al-assad's military attempted to destroy rebel forces in the city. aleppo's medical community targeted and in collapse struggled to continue. dr. mohammed, one to have the city's last remaining pediatricians, was among a small group of doctors who vowed to keep working despite the dangers. he's seen here as he began his shift at al-kud's general hospital. it's the last time anyone saw him alive. he was killed when aircraft struck the medical facility with missileles. >> we were so surprised and shocked when we saw our

colleagues covered with their blood and giving their last breaths. >> neurosurgeon dr. rami khouri's staff at a nearby hospital tried to save victims of the attack including severely injured health colleagues. >> i don't know how to describe that. it's so hard emotionally. it's like you are losing one of your precious in front of your eyes. >> 55 people died in the attack. among them, two doctors, two nurses, a technician and a guard. >> this attack fits the assad regime's abhorrent pattern of striking first responders. >> the syrian government and russia, its close partner in executing the air war, denied targeting the hospital. hundreds of similar attacks upon

civilian infrastructure followed. >> for more on all of this, we turn to stephen morrison. he was the executive director of the film and is director of the global health policy at center for strategic and international studies. he served on the state department's policy planning staff during the clinton administration. and dr. ahmad trochee, syrian american medical society, a medical relief organization that provides assistance to syrians, going joining us from fresno at a hospital via skype. why target hospitals? >> it's a very good way to demoralize a population in an area of conflict, if you take away something so fundamental to the functioning of society. you take that away, people lose hope and it induces mass flight and weakens the armed enemy that you are opposing. so it's a very, very good tactic of war and, as long as there's

impunity, which, in most of these cases that we've seen, that's true, then you're not paying much of a price. >> sreenivasan: dr. trochee, tell us about the type of work your organization does. >> a student medical american society known as sames. at this time we have about 120 medical facilities inside syria and about 2,000 medical professionals, doctors and nurses providing care for people inside syria. in 2016, we provided care for more than 2.5 million people inside syria. >> sreenivasan: so, doctor, how many of your facilities have been targeted? >> from 2014 until now, more than one-third of the attacks -- documented attacks on healthcare facilities are against sames facilities. >> sreenivasan: dr. more rison is there a distinction the

airplanes are making? >> well, i think that the national and indigenous institutions in these zones of war, whether we're talking about syria, yemen, afghanistan, there are over 20 countries where we're seeing documented cases of this. the national institutions are even more vulnerable than those who are international n.g.o.s. these cases so unreported oftentimes. >> sreenivasan: dr. trochee, can you give us an example of what happens in these strikes? how do you respond? >> the attacks we just witnessed on the hospital, around that time aleppo was completely besieged, and the goal was to displace the people and collapse the infrastructures in the city. as time goes on, those attacks were actually mainly waged against medical facilities. it was not collateral damage.

so when we see those attacks, they follow a certain pattern. you see the attacks are targeting hospitals in the same neighborhood, so the health facilities were collapsed as well as the airstrikes will start attacking ambulances and so on, so there will be no way to achieve or respond medically. what happened internally among the aide workers is they communicated on documenting and reporting and what to do next. we've seen significant courage of the aide workers who are not running away. they're running into the risk. they're not leaving the hospitals or the patients as the ambulances are rushing out despite the airstrikes to save as many as we can. we had more than five attacks on the same hospital in a week until that hospital collapsed and got out of service completely. >> sreenivasan: i want to ask a two-part question. one, what sort of measures are you starting to take now? i've heard of hospitals moving into underground locations and

caves. also, what keeps your doctors going back and putting themselves in harm's way to do this work? >> we move many facilities to underground hospitals and we move them to caves, and a few months back we accomplished our report showing that the casualties and the medical staff and the underground hospitals despite the attack has been zero. unfortunately, the time we released that report, we witnessed the first medical staff chemical attack on our facilities. the other part is what we call track meaning the hospitals. you will see, for example, the peerkdz unit might not be connected to the intensive care unit and you see the units around and that has decreased the casualties. it became a major challenge for all of us. >> sreenivasan: dr. ahmad trochee of the syrian american medical society and stephen morrison from the center for strategic and international studies. thank you both. >> thank you. thank you for the opportunity.

