On Point | Podcast

According to a recent poll by the American Psychological Association, more than two out of three Americans say the upcoming presidential election is causing a significant amount of stress in their lives. The consequences of election-related stress and what you can do to manage it.

On Point news analyst Jack Beatty on the political power of fantasy over reality and its role in Trumpian politics in the U.S.

This month, more than a dozen former Trump staffers went on the record to say that everyone should heed the warning that Donald Trump is a fascist and would rule as a dictator.

False claims and threats about the 2024 election are expected to get worse after Election Day. How are social media companies preparing?

The Federal Elections Commission has issued rules that make coordination between campaigns and big donors legal and more direct. How's that shaping the 2024 election? We explore the connection between billionaires and the campaigns they're influencing.

The Georgia Supreme Court has blocked the state's Republican-led election board from enforcing new election rules introduced just weeks before Election Day. We speak to Republican Janelle King, a board member who pushed for the rule changes.

2024 is set to be a record-breaking year for political advertising, with some $10.2 billion spent across the U.S. Most of those dollars are aimed at seven swing states. What do voters in those states see on their TVs and online — and what does that say about current political messaging?

The latest on special counsel Jack Smith’s case against former President Donald Trump and his attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

On Point news analyst Jack Beatty on the influence of French historian and philosopher René Girard’s beliefs about the nature of human beings on our daily lives, social media, and JD Vance’s conversion to Catholicism.

Donald Trump has promised to deport millions of migrants if he's elected. He wants the largest mass deportation in U.S. history. How Trump plans to do that and its likely consequences.

Donald Trump claimed that newborns are sometimes “executed." That is not true. He’s talking about perinatal palliative care. We learn the facts about the care these grieving families receive and why it's sometimes needed.

Wisconsin is one of the states that will likely determine the 2024 election. On Point goes on the road to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to talk to the chair of the state election committee about the security and trustworthiness of the vote.

With Election Day quickly approaching, many voters are still wondering what a potential Kamala Harris presidency would look like -- and how it would differ from the Biden administration.

Some 53 U.S. Senators and representatives are leaving Congress this year. What’s driving this flood of retirements? What does it mean for the 2024 election and beyond?

On Point news analyst Jack Beatty outlines the details and potential consequences of Donald Trump’s plan for the mass deportation of more than ten million migrants currently in the U.S. should he be elected president again.

While the presidential race is getting most of the attention, control of several key state legislatures is also up for grabs, in places like Arizona and Michigan. The contests for legislative control across the country – and why they matter.

Former President Trump wants to build a tariff wall: 60% tariff on goods from China, 20% on imports from everywhere else in the world. But what exactly are tariffs, and who do they help or hurt?

For years, Republican strategist Sarah Longwell has been conducting focus groups with so-called “flippers,” voters who supported Donald Trump in 2016 then flipped to Joe Biden in 2020. Longwell’s analysis on what’s influencing them in 2024.

Rebroadcast: Exonerees 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.

With Russia’s war against Ukraine, the wider war in the Middle East, the border issues with Mexico -- the world is watching the U.S. presidential election more than ever. We hear from international observers in Europe in Latin America to Africa about why how you vote matters to the rest of the world.

On Point news analyst Jack Beatty draws a line from Donald Trump’s appearance as a savvy businessman on The Apprentice to his belief in tariffs as a powerful tool to benefit the U.S. economy, and even prevent war.

Since 2020, many voters have dug into their positions. Others have changed. Some have turned away from politics entirely. Several Americans who shared their stories during the 2020 election, join us to discuss election 2024.

In Georgia, a Republican-led state election board is implementing new rules just weeks before election day. Local election officials say the new rules will hurt the state’s election security. What's behind the upheaval in Georgia's elections?

The media uses small soundbites and sensible summaries to make Donald Trump sound more coherent than he actually is. But by doing so, some argue that the media ends up presenting a misleading picture of the former president that could misinform voters.

Pedestrian deaths in this country are at an all-time high. And now, the government is stepping in. For the first time ever, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has proposed new rules that would affect the external design and look of supersized trucks and SUVs.

