Latest On point Podcast Episodes
Could holding parents criminally responsible curb the country’s gun violence epidemic?
On Point | Podcast - April 01, 2024 16:19 - 47 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsJennifer and James Crumbley were found guilty of manslaughter for a mass school shooting carried out by their son. Could parental accountability curb the U.S. gun violence epidemic? What else could parents be liable for?
From the archive and in the news: How to cut through the 'noise' that hinders human judgement
On Point | Podcast - March 30, 2024 10:00 - 48 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsNobel prize-winning economist and psychologist Daniel Kahneman has died at the age of 90. In June 2021, we spoke with Kahneman, and his co-author Olivier Sibony, about their book, ‘Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgement.' About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast....
From the archive and in the news: How to cut through the 'noise' that hinders human judgment
On Point | Podcast - March 30, 2024 10:00 - 48 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsNobel prize-winning economist and psychologist Daniel Kahneman has died at the age of 90. In June 2021, we spoke with Kahneman, and his co-author Olivier Sibony, about their book, ‘Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment.'
The Jackpod: Missing misery
On Point | Podcast - March 29, 2024 10:00 - 26 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsOn Point news analyst Jack Beatty looks at what’s counted in official U.S. inflation numbers and finds that the cost of money is not factored into the cost of living.
Has the United States lost its 'can-do' attitude?
On Point | Podcast - March 29, 2024 04:01 - 47 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsAuthor Philip K. Howard says Americans are in a crisis of human disempowerment. But he says re-empowerment is possible, and that could lead to a national flourishing.
This attorney's ideas could change how you buy and sell your home
On Point | Podcast - March 28, 2024 04:01 - 47 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsThe National Association of Realtors agreed to pay a $418 million settlement and change the way members charge commission. A federal jury ruled last year that the NAR conspired to inflate housing market costs. What could that mean for the way homes are bought and sold in the U.S.?
Reproductive health under a second Trump term
On Point | Podcast - March 26, 2024 04:15 - 47 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsTrump's allies are hoping another Trump victory will limit access to abortions, contraceptives, IVF, even recreational sex. But they aren't just hoping, they have detailed plans on how to do it.
Inside the 'no social media' movement
On Point | Podcast - March 25, 2024 04:30 - 47 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsShould kids be allowed on social media? A growing number of families are saying "no" to social media at all. Felicia Hernandez, Katie Longhauser and Evan Greer join Meghna Chakrabarti.
The Jackpod: What leopard?
On Point | Podcast - March 23, 2024 10:00 - 34 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsOn Point news analyst Jack Beatty watches a Donald Trump campaign rally with a famous Franz Kafka quote about the normalization of the abnormal in mind.
The Jackpod is delayed
On Point | Podcast - March 22, 2024 10:00 - 1 minute ★★★★ - 3K ratingsDue to technical difficulties, the Jackpod will be posted later than usual. Check back later for this week's episode.
Should the U.S. ban TikTok?
On Point | Podcast - March 22, 2024 04:01 - 46 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsThe House passed a bill that could force the sale of TikTok, or ban the app altogether. But is targeting a single social media platform the best way to protect Americans from espionage and covert influence campaigns? Jake Auchincloss, Emily Baker-White and Jim Lewis join Meghna Chakrabarti.
How disinformation 'sabotages America'
On Point | Podcast - March 21, 2024 04:01 - 47 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsFormer U.S. attorney Barbara McQuade says disinformation is seeping into every aspect of our political and social lives. How can we stop it?
Finance companies have a new customer: The wrongfully convicted
On Point | Podcast - March 20, 2024 04:01 - 46 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsExonerees are turning to the private sector to provide them with urgently needed cash. But with interest rates so high, it could end up being a new form of confinement.
Could ranked-choice voting take the poison out of politics?
On Point | Podcast - March 19, 2024 05:10 - 46 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsAlaska and Maine use ranked choice voting in elections. Four other states could soon join them. We learn why more states are considering ranked-choice voting.
The hidden value of herbariums
On Point | Podcast - March 18, 2024 04:01 - 47 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsDuke University recently announced plans to close and re-home its century-old herbarium. But with climate change and a looming biodiversity crisis, scientists say these preserved collections of old plants are more important than ever.