>> sreenivasan: stay with us. coming up on the newshour: shields and brooks analyze president trump's first year in office. the year in music-- a look back on the top hits of 2017. and, an argument for why we need more poetry in our lives. but first, let's close out our book conversations for 2017 with a new release that highlights one of the hot-button issues of this year: women's voices in the public square, and how they have been historically silenced or maligned. jeffrey brown caught up with a leading feminist about her latest work, in our final addition to the "newshour book this year. >> brown: in book one of homer's "odyssey," as the hero's wife penelope and son telemachus await his return, she speaks in a public area of their palace. but her son stops her. speech, he says, is men's business. >> it's the very first moment in western culture when some young boy has told a woman, in this

case his mum, to shut up. and there's a long history ever after. >> brown: mary beard is a professor of classics at cambridge university, an expert of ancient history who's also an acute and provocative commentator on our own times. >> brown: in britain, beard is that rarity: a celebrity scholar. a regular on television and radio, known for speaking out on news and online outlets, including her blog, "a don's life." in this country, her 2015 history of ancient rome, "s.p.q.r.", was a "new york times" bestseller. beard's new book, based on two public lectures she gave, explores an abiding theme in her scholarly and public work, and again connects ancient history

to today. it's called "women and power: a manifesto." we spoke recently in new york. >> i'm exploring the long history of women, first of all, being silenced. and, secondly, not being taken seriously in the political and public sphere. it's a call to action through understanding, and through looking at ourselves again, and trying to reformulate the whole question of women and power. >> brown: you're focusing on the public voice, or the lack of it, for women. but why is the public voice a way in to understanding power? >> because i think politics is still very, very much determined by what we hear and how we see debate, rather than what we read.

so, if you look at the way public commentators describe and talk about the voices of the women politicians that they hear, you instantly see how gendered it is. you know, "there she is, she's whining again, she's squawking, she's whinging." >> brown: you're making a case, though, going back through time, that this is a voice that is systematically denied, right? >> i don't think that we are completely dominated by what we've inherited from the past, but it is the case that as far back as you can go, just to homer, but also the literature of rome, the literature of the middle ages and renaissance, what you'll find is that women's voices are not taken seriously. and you can still see in the way that modern female politicians operate, that they somehow take that on board. they have regulation trouser

suits, they kind of play up to being a man. >> brown: the trouser suits. you have, there's a picture in the book of angela merkel and hillary clinton. >> wearing identical clothes, trouser suits, obviously very practical, many reasons to do it. but actually, what it succeeds in doing is making them look like men in suits. >> brown: today's "public square" includes the digital world, of course. beard is active on twitter, writing on a variety of issues. and, while regularly attacked, even viciously at times, she doesn't back down. >> if you look carefully, it's a pretty grim read, but if you look carefully at what these twitch abusers are saying, they're saying things like, "i'm going to cut your tongue out. i'm going to cut your head off and rape it." now, what that's doing-- and what they're saying is "i want you to shut up." they're not saying "i don't

happen to agree with you on your view of brexit." they're saying "shut up." >> brown: are you saying that things have not improved for women? >> i'm not saying they've not improved. happily, they have improved. my mum was born before women had the vote in general elections in england. things have got better. but somehow, what's going on in our heads about how we think about power has not changed as much as we'd like to think. what will help women get into positions of power-- day nurseries, equal pay, family friendly working hours-- and i think all that's important. i used to think it was the solution. i now think it's enabling an it's important, but still we've got "head work" to do about this. >> brown: what does that mean? >> we've got ways of thinking about how power operates, which, you know, very deeply buried in our cultural inheritance.

i don't think they're inescapable, but i think they're very deeply buried. that really means we have to relook at what we think about women and men and power and what we think power is. >> brown: in her book, beard cites women taking on new kinds of powerful roles, including the founders of the black lives matter movement. written before the harvey weinstein allegations became public, it arrives amid almost daily airings of new sexual harassment cases. but beard says it's too early to tell how much change will come. >> i'm worried that, in fact, we'll look back to this and it will be seen as a slightly cathartic flash in the pan, and then everything will go on. >> brown: you're worried about that, you think it could happen? >> yes, i think it's too early to say. i hope that isn't what happens. i'd also like to think that these issues spread wider because, certainly in the u.k.,

