On Point is headed west!
No, no. Not for good. Only for one show. But it’s a very special show!  The NPR station in Thousand Oaks, California – KCLU – is celebrating their 15th anniversary. We’re lucky to have been on their airwaves for nearly seven years, and they invited us out west to host a live [...]

A new study supports the idea that U.S. dominance in engineering and science is threatened — but not for lack of training and education. It has more to do with a lack of social and economic incentives.

Matthew Hoh, a former Marine captain, became the first foreign service official to publicly resign in protest over the war in Afghanistan. The move has generated a lot of reaction. You can read Hoh’s resignation letter, posted by The Washington Post, which reported on it here.
It’s a topic for our news roundtable today. What [...]

Our show today about the life and times of Thelonious Monk had us peering into the jazz world to look for the children of the “George Washington of be-bop.” Who are Monk’s musical and spiritual heirs?
Producer John Comerford, who appeared on our show this year to talk about his film “Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense,” suggested before the [...]

In today’s first hour, Whole Earth guru Stewart Brand and energy expert Amory Lovins debated whether the U.S. should build more nuclear power plants in the effort to reduce carbon emissions.
Brand’s new book, “Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto,”  takes on a number of what he calls environmental “pieties,” including opposition to nuclear power. He says [...]

On Point intern Suzanne Merkelson writes: For me, listening to today’s show was the audio equivalent of looking in the mirror. I too am a member of the Class of 2009’s “Lost Generation.” Only I don’t really consider myself lost…

Each week CDC analyzes information about influenza disease activity in the United States and publishes findings of key flu indicators in a report called FluView. During the week of September 27 – October 3, 2009, a review of the key indictors found that influenza activity increased in the United States.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama’s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.

New York Times investigative reporter Michael Moss sends us a followup note about possible reasons for the apparent surge in hamburger E. coli outbreaks since 2007.

Journalist Douglas Burns, a guest on our show about the “rural brain drain,” makes his pitch for why living in rural Iowa is better: “The time other people spend driving we spend living.”

The news is in. Chicago is out. And Rio de Janeiro will host the 2016 Summer Olympics. On Thursday we spoke with Brazilian journalist Paulo Sotero and Chicago Sun-Times columnist Laura Washington.

Ambassador Peter Galbraith joined us for an hour on Thursday morning. On Wednesday, he was recalled — fired — from his post as the second-highest ranking diplomat in the United Nations mission in Afghanistan after clashing with his boss, Kai Eide, head of the UN mission in Kabul, over how to handle widespread fraud in the August [...]

“Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner talks about the Emmy-winning show’s new season: “I have a theme for the season. I always have an idea of what I’m trying to express…. Season Three to me is about chaos.”

Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk joined us on Thursday for a detailed discussion of his business plan and his vision for the electric car future. One outstanding issue for him remains whether he can make his cars affordable for average people – the original Roadster costs $109,000, and even his forthcoming Model S will cost about $50,000.
Musk told [...]

We woke up Monday morning to Bob Woodward’s piece in The Washington Post revealing details of Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s report to President Obama on Afghanistan strategy. As luck would have it, we had three guests in our first hour with a few things to say about the McChrystal memo. Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers [...]