In 367 AD, a directive from the newly organized Catholic Church listed 27 books that would go on to form the New Testament. All other so-called “apocryphal” or “gnostic” accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus were to be destroyed. But some were secretly preserved, buried in the soil of upper Egypt. [...]

Since its inception in 1925, The New Yorker magazine has cultivated millions of devotees far beyond the island of Manhattan. Weekly helpings of journalism, fiction, humor and criticism unfold and delight behind the imaginative, and sometimes keepsake covers. In 1999, The New Yorker Festival made a jump from the printed page to public venues throughout [...]

Forty years ago, legendary country singer Patsy Cline died at the age of 30 when her small plane went down on a flight to Nashville, Tennessee. She sang some of the greatest songs in American pop history: “I Fall to Pieces,” “Crazy,” and “Walkin’ After Midnight.”
Twenty years later, a young singer from Alberta, Canada, came [...]

Since its inception in 1925, The New Yorker magazine has cultivated millions of devotees far beyond the island of Manhattan. Weekly helpings of journalism, fiction, humor and criticism unfold and delight behind the imaginative, and sometimes keepsake covers. In 1999, the magazine made a jump from the printed page to public venues for the first [...]

On Thanksgiving day, Americans look forward to platefuls of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and pecan pie. They also look forward to catching up with family members, relatives and friends.
This Thanksgiving finds 130,000 American troops deployed in Iraq. That means that 130,000 American families will celebrate Thanksgiving without a father, son, brother or sister, as [...]

As Thanksgiving approaches, retailers and manufacturers are preparing for a feast of their own. But in order to spend, shoppers need jobs and money, credit and confidence.
Recent economic reports have pointed to an upturn in the economy but many consumers are still burdened with too much debt. Consumers drive the economy and their spending habits [...]

You can take it with you after all. New rules are in effect that allow you to switch your phone carrier and keep your phone number. Dialing digits “on the go” is now how America works and plays. Staying in touch has never been easier, but it comes with hard choices about how Americans live [...]

Bill Toland is going to lots of weddings and he’s none too pleased. In this Radio Diary, this 26-year old laments on what happens to friendships after his pals say “I do.”
Guests:
Bill Toland

As terror attacks on soft targets increase, Al Qaeda is blamed. But does Al Qaeda organize these attacks? Or has the original target of the war on terror inspired copycats? What ideology does the original al Qaeda share with its descendants?
Click the “Listen” link to hear some of the answers.
Guests:
Jason Burke, author of “Al Qaeda: [...]

As a $400 billion Medicare bill makes its way through Congress, opponents of the bill in the Senate are scrambling to find the votes for a filibuster.
There are two major sticking points at issue. The first is a provision preventing the government from leveraging its prescription drug buying power to bargain for lower prices. The [...]

While there has been little first-hand reporting from Saudi Arabia, this fall Senior Correspondent for WBUR’s Inside Out Documentaries, Michael Goldfarb, traveled throughout the country to gauge what changes are going on and why they matter.
Goldfarb provides a window into a country of great strategic importance that is at a crossroads and, very possibly, at [...]

Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle is at the center of the divisive debates over the energy and Medicare bills in Congress. He supports the Republican-backed energy bill that gives $13 billion in tax breaks to oil, gas and coal companies and doubles ethanol production by 2012, which would pour money into his rural [...]

President Bush in England. The arrest of Michael Jackson. Two bombings in Instanbul. Tom Ashbrook and On Point’s News Analyst Jack Beatty look back at the week in news.
Guests:
Tom Ashbrook, host of On Point and Jack Beatty, On Point News Analyst

Forty years after his assassination, the nation is still fascinated by President John F. Kennedy. One of the big “what-if” questions posed by Kennedy scholars is what might have happened in Vietnam had he not been killed.
Professor James Galbraith argues that Kennedy had decided to withdraw from Vietnam by 1965, victory or not. But after [...]

With the 40th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy approaching, On Point’s audio archeologist Ned Connors looks back at Kennedy’s remarkable political life and brings the story of JFK impersonator, Vaughn Meter.
Guests:
Ned Connors, On Point’s Audio Archeologist

Two massive suicide truck bombs ripped through Turkey’s largest city today, killing 27 and injuring at least 450. The blasts threw a sad shadow over the second day of President Bush’s state visit to London. But they did not stop an estimated 100,000 protesters from marching across London and pulling down an effigy of [...]

Twin blasts ripped through British targets in Istanbul, Turkey today. Owen Matthews, Istanbul correspondent for Newsweek, reports on the latest from the devastated city.
Guests:
Owen Matthews, Istanbul reporter, Newsweek

There is a natural tension between our love of a bargain and the belief in a living wage. Buying a year supply of pickles for under three dollars is a bargain but the real price may be a living wage for working class Americans. Americans have become used to paying rock bottom prices for goods [...]

Tonight, winners of the National Book Award will be announced in New York. Among the nominees is Edward P. Jones. His first novel “The Known World” is perhaps the most unusual book about slavery ever written. It is based on the little known fact that before the Civil War, some freed blacks owned [...]

Who’s really winning the war in Iraq? We’ll cut away the posturing for a tough analysis.
Guests:
Michael Ware, correspondent, TIME Magazine
Lawrence Korb, senior fellow, Center for American Progress and Assistant Secretary of Defense under Reagan (1981 to 1985)
Fred Kagan, military historian and co-author, “While America Sleeps: Self-Delusion, Military Weakness, and the Threat to Peace”