and it may not be the same here, but i suspect it is. we, certainly in the press, have been very focused on kind of celebrity culture. >> brown: i'm wondering, though, as someone who takes the long view, and you still see it today, why would there be any reason to hope that things could change? >> i'm a social optimist. >> brown: social optimist? >> yes, i'm a social and cultural optimist. i think it will take longer for it to change than we imagine, but we can change things. but "a," we need to know what it is we're changing, and we need to be determined to change it. >> brown: the book is "women and power: a manifesto." mary beard, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> sreenivasan: and to the analysis of shields and brooks. that's syndicated columnist mark

shields, and "new york times" columnist david brooks. so here we are at the end of 2017. there seems to be some data out that talks about this year of polarity or increased polarization. what party you are seems to term so much more than, you know, how you view the world today than what gender you are, where you went to school, what church you belong to. >> no, i only question our parties have become far more monolithic than just two generations ago. two generations ago the pro-choice position on abortion was led by planned parenthood by republicans, i mean, and the democrats were, if anything, a pro-life party on guns, a whole host of issues, there was a cross pollination of the parties and they have now become far more monolithic. i'm a little bit of a heratic on

the subject of the total polarization of us as a society. i think people decide where they live, not necessarily on the voting patterns as much as how good the schools are, how much of a commute it is, how safe the neighborhood is. but i don't think there's any question that there is greater political polarization and a greater willingness now to think that my political opponent is my enemy rather than just my adversary. >> i'm more pessimistic. in 1960, they asked would you behind if your son or daughter married a person of the opposing party, about 5 prd% minded. now about 46% minded. if you ask today, the same words come out -- the people on the other people are immoral, lazy, stupid, closed minded. so this is a pretty big separation. i think it's not just a political identity so much anymore, it's a social identity, it's who you are. and i do think people are moving to people like themselves, part

of the same political tribe and politics is aligned with tv viewing habits, prayer, church attendance, all sorts of other activities, it's now tribal and the tribal is basically political. to me that's putting too much weight on politics. >> our co-captains of civility, those who disagree agreeably, what do we do about it? >> i disagree and i'm not going to be civil about it. (laughter) okay? i think there's majority support in both parties. we've seen it -- seen an improvement in the country in questions of racial tolerance, acceptance with interracial marriage, acceptance of sexual minorities, so, i mean, both parties, immigration, republicans by 20% think immigration is better for the country rather than worse than 20 years ago. i'm not minimizing, i'm not

trying to be a polyanna, but i think the areas of disagreement are more intense and more polarized. but what would i do about it? what i do take from personal experience the first time i have slept in the same quarters with african-americans, i took orders as a direct cause, matter of cause from african-americans, was the paris island south carolina marine corps boot camp, and i think that was a great americanization. i think national service is a great americanizing experience. i think we have in both parties but particular in my own party, the democratic party, there has been an overemphasis on my rights as a citizen, and i think our duties and responsibilities as a citizen have to be addressed and the idea that that's the way we meet, understand our differences and yet our commonality, and i would

say mandatory universal age 18 civilian and military. >> i agree with that. i try to do two things, one i try to downplay politics. politics is an important thing, we make our living talking abit, but it's not the most important thing. the most important things that matter in life are your relationships, your community, your ideas, your character, an those sub political. you know, mark is progressive. he has way worse problems than that, he's a boston celtics fan. (laughter) >> i am! politics is an important but limited activity. the second thing i try to do is discover something we actually do have in common which is a national story. i was raised, my grandfather had a big immigrant mentality. our people like all americans of all different types left oppression to cross the wilderness and come to the promised land. that's a story a lot of people could buy into it. people under 40, not their story. they don't buy it, don't think there's a promised land, so we

have to come up with a new historical story and that's a challenge for us now. >> agree being david, but let me add this, if i could, hari, if we left everything to the private sector and forgot politics and public sector, and i'm not arguing with david about the overemphasis on politics, but we have to acknowledge ann we have to celebrate what we have accomplished together. i mean, if we left it to the private sector, we would still have slavery in this country. it's only through politics, the political process and public will and public education and public morality that we decided to abolish slavery, that we abolish segregation, that we have saved our environment, that we have done everything we have to make ours a more just and humane and welcoming country and, you know, i think the fairly of our leadership, particularly the current leadership who insists donald trump, in particular, to denigrate and demean all public

