On Point with Meghna Chakrabarti
Get ready for your aha moment: Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti pierces your news bubble to expose the whole story. Getting answers to the questions that need to be asked, examining our history and the human condition. No topic is too complicated or off the table. It’s all On Point.
What we can actually do to save the planet
An ever-warming world, rising sea levels, shrinking glaciers — it’s easy to despair over the climate crisis. But scientist Tim Lenton says not every tipping point leads to doom.
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Is the meaning of family changing?
Family estrangement – cutting ties with a parent, grandparent, or sibling – is often seen as at odds with the meaning of family as we know it. Sociologist and author Rin Reczek says it’s time to rethink what family means and what we expect from it.
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Is your driver's license on the dark web?
153 million U.S. drivers' licenses were hacked and put up for sale on the Dark Web. That's more than half of all licensed drivers. How that happened and what it says about who's doing what with our data.
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The sound of the land before time
What did the Jurassic world actually sound like? Using fossils and AI, scientists have reconstructed the calls of insects that lived alongside the dinosaurs. The result is the closest we've ever come to hearing prehistoric Earth.
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The sound of the land before time
What did the Jurassic world actually sound like? Using fossils and AI, scientists have reconstructed the calls of insects that lived alongside the dinosaurs. The result is the closest we've ever come to hearing prehistoric Earth.
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The Jackpod: What hath the godly wrought
On Point news analyst Jack Beatty looks into the devotion of white evangelical Americans to Donald Trump and the power of political Christianity.
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The secret lives of snow leopards
Ecologist Kullu Suryawanshi has spent 20 years tracking one of the most elusive animals in the world, deep in the mountains of Asia. What has he learned about snow leopards and the humans that share their home?
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What's at stake in the race for AI dominance
Top AI researchers and leaders worry AI is developing too fast. But critics argue the U.S. can't risk to slow down in its AI race with China. So, what might a slowdown look like and who would enforce it?
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Free range parenting vs. the zero-risk state
A Virginia mom let her 5-year-old son take a walk alone in her gated community. The authorities found out and now she’s on Virginia's child abuse and neglect registry. Who decides what's in a child's best interest.
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Trump's war on mail-in ballots
The Supreme Court has rejected President Trump’s plan to control how ballots get sent in the mail. But that does not mark the end of the President's efforts to undermine mail-in voting, and change who votes and how.
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'A climate of fear' at the Pentagon
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired or blocked promotions of 10% of the military's top ranked officers. Former Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall says it's created 'a climate of fear throughout the entire institution.' What’s going on inside the Pentagon, and what it means for the future of the U.S. military.
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The Jackpod: Nobody knows dumb has a B
On Point news analyst Jack Beatty on one of President Trump’s oft-repeated rhetorical tropes and what its conjectured origin story might say about his internal salience map.
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How 9/11 shaped America
Twenty-five years ago, the U.S. suffered the worst terrorist attack in its history. Today, roughly 40% of Americans are too young to remember the events of 9/11. Journalist Garrett Graff shares an oral history of 9/11, how that day unfolded and how it changed America forever.
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Did the Treasury just make it easier to launder money?
The Treasury Department recently eliminated a rule that required American companies to identify their owners. The rule was intended to prevent money laundering. What’s driving the decision to drop it?
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Who's to blame when AI goes rogue?
An OpenAI cybersecurity test took an unexpected turn when hundreds of its AI agents got around safeguards and hacked into another tech company. Should OpenAI have done more to prevent the attack?
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How should e-bikes be regulated?
You don’t need a license to ride a bike in the U.S. But e-bikes are a different story. Some states classify them as bicycles, others as vehicles. And in some places, you even need insurance to ride one. How to regulate e-bikes, for personal and public safety.
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The teachers pushing back on screens in schools
It's not just phones anymore. More teachers and even entire U.S. school districts are cutting back the time students spend on laptops and other screens. How do students really learn -- and do screens help or hurt?
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The Jackpod: Promises, promises …
On Point news analyst Jack Beatty on the chasm between what politicians say when they are running for office and what they can do in office, and why he thinks 2026 is the year of the demagogue.
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Why have so many of us seen ghosts?
One in 5 Americans say they've seen a ghost. But what if it was really our brain that had tricked us into thinking we saw something we didn't?
In the "Science of the Supernatural" psychology professor Melissa Maffeo argues how a paranormal experience could be our brains just misinterpreting the external world.
