This week on “Sunday Morning” (March 27)

Host Jane Pauley. 

HEADLINES: Latest news from Ukraine
Correspondent Holly Williams reports.

     
HEADLINES: Another Russian quagmire – The shadow of Afghanistan
In 1979 the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to install a puppet regime. Ten years later, the Soviet army’s last forces withdrew, defeated by Afghan rebels who’d been armed by the CIA. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin looks at how the Kremlin’s failure so far in capturing the Ukrainian capital and installing a puppet government has produced a new quagmire for Russia, exposing weaknesses in its military and creating a question mark over Vladimir Putin’s future.

     
COVER STORY: Breaking through Russia’s digital Iron Curtain
Inaugurated during the Cold War, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty pierced the Iron Curtain via shortwave radio, presenting news broadcasts to countries where freedom of the press was under assault. Today, its mission is even more critical, as it counters Kremlin propaganda about the war against Ukraine with uncensored news for Russian audiences via the Internet. Correspondent Christina Ruffini examines how the organization is evading a new generation of Russian censors.

For more info:

• Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

      
FINANCE: Meet a Russian oligarch hit by sanctions
Targeted by the U.S. and its allies with sanctions because of their ties to the Kremlin, Russian oligarchs have found their accounts frozen and assets seized. Correspondent Seth Doane talks with Mikhail Fridman, a Ukrainian-born Russian oligarch now living in London, who cannot use his ATM card and resides in a mansion he can’t sell. Fridman explains why he believes sanctions are not the answer to punishing Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin. Doane also talks with Tom Burgis, author of “Kleptopia: How Dirty Money Is Conquering the World.”

For more info:

• “Kleptopia: How Dirty Money Is Conquering the World” by Tom Burgis (HarperCollins), in Hardcover, Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio Formats, available via Amazon and Indiebound

ALMANAC: The 1952 premiere of “Singin’ in the Rain”
Seventy years ago, the film regarded as perhaps the greatest Hollywood musical ever – a Technicolor love letter to Hollywood starring Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds – debuted.

For more info:

• “Singin’ in the Rain” available on Warner Brothers Blu-ray/DVD via Amazon, or streaming on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, HBO Max, Vudu and YouTube

      
ART: Where museum guards pick the art
Museum guards probably spend more time with art on the walls than anyone else, but are rarely asked for expert opinions. At the Baltimore Museum of Art, a new show, “Guarding the Art,” was organized not by the museum’s curators, but by its very own security staff. Correspondent Kristine Johnson talks with guards who are offering their perspectives on the museum’s collected works. 

For more info:

• “Guarding the Art,” at the Baltimore Museum of Art (March 27 through July 10)

SPORTS: Making waves
University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, a transgender woman, has smashed Ivy League records in the pool since switching from the men’s team to the women’s. Her winning streak has reignited a fierce debate: do trans women have an unfair biological advantage in sports? And are competitive fairness and trans inclusivity mutually exclusive? With 22 states recently introducing bills that would ban trans women and girls from sports, correspondent Lee Cowan talks to advocates and experts on both sides of this contentious issue.  

For more info:

• Lucas Draper (guest editorial for Swimming World magazine)
• Schuyler Bailar (pinkmantaray.com)
• Schuyler Bailar on Instagram
• Photos of Schuyler Bailar by Ray Yeager, and by Sydney Altschuler (Sydney Claire Photography)
• Nancy Hogshead Makar (Champion Women)
• Dr. Michael Joyner, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
• Joanna Harper, School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, England

COMMENTARY: Douglas Brinkley on Madeleine Albright, a “Hammer of Democracy”
The historian remembers the trailblazing Secretary of State and U.N. Ambassador, who promoted NATO enlargement while antagonizing despots around the world.

For more info:

• douglasbrinkley.com

      
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Madeleine Albright’s pins (Video)
Former Secretary of State and Ambassador to the United Nations Madeleine Albright died on Wed., March 23, 2022, at the age of 84. In this “Sunday Morning” story that aired September 27, 2009, CBS News’ Katie Couric talked with Albright about how her decorative brooches became a part of her diplomatic arsenal (sparked by a comment from Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein). They also visit an exhibit featuring more than 200 of Albright’s pins at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City.     

     
PASSAGE: Madeleine Albright
      

MOVIES: Buster Keaton, the “Great Stone Face”
Correspondent David Pogue reports.

     
HARTMAN: National Anthem
     

MOVIES: “The Godfather” at 50: The making of a classic
When “The Godfather” opened in March 1972, director Francis Ford Coppola’s drama about a mob family forever changed how we look at gangster films. Correspondent Tracy Smith talks with Coppola, and with stars Robert Duvall, James Caan and Talia Shire, about the making of a classic that movie lovers could not refuse.

GALLERY: “The Godfather”: The 50th anniversary
CBSNews.com’s David Morgan looks at the making of a timeless landmark of American film. 

For more info:

• “The Godfather” 50th Trilogy available on 4K UHD, Blu-Ray and Digital (Official website)
• The Godfather Wiki
• “The Godfather Family Album” by Steve Schapiro, edited by Paul Duncan (Taschen)
• “Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli: The Epic Story of the Making of ‘The Godfather'” by Mark Seal (Simon & Schuster)
• “The Annotated Godfather Screenplay” by Jenny M. Jones (Black Dog & Leventhal)  

     
COMMENTARY: Advice to parents of young kids: It only gets worse
After years of standup in which he’s complained about his five young children, comedian Jim Gaffigan has discovered something truly terrifying: being the father of five older children.

For more info:

• jimgaffigan.com
• Follow @JimGaffigan on Twitter

GEOLOGY: Gems: Beauty set in stone
They took millions, even billions of years to form, but gemstones can capture our awe in a flash. Correspondent Faith Salie visits the recently-reopened Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where visitors can eye these beautiful superstars of geologic history. 

For more info:

• Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals, American Museum of Natural History, New York City

OSCARS 2022: David Edelstein asks, “Why does this thing still exist?”
Everyone, it seems, is angry at the Academy Awards, and for many reasons; our film critic offers his predictions for this year’s award-winners, and for what he believes might be the most freakishly riveting Oscar ceremony yet.

COMPLETE CBS NEWS COVERAGE: The Academy Awards

      
NATURE: TBD
     

WEB EXCLUSIVES: 

“HERE COMES THE SUN”: Ryan Reynolds and artist-teacher Shirley Woodson (Video)
Actor Ryan Reynolds is still finding himself in a way, both in life and in his latest film. We also have a story on artist Shirley Woodson, who’s celebrating a one-woman show in her hometown of Detroit that’s been a long time coming. 

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