Israel. Hamas. Hezbollah. Iran. One year since Hamas's brutal attack on Israel, the Netanyahu government has expanded its war beyond Gaza. What’s next in the widening war — and what are the consequences?

On Point news analyst Jack Beatty on the moments in the vice presidential debate when Republican candidate JD Vance contradicted the evidence of his own track record with misrepresentations and obliquities.

Local election officials are working hard to make sure the 2024 election goes off without a hitch. And they're doing that despite being criticized, hounded, attacked, and threatened. Three county elections officials, Democrats and Republicans, from Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania share their experiences from the frontlines of America's elections.

Under the Biden Administration, the FTC significantly stepped-up antitrust enforcement. Last year alone Biden’s regulators filed a record 50 antitrust enforcement actions. And mergers reached a 10-year low. Have Biden's antitrust actions helped consumers?

Every presidential path to victory in 2024 leads through Pennsylvania. In Cambria County, voters flipped from blue to red in a few short election cycles. What clues does the county hold for 2024?

Arizona was the first state in the country to adopt universal school vouchers. But who is benefiting from this program, and who gets left behind? With school voucher questions on several state ballots right now, we look at lessons from Arizona in our latest collaboration with ProPublica.

The Taliban has banned women from speaking in public. They're banned from singing, reading, reciting poetry, or even laughing outside their homes. What do the recent crackdowns mean for Afghan women -- and what can the international community do to stop it?

On Point news analyst Jack Beatty on the constitutional procedure that calls for the House of Representatives’ congressional delegations to determine the winner of the presidential election in the event of a tie in the electoral college.

Zyn nicotine pouches have exploded in popularity, generating millions of dollars for tobacco giants — and a new subculture on the internet, or “Zynternet.” Zyn has even found its way into national politics. What's behind the rise of Zyn?

Ukraine wants to use western long-range weapons to strike targets inside of Russia. Vladimir Putin says if President Biden approves such use of western weapons, it will mean massive war. Could a decision to help Ukraine win its war spark a larger geopolitical catastrophe?

Menstruation is a definitive experience of a woman's life, and an indicator of her health. So why has period blood or menstrual fluid been largely under-researched?

Russia’s efforts to influence American voters in this year’s elections are getting more advanced. They’ve even used American media personalities to try to sow division. How can we protect election integrity?

In a new memoir, New York Times correspondent Edward Wong retraces the complicated story of his father’s life as a zealous young Communist in China to an immigrant in America. What does it mean to love country over party?

On Point news analyst Jack Beatty on the entertainment value of conspiracy theories as a source of their appeal.

The gender divide among Gen Z voters is deeper than any other generation. Young women are drawn to progressive politics. Young men are drawn to Trump. But why?

Vice President Harris proposes giving a $25,000 grant to first-time homebuyers to help solve America’s housing crisis. Many are skeptical. But Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has championed a similar program in his state.

Becoming a parent was once a social norm. But today, more Americans than ever are ambivalent about having children. What could create a renewed sense of meaning in parenting?

Hear On Point's mini-series on the declining birth rate in the United States. We're not looking at economics, or education, but another aspect of parenthood highlighted and debated in two new books. Do children bring a unique sense of meaning to life?

In 2020, Alina Chan called for the scientific community to not abandon a potential lab leak origin of SARS-CoV-2. She was called a conspiracy theorist and a race traitor. Her story and the search for the origins of COVID, four years later.

On Point news analyst Jack Beatty imagines a presidential debate in which Vice President Kamala Harris candidly answers the questions of undecided voters.

In his new book "The End of Race Politics," Coleman Hughes argues that closing racial divides in America means building a color-blind society. Coleman Hughes joins Meghna Chakrabarti.

Mexico could soon become the world's first country to elect every single one of its judges, even on the Mexican supreme court. Will it combat corruption or is it a political power grab?

Our planet’s rich nature sounds are disappearing, drowned out by human-made noise. Sound recordist Matt Mikkelsen travels the world, listening to and working to preserve our vanishing soundscapes.

Phoenix, Arizona has crossed a troubling milestone. More than one hundred days of temperatures over 100 degrees. Across the country, extreme heat kills more Americans than hurricanes, floods and tornadoes combined. So why don’t we label is a disaster?