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Why is toxic wastewater bubbling up from underneath this Ohio city?
Highly toxic wastewater from America’s fracking boom is buried in deep underground wells. But in some places that toxic waste is bubbling upwards -- threatening local drinking water. How Marietta, Ohio is trying to fight fracking waste.
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Behind the public backlash against Flock cameras
Flock cameras are used by thousands of police forces across the country to track vehicles. But a growing popular backlash has led to cities canceling their Flock contracts. What that says about the tension between public safety and privacy in America.
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What we have lost now that we found the blue dot
Since Google Maps launched in 2005, the little blue dot has come to symbolize a transformation in how we navigate through the world -- wholly reliant on GPS. But what do we lose when we no longer get lost?
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Who’s really working class in America?
When politicians talk about America’s working class, they often mean blue collar workers without college degrees. But as more workers feel financially squeezed, should we expand that definition?
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The Jackpod: America’s government teacher
Sharon McMahon has built a huge online audience with her explanations of how America’s system of government works. She tells Jack and Dorey why her non-partisan approach to political understanding can rebuild trust.
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The weird world of ladybugs
We think of ladybugs as cute red beetles associated with good luck and gardening. But the real ladybug story involves poaching, trafficking and a struggle for survival.
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Can California fix plastic recycling?
Americans have been told for decades to toss plastic into the recycling bin. But only a small share actually gets recycled. Now, California is trying to overhaul the system by cracking down on misleading labels and holding companies responsible for their plastic waste. Will it work?
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Is AI helping human creativity, or harming it?
Music. Books. Film. Artificial intelligence is changing how we express ourselves. Is AI a tool for creativity -- or a barrier?
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Can an 'everyday bro' fix your dating life? Comedian Jared Freid thinks so
In his new book, "Walking Red Flag: Dating Advice from Your Favorite Guy Friend," comedian Jared Freid offers tips, tricks and real talk on modern dating.
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The not-so-underground world of Black punk
James Spooner grew up as a punk rocker with a mohawk. But as a mixed-race kid, he didn’t always feel like he belonged. Then, he found Afro-punk -- and pushed it into the spotlight.
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The Jackpod: Grocery stores and the dignity of essential labor
On Point news analyst Jack Beatty talks to author Ann Larson about her new book "Clean Up on Aisle Five”; the realities of grocery store workers, their place in our society and economy and what it says about the need for dignity in essential labor.
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Brainwaves: How does a brain stay healthy?
You might think a healthy brain starts and ends in your head – but there are miles and miles of neuron fibers that connect your brain with nearly every corner of your body. Why a healthy brain needs a healthy body.
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Brainwaves: What happens between life and death?
A tunnel. A bright light. Reuniting with deceased loved ones. Many people who have near-death experiences have remarkably similar stories. Why?
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Brainwaves: Is AI actually thinking?
The rate at which artificial intelligence is able to replicate human behavior has increased in recent years. Does that mean it's thinking like us?
In the third episode of "Brainwaves," what artificial intelligence teaches us about our own capacity for thought.
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Brainwaves: Are you in there?
Consciousness is how we are able to feel, dream and imagine. And yet -- scientists haven't figured out how consciousness definitively works. What we know, what we don’t and what that tells us about our brains.
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Brainwaves: Why is the brain such a mystery?
The brain is the organ that makes us who we are. It’s our conduit between reality and thought. But somehow, we’ve only scratched the surface in understanding how the brain actually works.
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The Jackpod: Fixing the past to save the future
On Point news analyst Jack Beatty has an epiphany: Retrofitting should be the defining goal of our civilization.
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It wasn't just Lewis and Clark
Lewis and Clark became American legends. But they didn’t explore the West alone. A new book profiles the forgotten members of the Corps of Discovery and their remarkable stories.
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Are we thinking about the Israel-Hamas conflict all wrong?
Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib is a pro-Palestinian, anti-Hamas expert who grew up in Gaza City. He says a realistic path to peace in the Middle East requires different thinking.
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Should states decide what kids read in school?
Texas has a new statewide mandatory reading list for all public school students -- with whole books on the curriculum. Should other states follow suit?
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How socialism shaped Wisconsin
Wisconsin elected the first-ever socialist member of Congress in 1910, and Milwaukee was run by socialist mayors for some 50 years. Now, a Democratic socialist is leading a primary race for Wisconsin governor.
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