On Point presents 'Beyond All Repair,' a new podcast from WBUR
On Point | Podcast - March 16, 2024 10:00 - 26 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsListen: The first chapter of Endless Thread’s podcast Beyond All Repair. Host Amory Sivertson first met Shane Correia in 2017 while interviewing him about his experience with homelessness for WBUR’s Endless Thread. But there is another dark chapter in Shane's life: his older sister being accus...
The Jackpod: The Xanadu Effect
On Point | Podcast - March 15, 2024 10:00 - 33 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsOn Point news analyst Jack Beatty on how presidents lose touch with reality.
The goal: Can the U.S. actually meet its ambitious climate targets?
On Point | Podcast - March 15, 2024 04:01 - 47 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsGiven the environmental, political, and human costs of accelerating mineral mining, can the United States reach its clean energy goals? It's the final episode of our special series "Elements of energy."
The promise of nickel: Power and prosperity in Indonesia
On Point | Podcast - March 14, 2024 04:01 - 47 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsTo electrify our economy, the world needs more nickel. And Indonesia has it. Can nickel pave the road to prosperity? In part four of “Elements of energy," hear how the rush for metals is shaking up global geopolitics.
The human cost of cobalt: Modern slavery in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
On Point | Podcast - March 13, 2024 04:01 - 46 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsMost of the world’s cobalt is extracted in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But to get it, hundreds of thousands of Congolese people labor with no other means to survive. On episode three of On Point’s special series -- cobalt and the human cost of mining.
The copper tradeoff: Protecting today's lands versus preserving tomorrow's climate
On Point | Podcast - March 12, 2024 04:01 - 47 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsCopper is key to our green energy future, but copper extraction is deeply harmful to the environment now. Episode two of On Point’s special series “Elements of energy” explores how to resolve that contradiction.
The lithium boom: What's holding back a lithium rush in the U.S.?
On Point | Podcast - March 11, 2024 04:01 - 47 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsThe U.S. sits on some of the largest lithium reserves in the world. It’s a key element for clean energy. The start of On Point’s weeklong exploration “Elements of energy” takes us inside America’s push for a lithium boom.
The Jackpod: Still
On Point | Podcast - March 09, 2024 11:00 - 39 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsOn Point news analyst Jack Beatty on President Biden’s State of the Union address and the politics of memory, versus the politics of hope.
Lessons from Poland’s democratic resurgence
On Point | Podcast - March 07, 2024 05:01 - 46 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsFor almost a decade, Poland's democracy was in retreat. But last fall, Poland successfully elected a pro-democracy government coalition. What can the rest of the world learn?
How the anti-tax movement went from fringe to mainstream
On Point | Podcast - March 06, 2024 16:55 - 47 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsThe GOP prides itself on being the anti-tax party. But it wasn't always that way. In Michael Graetz’s book "The Power to Destroy," he describes how the anti-tax movement became one of the most powerful forces reshaping American politics and society in the past 50 years.
The dark legacy of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines
On Point | Podcast - March 05, 2024 16:47 - 47 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsWhile in power, former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte ordered the murder of thousands of people without trial. Journalist Patricia Evangelista chronicles the leader's bloody 'war on drugs' in her memoir "Some People Need Killing."
Foreign diplomats on America's global future
On Point | Podcast - March 04, 2024 05:01 - 47 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsForeign diplomats are nervous that the United States’ once solid global leadership is on shaky ground. What’s at stake if the U.S. cedes its place as a world leader?
The Jackpod: Low information voters
On Point | Podcast - March 01, 2024 11:00 - 27 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsOn Point news analyst Jack Beatty on the potential influence of low information voters on this year’s presidential election, and the future of U.S. democracy.
U.S. military barracks are in shambles. Will the government take action?
On Point | Podcast - February 29, 2024 05:01 - 47 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsA recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office reveals poor living conditions inside military barracks – from mold and exposed sewage, to broken windows, nonexistent HVAC systems and more.
Your brain on menopause
On Point | Podcast - February 28, 2024 17:53 - 47 minutes ★★★★ - 3K ratingsHot flashes. Brain fog. Sleep problems. Millions of women go through menopause each year. But what’s happening in the brain during this life transition? Lisa Mosconi joins Meghna Chakrabarti.