Americana - 14/03/2010

Matt Frei talks to conservative commentator SE Cupp about how and where politics and religion collide. The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) flew boldly for the United States during World War II but they were not acknowledged as anything more than civilian volunteers. Former pilot Maggie Gee is among the women who will be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of her work years ago. Matt Frei talks to Bill Wasik, senior editor of Harper's Magazine, about the quirky and enlightening Harper's Index. Numbers don't lie, but what truths do they expose? And though thousands of miles of railroad tracks were meticulously laid all across America, the history of rail travel in the United States has not been a smooth ride. With high speed all the rage Matt Frei talks to award-winning author and historian T.J. Stiles for a discussion of America's railways and their potential for success in the future.