The world’s focus on growth - also known as GDP - has led to higher living standards, longer life and more jobs. But it has also destroyed the climate and created mass inequality. Economist Daniel Susskind argues that what we need isn’t less growth, but less destructive growth. Is that possible?

On Point news analyst Jack Beatty finds contemporary resonances in the new book by British historian Richard J. Evans, “Hitler’s People: The Faces of the Third Reich.”

The Barred Owl is considered “invasive” in the Pacific Northwest and it’s pushing the Northern Spotted Owl to extinction. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a plan -- kill nearly half a million Barred Owls over the next 30 years.

Some colleges receive tens of thousands of applications every year. Admissions officers are turning to Artificial Intelligence to help with the screening. What that could mean for who gets into college and how.

On Point’s “money ladies,” Michelle Singletary and Rana Foroohar, are back to answer your questions about housing, inflation, the lingering impact of COVID and more.

Some estimates say artificial intelligence could replace hundreds of millions of jobs in the not-too-distant future. Why the rapid advances in AI may be the best argument yet for universal basic income.

Rebroadcast: The United States has set ambitious goals to transition to clean energy. We’ll need more mining to do it. But given the environmental, political, and human costs of accelerating mineral mining, can the United States meet its climate targets?

On Point news analyst Jack Beatty on the potency of humiliation in politics today.

Rebroadcast: To electrify our economy, the world needs more nickel. Indonesia has plenty and hopes it can pave the road to prosperity. How the rush for metals is shaking up global geopolitics.

Rebroadcast: Most 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.

Rebroadcast: Copper 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.

Rebroadcast: The U.S. sits on some of the largest lithium reserves in the world. It’s a key element for clean energy. The first episode of On Point’s weeklong exploration “Elements of energy” takes us inside America’s push for a lithium boom.

On Point news analyst Jack Beatty on the meaning of Kamala Harris’ rallying cry at the Democratic National Convention and four themes he observed.

Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic presidential nomination. The first Black woman to do so. Thursday night she gave the biggest speech of her life. How did she do?

Democrats have a 2024 policy platform, covering topics like the economy and immigration. But they wrote it when Joe Biden was the nominee. What do the Democrats stand for with Kamala Harris out front?

VP candidates JD Vance and Tim Walz hail from Midwestern states. Both use that identity to try and appeal to voters. Who will Midwesterners decide has it right?

Last week, Boston Red Sox player Jarren Duran was suspended for two games after responding to a heckling fan with a homophobic slur. Men’s pro sports have a rocky history with LGBTQ issues, and although teams are trying, some question whether it’s enough.

For three years, hundreds of people in Texas and Illinois received payments of $1,000 a month, no strings attached. It was the biggest study of its kind. And after eight years of research – the results are in. What did we learn?

The topline numbers about the U.S. economy don’t seem to match what millions of Americans are feeling. Which information is right?

On Point news analyst Jack Beatty on Donald Trump’s propensity for lies and falsehoods, and their connection to the power he has over his followers.

On Point and ProPublica are launching a new collaboration, bringing you monthly special episodes that combine ProPublica’s groundbreaking investigative reporting with On Point’s incisive analysis. In the first episode: The world is awash in plastic waste. Oil companies claim to have a solution, an advanced form of chemical recycling. But can it deliver on its promise?

Disabled and sunk ships. Frightened sailors. Not because of sharks – but because of whales and orca. Scientists seeing an increase in unexpected large marine mammal interactions. Why?

Companies track your data online. So it's no surprise that they know a lot about your habits and preferences. Now, they're trying to use that data to offer different prices to different customers, for the same items.

It's been a month since the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. The Secret Service is finally, publicly accepting responsibility. But what decisions and lack of resources led to the failure?

Hot 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.

This week, a federal judge issued a ruling that could shake up how we use the internet. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google has illegally used its dominance to stifle competition and quash innovation. Back in October, we undertook a detailed examination of the case, known as U.S. v. Google, with Tim Wu, an expert on monopolies.

Meghna Chakrabarti and On Point senior editor Dorey Scheimer do their best knowing even together, they are not one Jack Beatty. They take your messages and questions about President Biden's decision to drop out and the new state of the 2024 presidential race.

