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This week on ‘Sunday Morning’ (July 19)

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 11:00 a.m. ET. (Download it here.) 

Guest host: Lee Cowan

     
COVER STORY: Congressional gridlock
Robert Costa reports.

     
ALMANAC: July 19
“Sunday Morning” looks back at historical events on this date.

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Dr. John Sorochan, Distinguished Professor in Turfgrass Science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has helped FIFA with the natural grass required for World Cup play. 

CBS News

SPORTS: Turf wars: Developing natural grass for the World Cup
FIFA rules state that World Cup matches must be played on pitches with natural grass. For this year’s tournament, where some matches were scheduled in stadiums with artificial turf, special varieties of grass were required to withstand playing conditions and differing climates. Conor Knighton examines how scientifically-engineered sod was deployed, sometimes in domed stadiums, to ensure resiliency under the demands of World Cup competition.

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A view of the Carol Bove retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. 

David Heald; © Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation

ARTS: Carol Bove’s heavy metal
Carol Bove’s bent and warped steel sculptures tower above visitors to the artist’s retrospective at New York’s Guggenheim Museum. Correspondent Faith Salie talks with Bove about how her artwork invites museum-goers into an environment of curiosity and playfulness.

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Actor Ted Danson has been around for a while. 

CBS News

COMMENTARY: Ted Danson with 4 tips on aging creatively
Studies show that having a positive outlook about aging, and having good social networks, can have positive health benefits, from preventing memory loss to a longer life expectancy. Actor Ted Danson presents “Sunday Morning” viewers with advice on how to embrace aging.

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PASSAGE: In memoriam
“Sunday Morning” remembers some of the notable figures who left us this week.

      
U.S.: Judge Ronald Gould on his MS: “Just take life a step at a time”
Ronald Gould is a federal judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle, one rung below the U.S. Supreme Court. At 79, he shoulders a full caseload despite living with progressive multiple sclerosis. He talks with CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook about working with MS, a condition he faces with grit and a healthy dose of humor. LaPook also talks with one of Gould’s former law clerks, Karla Gilbride, an attorney who has been blind since birth.

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HARTMAN: Nurse
     

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Singer Shania Twain.

CBS News

MUSIC: Shania Twain on her “very long road” to getting it right
Shania Twain grew up dirt poor in rural Ontario, and as a child sang country songs in bars. Throughout family hardships, divorce, and losing her voice to Lyme disease, and despite not signing a record contract until her late 20s, Twain became the top-selling female country artist of all time. She talks with correspondent Seth Doane about her biographical new album, “Little Miss Twain,” in which she reflects on her life with a smile.

To hear Shania Twain perform “Dirty Rosie” from the album “Little Miss Twain,” click on the video player below:

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TV: “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe”: Comedy that breaks the rules (and the multiverse)
A new HBO Max comedy series – a spin-off from “The Big Bang Theory” – features comic book store owner Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman) as an unlikely action hero trying to restore order to a disintegrating universe. Luke Burbank talks with Sussman, co-star Lauren Lapkus, and series creators Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady and Zak Penn, about taking “The Big Bang Theory” characters into uncharted worlds.

To watch a trailer for “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe,” click on the video player below:

For more info:

     

COMMENTARY: Sam Smith and the “gentle revolution” of “My Guy”
Rolling Stone writer Barry Walters, author of the music history “Mighty Real,” says the latest ballad by British singer Sam Smith is a step forward from LGBTQ love songs being marginalized.

Sam Smith performs “My Guy”:

READ AN EXCERPT: “Mighty Real: A History of LGBTQ Music, 1969-2000” by Barry Walters

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NATURE: TBD
      

WEB EXCLUSIVES:

From the archives: Pat Oliphant and the art of political cartoons

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: Pat Oliphant and the art of political cartoons (Video)
Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Pat Oliphant, whose acidic drawings skewering political figures were syndicated in as many as 500 publications around the world, died on July 13, 2026 at age 90. In this April 16, 2000 “Sunday Morning” story, Oliphant talked with Morley Safer about caricature, censorship, and the influence of the first great political cartoonist, 19th century French master Honoré Daumier, whose grotesque drawings of King Louis Philippe led to a curtailment of press freedom in France in 1835.  