service and all public action is a sin to this country, and to having any kind of common story or common pride or a common sense values of who we are and what we stand for. >> speaking of donald trump, would you, at the end of this year now, give him credit for some of the accomplishments that he says he's not getting credit for, the longest list of judiciary nominees approved in a first year of a presidency, a significant tax reform plan? >> i mean, certainly, i mean, tax reform since, you know, paul ryan was in short pants, this has been his dream. i mean, and, he's been the symbol of all republicans on this. there's no question about it, an achievement, and one cannot in any way minimize the judicial appointments. i point out that clarence thomas has been sitting on the supreme

court now -- george bush, george h.w. bush was elected 30 years ago. clarence thomas is still a reasonably young and healthy man. so it's incredibly, incredibly important. if you're going to celebrate the economic difference, i just point out the unemployment rate was 4.8% when donald trump took office. some credit should go to his predecessor who cut the unemployment rate, his policies did, in half from 10% down to 4.8. but i think you have to acknowledge donald trump's successes, the areas you mentioned. >> sreenivasan: david, there also seems to be a distrust in institutions of all sorts. you've got only about 30% of republicans who believe humans are impacting climate change and the graphic that we have up on screen should the media play a watchdog role. that was something in early 2016 that about 75% of democrats and republicans agreed that was the role of the press. now, at this point, this was, i

think, in may, that pew had this poll out, about 42% of republicans feel that, 89% of democrats feel that. you know, the president certainly adds fuel to this fire. i mean, he rails against the press, against the f.b.i., against climate science. >> well, you know, this is partly a media problem. we made our self-vulnerable to this loss of faith among republicans by not hiring republicans. this used to be a working class professional, people in both parties, it has increasingly become an ivy league progression, and if you do that for a long time you will lose connection with the country and they with you. that's partly shame on us and donald trump. it's easy for political leaders to exploit into tribal conflicts. we see it around the worldy people live together, like

nairobi, they don't have violence most to have the time but when the electoral campaigns happen, the politicians come in, incite violence and it sets off a spark. donald trump is a genius in setting off the sparks and opposition to the media has replaced opposition to the soviet union in the republican gospel. >> sreenivasan: how do you rebuild trust in institutions at large? >> you have to be out in actual contact with people. second, you have to engage in common projects. it's one thing to get together. but we can't just get together. the people who want to divide us have a theory about why, and you have to have a countertheory about what makes america a nation, about what our institutions do in that nation, and it's, again, i go back to this thing, we need a common story where the institutions play a role in the lives of all the individual citizens. >> sreenivasan: mark, this was also a year of rec:king in different ways about race an gender. when it came to race, there was an interest "the washington post" poll out 2017 good or bad

for race relations and across the board, democrat, independent, republican, 82% said it was bad. later, in the second half of the year, we started looking at the gender disparities and the climate of sexual harassment that seems deeply. does this result in a change at the polls? >> "the wall street journal" pointed out this week that by a margin of 42% more college educated women are voting democrat over republican heading into 2018. i think that's a direct consequence of the two parties, particularly of president trump, and first of all his position the hollywood access, something that he apologized for twice and attempted to deny that he had

said on the third time. but there's no question that there is a reckoning, the weinstein, charlie rose. i mean, when you see men of that stature and that prominence fall, there's no question that it's real, and i think the warning throughout our society that -- the lesson is there. i think it's there politically. as far as charlottesville, is it still an open wound on race in this country? and none of these cases has the president shown any moral leadership or any ability to heal the wounds. i just come back to the fact that, on the night that he won the presidency in 2012, barack obama stood there and he said, we, first of all -- speaking of his opponent's father who had been the governor of michigan and his mother who had been a candidate for senate -- he said we salute george romney and lenore romney and their son mitt

because the mom -- romney family's commitment to this country and the service they give to america is what we celebrate tonight. donald trump insists hourly about speaking about the crooked hillary. he's never extended the open hand of friendship of any sort. there's no healing. a president is supposed to be a healer. >> sreenivasan: david. i turn a little optimistic, what's happening on the sexual harassment is an utterly good thing but painful at the moment. you have to go through the painful but it's a renorming of how people should behave together in the workplace. on racial matters, people are being more honest. some is noxious on the right but most are conversations we have. it's an unveiling of what's been hidden for a long time that is painful but is part of an overall progress. >> sreenivasan: thank you both. >> thank you, hari.