More than 30 years ago, sociologist James Davison Hunter coined the term "culture wars." Since then, those wars have poisoned American politics. Today, Hunter says cultural resources that create a sense of national solidarity could end America's culture wars. But what exactly are cultural resources? And can they be renewed?

No witnesses. No physical evidence. An ironclad alibi. Nevertheless, a Texas jury sentenced Ben Spencer to life in prison for a murder he didn't commit. Journalist and author Barbara Bradley Hagerty shares what it took to set Spencer free.

The last time Congress passed a law to protect children on the internet was 26 years ago. That’s before Facebook or the iPhone was even created. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree regulation is long overdue. It’s the 'how' that’s the question.

More than a quarter of young Americans have cut ties with one of their parents. Sometimes on the advice of therapists, who say families are traumatizing. But some families say they’re the ones being traumatized. We discuss the debate over family estrangement.

High housing costs are pushing more Americans to find roommates, including baby boomers and empty nesters. We take a look at the growing trend of intergenerational living.

Anti-tourism protests spread around the world this summer. Some cities are charging tourist entry fees, banning cruise ships or imposing fines for bad behavior. Some say the solution to the world’s growing wanderlust isn‘t for people to travel less but to travel better.

Techno libertarians, white nationalists and JD Vance are all linked to a movement known as the 'New Right.' What is this movement and how has it influenced the Republican candidate for vice president?

Kamala Harris is making her prosecutorial experience center stage in her presidential bid against Donald Trump. What Harris’s record tells us about who she is, what she believes, and how she might govern if elected.

Today’s autocratic rulers don’t share a specific ideology. But they do share a thirst for power. In her latest book, Autocracy, Inc., Anne Applebaum says the new twist is that those autocrats now work together to keep that grip on power.

Celebrated author Amy Tan doesn’t just write best-selling novels. She’s a passionate birder, too. Her book 'Backyard Bird Chronicles' describes the transformative experience of birding in her own backyard. 

With nearly three quarters of Israelis wanting Benjamin Netanyahu out of office, On Point news analyst Jack Beatty says the Israeli prime minister is on borrowed political time. Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden is out of political time after dropping out of the 2024 race.

No matter how much order, sense, or predictability we try to bring to our lives, uncertainty and the anxiety it can create are always there. But new thinking on uncertainty shows us how it can be a good thing.

Is the government covering up what it knows about UFOs, now called Unexplained Aerial Phenomena? We dive into 75 years of UFO history and the beginnings of government mistrust.

In places where human beings have done everything they can to pave and plow over nature, what might happen if we just left those places alone?

Utah’s Great Salt Lake is the largest salt lake in the Western Hemisphere. Since the 1980s, the lake has shrunk by two-thirds, and is projected to disappear entirely in the next five years. If it does, it will lead to massive environmental, economic and public health issues.

After surviving an attempted assassination, Donald Trump promised he would seek unity as he accepted the GOP’s nomination. We take a look at what Trump said, and whether or not that message was embraced by delegates, Republican party leaders, and Trump's base nationwide.

On Point news analyst Jack Beatty has a tale of two parties: “Republicans united in the shimmer of victory, Democrats divided in the shadow of defeat.”

Donald Trump has transformed Republican politics, and Republican policy, as reflected in the GOP's newest platform. Analysts say it echoes the language of its presidential candidate, instead of previously held Republican views, on a range of issues from the economy to abortion.

Sharks are full of secrets, despite being some of the oldest creatures on the planet. Marine biologist Jasmin Graham has spent a decade studying them — and trying to bring more women of color like her into the field. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci was the government’s top infectious disease official during the COVID-19 pandemic. What has his career in public service taught him?

An assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump two days before the Republican National Convention. Politicians across the board are condemning political violence and violent rhetoric. Can we turn away from both?

For 40 years, federal judges deferred to the expertise of government agencies to interpret ambiguous language in laws. But after a recent Supreme Court decision, that power now lies in the hands of the judiciary.

On Point news analyst Jack Beatty traces how the politics of revenge triumphed over the politics of remedy in the years between D-Day and the attack on the U.S. Congress. This special episode was recorded in front of a live audience at WBUR CitySpace.