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.

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.

For more info:

• Dr. John Sorochan, professor, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
• FIFA Pitch Research Project
• Crossroads Sod Farm, Belvidere, Tenn. (Facebook)

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.

For more info:

• Exhibition: “Carol Bove,” at the Guggenheim Museum, New York City (through August 2)
• Exhibition Catalogue: “Carol Bove,” edited by Katherine Brinson (Guggenheim New York), in Trade Paperback, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
• Gagosian Gallery: Carol Bove
• Thanks to Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

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.

For more info:

• Longevity increased by positive self-perceptions of aging (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology)
• Social networks, social support, and life expectancy in older adults: The Cardiovascular Health Study (Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics)

     
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.

For more info:

• Judge Ronald Gould, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Seattle

     
HARTMAN: Nurse
     

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:

For more info:

• “Little Miss Twain” is available for pre-order, will be released July 24
• shaniatwain.com

     
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:

• “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe” debuts on HBO Max July 23

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

For more info:

• “Mighty Real: A History of LGBTQ Music, 1969-2000” by Barry Walters (Viking), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
• barrywalterswriter.com

     
NATURE: TBD
      

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)

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.

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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