>> sreenivasan: new year's eve is just around the corner, a perfect time to catch up on some of the best music of the past year. jeffrey brown is back with a conversation he recorded about some songs you may know, and many you may not. >> brown: and we take a look and listen to some of the highlights of the year in popular music. joining me are two music critics ann powers and mikael wood of the "los angeles times." glad to have you back. let me start with you, ann, a couple of top choices of the year. >> definitely the critics' favorite is damn by kendrick lamar. it's the los angeles' rapper's fourth album, highlights more of his amazing flow, amazing rhyming skills. the production is really great. it tells a cohesive story about kind of like fallen virtue and redemption and struggle. ♪ my resume two millennium ♪ a better way of making them is

defending them ♪ ♪ i meditate -- >> personally the kesha album rainbow is at the top of my list. kesha emerged several years ago as a pop star, a comedic heroin. she has for a long time been involved in a court case with her exproducer dr. luke over alleged sexual misconduct. this album is her coming back to the forefront. it's really just, like, overflowing with great songs and triumphant, wonderful, boyce trouse music and i love kesha. ♪ put me through hell ♪ i had to learn how to fight for myself ♪ ♪ and we both know all the truth i could tell ♪ >> brown: all right, mikael, i think you have a couple of names. >> taylor swift, the year started out rocky, she put out a single look what you made me do

which is orallizing, but "reputation" is fascinating. it wants to show taylor who started in country music before moving into pop, it wants to show she can move into the sound of the mainstream, at the same time she can make her writing more detailed and more grown up, so it's moving in two directions at once, which i always enjoy. ♪ look what you made me do ♪ look what you made me do >> and jay-z had an interesting year, a record called 4-4 four, which is headlines are about his response to the marital struggles his wife beyonce previously outsigned in her record lemonade, but the record also talks about the challenges of and the importance of black entrepreneurship. i think it's an important record in this year of so much political discussion that made a lot of waves. ♪ it's fine ♪ i'm trying to give you

a million for 9.99 ♪ ♪ i turned my life into a nice verse week release date ♪ >> brown: ann, how about somebody in a breakout category? somebody who made a statement this year? >> well, i really want to highlight how many amazing women are working in various kinds of rock and roll and also roots music. i love margo price who's based here in nashville. she released "all american made." >> reporter: why don't you do the math ♪ ♪ pay gal ♪ ripping my dollars in half >> but my favorite breakout album from "a young woman" is by katie crutchfield, her band waxahachie. she released three previous albums, kind of bathroom, indy

pop, very raw. it's about embracing her own authority and just saying no to, you know, male directives. she toured with an all-woman band this year. she just totally ruled on the touring circuit, out in the storm. it is a little rock 'n roll masterpiece. i really recommend it. ♪ the kiss on my lips ♪ just feeling familiar ♪ the time in your eyes ♪ my skin altered silver >> brown: okay, mikael, who do you have in the breakout category? >> control by sza, parts of kendrick lamar's top-dog crew and a great r&b singer with just some really, really vivid,

profane, funny songs about life and love in the instagram era or the era of swipe right, swipe left tinder. >tinder. ♪ don't take it personally. ♪ i'm surprised you call me after the things i said ♪ >> she writes so vividly and sharply about what it's like to be in relationships in the internet age. >> brown: one thing i like to ask about is something you wish more people knew about. ann, is there somebody in that category? >> absolutely. a young artist actually a 75-year-old artist named don bryant is my pick in this category. don bryant is a long-time singer and son song writer, soul and gl artist, wrote in studios where al green recorded a lot of his

songs, married to ann peanut butterles, another r&b great. he made his second album in 40 years this year, came out on fat opossum records. and his voice at 75 is completely intact. such beautiful melding of gospel and soul, i recommended highly. please see him, if you can. what a voice. ♪ ♪ , ♪ . >> brown: mikael wood, somebody we haven't heard of? >> i'm going to cheat. j. jackson from a small town on the central coast of california, writes beautiful songs about life in a small down, and ethan gruska connected to the record business in los angeles. he writes about family and childhood in a way that reminds me of randy newman, 40 years ago. really great record, both big talents. ♪ what is it you're waiting for,

what is it you're waiting for ♪ ♪ was it you want to see ♪ what is it you want to see >> brown: last year we talked about the move to streaming, you know. it's clearly solidified, but, ann, wha what kind of impact dou think it's having? >> streaming definitely had a day-to-day impact this year. when we were making our list of the best albums in npr music, we as a team found we had fewer consensus picks than ever before and i believe that's because of streaming in many ways. the music industry is aonlyizing more than ever. people are not necessarily even listening to whole albums, although artists are responding by making concept albums, like kendrick lamar's and st. vincent's mass seduction, all these records have story lines, you're trying to pull people back in from their play list playground.

