This week on ‘Sunday Morning’ (Aug. 16)

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.) 

Hosted by Jane Pauley

     
COVER STORY: A summer of extremes: Weathering a hotter world
July was the hottest month ever in the Lower 48 States, breaking a record last set during the Dust Bowl – just another step in the escalation of our world into a hotter, more dangerous planet. Correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti talks with climate journalist Jeff Goodell and atmospheric scientist Maria Molina about how changes in Earth’s climate are increasing the likelihood that extreme weather events – such as heat waves, wildfires and hurricanes – will become more common and more extreme.

For more info:

• “The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet” by Jeff Goodell (Little, Brown & Co.), in Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
• Jeff Goodell (Official site)
• Maria Molina, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, University of Maryland, College Park

     
ALMANAC: August 16
“Sunday Morning” looks back at historical events on this date.

FASHION: Trophy belt buckles: The highly-prized currency of cowboy culture
From bull riding to barrel racing, trophy belt buckles, worn by champion rodeo riders, tell stories of grit, accomplishment and honor. Correspondent Ian Lee visits the Professional Bull Riders World Championship in Fort Worth, where an elite group of cowboys competes to win a trophy buckle; and talks with the artisans of Montana Silversmiths, who carry on this century-old tradition.

For more info:

• Professional Bull Riders World Championship, Fort Worth
• Montana Silversmiths, Columbus, Mont.
• Cooper Davis on Instagram
• Flint Rasmussen (Official site)
• John Crimber on Instagram

FOOD: How Lovina Zook left the Amish and found an online audience
Twenty-three-year-old Lovina Hershberger Zook is an unlikely social media influencer: she grew up in a conservative Amish community and had never used a cell phone or computer or driven a car. But she left the faith, and her family, five years ago, and today shares stories and recipes of the Amish with her six million online followers. Faith Salie reports on a very un-traditional TikTok sensation.

RECIPE: Amish Peanut Butter Pie

For more info:

• Lovina Zook (Official site)
• “Lovina’s Amish Cookbook: 230+ Authentic Amish Recipes” by Lovina Hershberger Zook (Lovina’s Kitchen Co.), in Hardcover and eBook formats

     
POLITICS: Rahm Emanuel
Robert Costa reports.

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

     
FASHION: Short pants: The long and the short of it
The summer of 1936 saw a heat wave so dangerous at least five thousand people died. It also saw the popularization of a cooler fashion alternative: shorts. Correspondent Mo Rocca looks at the long history of short pants; how at one time, in Yonkers, N.Y., the wearing of shorts was illegal; and how hot pants and Daisy Dukes became high fashion.

BOOK EXCERPT: Modesty on the line in “The Summer of Death”
Geoff Williams’ account of the deadly heat wave of 1936 includes one Kentucky city’s efforts to arrest young women whose warm-weather attire was considered too revealing.

For more info:

• “The Summer of Death: The Great Heat Wave of 1936 and the Making of Modern-Day America” by Geoff Williams (Pegasus Books), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
• Mayor Mike Spano, Yonkers, N.Y.
• Erin Black, associate arts professor, New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts

       
HARTMAN: Mom
     

MUSIC: Don Henley on the Eagles’ “Long Goodbye” farewell tour, now longer
The Eagles, one of the greatest old-school bands on Earth (and whose “Greatest Hits” compilation is the bestselling album in history), have extended their farewell tour, currently in residency at The Sphere in Las Vegas. Eagles co-founder Don Henley talks with correspondent Tracy Smith about the band’s half-century relationship with their fans; the legacy of his late bandmate Glenn Frey; and how his pre-performance regimen has changed with age. (Originally broadcast Feb. 8, 2026.)

You can stream the Eagles’ album “Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975” by clicking on the embed below (Free Spotify registration required to hear the tracks in full):

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Extended Interview – Don Henley (Video)
Singer-songwriter Don Henley reflects on the Eagles’ decades-long career, the larger-than-life legacy of his late bandmate Glenn Frey, and the emotional moment he saw Frey’s son Deacon perform in his father’s place. He also emphasizes the importance of connecting with fans, saying “music is medicine. And people need some medicine right now.”

For more info:

• The Eagles: The Sphere performance schedule and tickets
• “Henry David Thoreau” (executive produced by Ken Burns and Don Henley) on PBS

       
SUNDAY SHORT: TBD
    

TECHNOLOGY: The iNaturalist app – Mixing science with fun
The iNaturalist cellphone app not only helps users identify plant, animal and insect species; it also provides invaluable data to scientists studying biodiversity, species decline, and habitat loss. It also provides opportunities for fun: David Pogue joins iNaturalist fan Martha Stewart in a “bioblitz” – a timed competition with other users to spot and ID species. (Originally broadcast March 22, 2026.)

For more info:

• iNaturalist app
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• marthastewart.com

     
MISCELLANY: This ‘n’ That
Jane Pauley with updates for “Sunday Morning” viewers. 

     
NATURE: Sunflowers in South Dakota
     

WEB EXCLUSIVES:

MARATHON: Aloha, welcome to Hawaii (YouTube Video)
Come learn about the Aloha State as “CBS Sunday Morning’ highlights its beauty, its history, its food and more. Featuring:

• Ancient art of lei-making
• The controversial legacy of Captain James Cook
• The history of surfboards
• The Olympics of hula
• Breadfruit, a stable food of the tropics
• Georgia O’Keeffe, Visions of Hawaii at the Botanical Garden
• The Lanai Cat Sanctuary
• In Hawaii, Spam goes with everything
• Mick Fleetwood plays to the future in Maui
• Mauna Loa volcano sights and sounds

MARATHON: Bookstores (YouTube Video)
To honor National Book Lover’s Day (August 9), “CBS Sunday Morning” pulls some stories off the shelf about treasured bookstores, and the bibliophiles who love them. Featuring:

• A visit to Powell’s, the nation’s largest independent bookstore, in Portland, Ore. (1999)
• Ann Patchett: Writer, and purveyor, of books (2017)
• Grolier, in Cambridge, Mass., a bookshop devoted to poetry (1983)
• Hay-on-Wye, the Welsh booktown that is a reader’s, and author’s, paradise; featuring Martin Cruz Smith, P.D. James and Doris Lessing (1996)
• Dickman’s, one of the largest booksellers in the country, housed in the middle of Iowa farmland (2008)
• A new chapter for the Book Thing, a charity “bookstore” in Baltimore (2017)
• The Massachusetts town of Stoughton pickets a store selling adult books (1983)
• How independent bookstores (like New York City’s Strand, and EyeSeeMe, an African-American children’s bookstore in St. Louis) found ways to cope during the COVID pandemic (2020)
• Hobart, a tiny town in upstate New York, where bookstores rule (2024)
• A moving bookstore finds helping hands – hundreds of them (2025)

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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