The Assignment with Audie Cornish CNN

Bad trips, anti-drug PSAs, and the crackdown under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 helped stigmatize psychedelics in the U.S. But now, there’s renewed clinical inquiry into whether these drugs can ease emotional trauma. To understand the future of psychedelics, Audie calls up Ernesto Londoño, reporter at the New York Times and author of the new book, “Trippy: The Peril and Promise of Medicinal Psychedelics.” They discuss his own mental health and psychedelic journeys and why he thinks there’s good reason for both hope and skepticism. 
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When Mike Johnson worked with Democrats to pass Ukraine war funding, he knew it would enrage the extreme right-wing and threaten his speakership. So far, Johnson has survived the challenge to his job, and as Doug Heye puts it, “survival is strength.” Heye has worked for Republicans in the House and Senate and is a former communications director for the Republican National Committee. He’ll describe the tightrope Mike Johnson must walk in order lead House Republicans back to a majority in November.
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Pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses have been met with suspensions, expulsions, and arrests. This week, Audie talks with two people in the middle of the story to understand how they view and talk about this moment. We hear from Krasimir Staykov, a junior and an activist at Pomona College in Claremont, California. He and others were arrested for staging a sit-in in the university president’s office. We also hear from Michael Roth, the president of Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, about his approach to campus protest, and his response to protest language he finds offensive.
Read all of CNN’s coverage on campus protests. 
Read all of Pomona College’s statements about protests on campus. 
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Jon Favreau and Jon Lovett were speechwriters in the Obama White House who, along with Tommy Vietor, decided to venture into media with a podcast now called Pod Save America. The show became a hit, so they founded a whole company around it called Crooked Media. Now, they produce a plethora of podcasts, host a full schedule of live shows, and even write books like their new title, Democracy or Else. Favreau & Lovett go behind the fights over messaging in the Democratic party, parse Joe Biden's campaign strategy, and explain the challenges of running a progressive media company in the age of Trump.
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And does Country need Beyoncé? The likely answer to both of those questions is no. But the discussion Beyoncé sparked seems to be the larger point of her new album, Cowboy Carter. Sidney Madden is a reporter for NPR Music, and has delved deep into the intricate dynamics of race, genre, and industry politics addressed on the album. Audie and Sidney talk about these bigger themes and explore the conversation that's been started by Beyoncé's latest bold venture. 
Sidney Madden is also co-host of the podcast Louder Than a Riot. 
Watch, “Call Me Country: Beyoncé & Nashville’s Renaissance,” available to stream in the U.S. on Friday, April 26 on Max (subscription required). The documentary examines this reckoning in the genre, straight from the country music capital of the world. 
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While the political world fixates on Donald Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial, the Supreme Court is weighing two decisions that could re-define the November election and invalidate charges for hundreds of January 6th defendants. CNN’s Senior Supreme Court Analyst Joan Biskupic is here to explain what’s at stake and read the tea leaves as to which way the justices are leaning. Joan’s book, Nine Black Robes, is now out in paperback.
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