This week on “Sunday Morning” (July 20)

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: The science of redesigning your personality
Writer Olga Khazan was unhappy with the person she was – anxious, obsessed with work, unable to have fun, and constantly worried about things. And when therapy, medications and self-care failed to work for her, Khazan decided a more radical approach was needed: she vowed to redesign her personality. Khazan talks with “Sunday Morning” correspondent Susan Spencer about the surprising steps she took to live outside her comfort zone – a journey she documented in her new book, “Me, But Better: The Science and Promise of Personality Change.” Spencer also talks with University of Kentucky professor Shannon Sauer-Zavala about how it’s possible to change seemingly intractable personality traits.

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ALMANAC: July 20
“Sunday Morning” looks back at historical events on this date.

          
FASHION: Brooklyn Fashion Academy: Opening the door to new talent
During the summer, the Brooklyn Public Library hosts a free program mentoring aspiring fashion designers – some with no formal experience – with an assist from “Project Runway All Stars” alum Benjamin Mach. Correspondent Elaine Quijano reports on the Brooklyn Fashion Academy and its goal to broaden access into the fashion industry.

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U.S.: A Civil War landmark in downtown D.C.
One little-known landmark in Washington, D.C., is an inconspicuous building that was the site of a revolutionary effort at the end of the Civil War – one that changed the military ever since – where Clara Barton worked to locate thousands of soldiers missing or dead. Correspondent Falie Salie visits the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum.

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BOOKS: Restaurateur Keith McNally on why he regrets “almost everything”
British-born restaurateur Keith McNally opened such popular New York City institutions as the Odeon, Balthazar and Pastis. But a 2016 stroke, which caused immobility and affected his speech, led to a suicide attempt two years later. It also led him to take to social media, and pen an irreverent memoir, “I Regret Almost Everything.” He talks with correspondent Mo Rocca about overcoming public embarrassment about his condition, and the importance of having a hamburger on the menu.

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

       
TV: Bridget Everett on how she ended up as “Somebody, Somewhere”
Actress and cabaret star Bridget Everett put her hometown of Manhattan, Kansas, on the map with “Somebody, Somewhere.” Everett was a writer, producer and lead actor in the Peabody Award-winning HBO series about a Midwestern woman returning home and working through grief. Correspondent Luke Burbank visited Everett in Manhattan, to talk about her surreal journey, and about a show whose characters can be hopeless and hopeful in the same moment.

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HARTMAN: Happiness carousel
     

TV: What shocked “Matlock” star Kathy Bates?
Academy Award-winning actress Kathy Bates, who sat down with Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz to talk about some of her most memorable stage and screen roles, from “Misery” to “Matlock,” learned a startling fact about her relationship with her mother the night she won the Oscar. (Originally broadcast Oct. 6, 2024.)

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THESE UNITED STATES: Yellowstone National Park
Correspondent Conor Knighton reflects on the American treasure whose preservation as our first national park inspired similar conservation efforts around the globe.

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MUSIC: Conductor Herbert Blomstedt, a man who has cheated time
Herbert Blomstedt is still conducting major symphony orchestras around the world at the age of 98. And as correspondent Martha Teichner reports, he plans to continue doing so past 100 because, he says, “I have gifts I have to live up to.”

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COMMENTARY: Former Obama speechwriter David Litt on finding neutral ground
“Common ground” may be increasingly difficult to find in a time when everything seems political. Instead, David Litt, a former speechwriter for President Barack Obama, suggests finding “neutral ground” with others – a place to spend time together focused on something other than our differences. Surfing, he found, is a good option.

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NATURE: TBD

WEB EXCLUSIVES: 

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Martin Cruz Smith on writing mysteries (Video)
Martin Cruz Smith, author of such bestsellers as “Gorky Park” and “Polar Star,” died on July 11, 2025, at age 82. In this “Sunday Morning” profile that aired Oct. 20, 2002, Smith talked with correspondent Anthony Mason about how he continued writing mysteries featuring Moscow detective Arkady Renko, despite being blacklisted by the Soviet Union. He also discussed the “boring” aspects of writing, and the research he conducted in Japan for his novel “December 6,” set in Tokyo on the eve of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Notable Deaths

MARATHON: Fun ‘n’ Games (YouTube Video)
Enjoy these classic “Sunday Morning” features about gaming, from board and tile games, to bizarre new games that might not catch on.

MARATHON: Pieces of history (YouTube Video)
In this compilation, “CBS Sunday Morning” delves into the pages of history, from the fall of Saigon to the reconstruction of the Notre Dame Cathedral.

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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