MARATHON: Hot dog! America’s love of franks (YouTube Video)
Do you relish frankfurters? In honor of National Hot Day Day this past week, “Sunday Morning” brings you these stories devoted to everyone’s favorite dog (on a bun). Featuring:

  • Chicago’s special way with a hot dog (2001)
  • Lee Cowan with a frank look at the making of a hot dog (2013)
  • Bobby Flay with an appreciation of hot dogs (2005)
  • A landmark roadside hot dog stand in Mamaroneck, N.Y. (2003)
  • Bill Geist attends Hot Dog University (2007)
  • Chicago’s most popular hot dog (2009)
  • Scott Pelley with the story of Nathan’s Famous (2002)
  • Mo Rocca in search of a Mexican hot dog (2009)
  • Steve Hartman with a flinger of hot dogs (2012)
  • A profile of champion hot dog eater Joey Chestnut (2010)

Notable Deaths in 2026

Notable Deaths in 2026

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GALLERY: Notable deaths in 2026
A look back at the esteemed personalities who’ve left us this year, who’d touched us with their innovation, creativity and humanity.

Summer music highlights of 2026

Summer music highlights of 2026

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GALLERY: Summer music highlights of 2026
Summer is the time to enjoy live music, indoors and out. Scroll through our gallery of some of 2026’s leading musical acts, featuring images by CBS News photojournalist Jake Barlow and photographers Ed Spinelli and Kirstine Walton.

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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“Sunday Morning” also streams on the CBS News app beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET. (Download it here.) 

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You can also download the free “Sunday Morning” audio podcast at iTunes and at Play.it. Now you’ll never miss the trumpet!

Do you have sun art you wish to share with us? Email your suns to SundayMorningSuns@cbsnews.com. 

Bookstore owner takes literacy mission on the road with ‘Black Star Line’ Summer Tour

Click here for updates on this story    BALTIMORE (WMAR) -- A Baltimore bookstore owner is taking her mission to inspire young readers directly into neighborhoods across the city with a bus full of free books.The Black Star Line Literacy Bus, created by Tia Hamilton, is making stops throughout Baltimore this summer with one goal: put books into the hands of children and help close the city's literacy gap."It's free," Hamilton said. "And just to be able to say that means everything."Hamilton says too many neighborhoods are what she calls "book deserts," where families have limited access to books and literacy resources."There are children who aren't getting the necessary literacy tools that's needed," she said. "It's time to get to the literacy. It's time to educate."Wrapped in vibrant Pan-African colors, the Black Star Line bus is impossible to miss. Inspired by Marcus Garvey's historic Black Star Line ship, the mobile library also features images of influential Black leaders, including Malcolm X.As a person who was formerly incarcerated, she draws inspiration from the civil rights leader because a pivotal part of his story included turning his life around from behind bars.Hamilton says education transformed her own life, and now she's determined to help children avoid the barriers she once faced."If 54% of America's adults can't read above the sixth-grade reading level, that's why I exist," Hamilton said. "That's why my mission exists. That's why my foundation exists."At every stop, children are encouraged to choose books to take home and build their own personal libraries. Hamilton hopes those books become the foundation for lifelong learning."If children are reading 20 minutes a day, they will expose themselves to 1.8 million words a year," she said.Hamilton believes investing in literacy today can help prevent much bigger problems tomorrow."It takes $54,000 for one child to take care of them inside a prison," she said. "So instead of investing in that, invest in this cause and invest in me and let me go out here and do the work to make our children literate."The work isn't easy. Hamilton loads, unloads and distributes hundreds of books herself at each stop, bringing plenty of enthusiasm along the way."I don't know," she laughed. "I wake up like this."Still, she says community support is essential to keeping the bus rolling."Donate your time and donate gently used books," Hamilton said. "This is why I'm asking for books and donations because it's not about me. It's about our children, our youth, our legacy."Hamilton's goal is to give away 100 books at every stop this summer, totaling 5,000 books across Baltimore. She also hopes to expand the program next summer by adding two more literacy buses to reach even more communities."They are going to change the world," Hamilton said. "We give them an opportunity."People interested in donating books, volunteering or supporting the Black Star Line Literacy Bus can find more information through Hamilton's organization here. Hamilton has also launched a "Bookmark It" program to help families, kids and adults, where you can join a reading club and get a discount on books.Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
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