♪ how could anybody have you ♪ . >> brown: but that means things are even more siloed, right? it's hard for anybody to have a mass audience, mikele? >> that's true. but i think you also see people using streaming as an aesthetic position. drake had a play list called "more life." i think he felt liberated from the need to make something tight and coherent and went in all kinds of directions because streaming gave him the license maybe to sort of ream and sort of say this can hang together in whatever way it fits into your life, so i think going forward we'll see more of how streaming shapes the aesthetic of recordmaking which is pretty interesting. >> brown: the year in music, mikael wood, "new york times" "new york times," ann powers npr.

>> sreenivasan: over the past few weeks, we've compiled a number of lists outlining the best of 2017. you can to see more from the artists we just mentioned, plus the best movies and tv shows of the year, on our website. >> sreenivasan: finally, a special essay from newshour viewer stephen kloepfer. tonight, he offers his humble opinion on why we need a bit more poetry in our lives. >> we need more poetry in our lives. whether it's simply to enliven our day or, in more solemn moments, to help us bear "the heartache, and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to," reading poetry can add beauty and balance to our over- committed, over-connected, and over-tweeted lives. great poetry is not restricted to 140 characters, but it is humbling to know what a visionary like william blake

could do with even fewer than 140 characters:" to see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wild flower hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour." and of course, a poem needn't be lofty to be memorable. if your tastes run in more irreverent channels, give dorothy parker a try:" by the time you swear you're his, shivering, and sighing, and he vows his passion is infinite, undying, lady, make a note of this: one of you is lying." in the english-speaking west, our eminence in all forms of poetry has been particularly enduring. though we haven't produced a bach, or a beethoven, in music; or a rembrandt, or picasso, in the visual arts; we have produced poets who are indisputably world-class: shakespeare, milton, wordsworth, emily dickinson, robert frost, and, more recently, derek walcott and john ashbery, to name only an illustrious few. the most compelling reasons for

reading poetry have been offered by the poets themselves: to ma"" darkness visible;" to catch" the hum of thoughts evaded in the mind;" to glimpse "the gigantic shadows which futurity casts upon the present." but for the rest of us mere mortals, there is a more practical reason to welcome poetry into our midst. in the sheer ordinariness of our daily lives, each one of us has an incessant, but silent, conversation with ourselves. over the course of a lifetime, we talk with ourselves much more than we talk to others. if we can learn, from the poets, how to see that "world in a grain of sand," we are likely to think more elevated thoughts, and have more delightful and animated conversations, with ourselves. emily dickinson, perhaps our greatest american poet, got it just right:" the brain is wider than the sky." >> sreenivasan: finally, a quick news update before we go

tonight. there's word the trump administration fired all the remaining members of the presidential advisory council on h.i.v.-aids this week. sending letters via fedex. the move comes months after six of the group's members resigned in protest to president trump's health policies. the council is comprised of health experts who provide h.i.v. and aids policy recommendations to the white house and department of health and human services. the administration plans to appoint new members. the nomination period ends tuesday. on the newshour online right now: we've been celebrating the season by sharing 12 days of holiday cocktails from mixologists around the country. today, we get the recipes for some special drinks that do not contain any alcohol. you can find that and more on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. robert costa is preparing for "washington week," which airs later tonight. robert, what do you have for us? >> tonight on "washington week," we discuss how donald trump has been rewriting the rules of the presidency, the setbacks and

successes of his first year in office, plus a look ahead to 2018. later tonight on "washington week," hari. >> sreenivasan: thanks. on monday, a new year and new laws. a review of regulations taking effect across the country. i'm hari sreenivasan. join us online, and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> and with the ongoing support

of these institutions and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> you're watching pbs.

when a judge said punishable by death, i lost it. >> they're moving, funny, and surprising. inmates perform their own stories. >> when you're in prison for so long, you're used to one costume. and it's blue. we all look like smurfs in here. >> hello and welcome. i'm thuy vu. tonight we bring you a kqed newsroom special. "stand up san quentin." inmates here are doing time for crimes like murder and assault. once known for violence, today san quentin has one of the most rehabilitative programs in the prison system. later we'll talk to a