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Music
 
 
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 3:44 pm

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?

 
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Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 11:00 am

Thelonious Monk. Jazz giant. American hipster. A new biography takes us into his life and enigmatic music.

Comments [18]
 
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Friday, October 16, 2009 at 11:00 am

Hip-hop legend and Wu Tang Clan founder The RZA on life lessons and the “Tao of Wu.”

Comments [32]
 
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Tuesday, September 15, 2009 at 11:00 am

We’ll talk with Broadway legend — of “West Side Story,” “Chicago,” and “Bye Bye Birdie” fame — Chita Rivera.

Comments [6]
 
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Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 11:00 am

“The Beatles: Rock Band” is the video game event of the season. We’ll ask its creator how it changes the way we experience music.

Comments [23]
 
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Friday, August 21, 2009 at 11:00 am

We are the world, in the street. An LA team takes its microphones and cameras to musicians worldwide to make a new documentary and CD.

Comments [17]
 
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Friday, July 3, 2009 at 11:00 am

Tunes from old Appalachia with a new bluegrass twist. The hit folk band “Crooked Still” plays for us in our studio.

Comments [6]
 
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Friday, June 5, 2009 at 11:00 am

We talk with classical guitar virtuoso Eliot Fisk, about the guitar as bridge between cultures. Plus: video of Fisk performing an encore in our studio.

Comments [32]
 
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Monday, May 25, 2009 at 11:00 am

We’ll look back on Leonard Bernstein, who took the helm of the New York Philharmonic 50 years ago, and changed American music.

Comments [3]
 
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Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at 11:00 am

Bob Dylan talked at length with historian Douglas Brinkley for Rolling Stone. We talk with Brinkley about Dylan and America now.

Comments [31]
 
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Friday, May 1, 2009 at 11:00 am

A new documentary captures jazz now, from the living icons of modern jazz to those pushing the music in new directions.

Comments [38]
 
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Monday, April 27, 2009 at 11:00 am

Novelist Arthur Phillips on music, muses, mixtapes and his new novel, “The Song Is You.”

Comments [26]
 
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Friday, March 27, 2009 at 11:00 am

We talk with the Blind Boys of Alabama about their new album, and making music, “Down in New Orleans.”

Comments [5]
 
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Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 11:00 am

We hear from underground artist Jon Nelson, who uses musical mashups to tap into our media-age dreams.

Comments [36]
 
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Friday, January 30, 2009 at 11:00 am

The craze for karaoke. Equalizer or embarrassment? One devotee tells the uninitiated what they’re missing.

Comments [16]
 
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Thursday, January 29, 2009 at 11:00 am

We’ll talk with the director of “Notorious” about the life and death of rapper Biggie Smalls — and the state of hip hop.

Comments [22]
 
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Thursday, January 22, 2009 at 11:00 am

Aretha Franklin sang on the Capitol steps. Who’s next in the world of soul? We’ll talk with rising star Alice Smith.

Comments [11]
 
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Thursday, January 1, 2009 at 11:00 am

Jazz legend Count Basie helped make the American soundtrack of the 1930s. We listen back, and ask if America has a soundtrack today.

 
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Tuesday, December 30, 2008 at 11:00 am

We hear the story of one writer’s magnificent obsession with the great American ballad, House of the Rising Sun.

Comments [12]
 
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Friday, December 26, 2008 at 11:00 am

In an archive edition of On Point, we jam with guitar legend Leo Kottke and Mike Gordon of Phish.

Comments [4]
 
Recent Shows
The Future of Aging
Thursday, November 5, 2009 image

A surge of new strategies to “manage” aging — from diets to testosterone. We’ll get the story.

Comments [31]
 
Climate, Congress & Copenhagen
Thursday, November 5, 2009 image

The Copenhagen climate conference is one month away. US climate action is going nowhere in Congress. We’ll look at the global implications of America’s domestic climate politics.

Comments [73]
On Point Blog
California, here we come! And we need your questions!

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 [...]

More » | Comments [9]
 
For Love of Science – or Money?

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.

More » | Comments [5]
 
Matthew Hoh’s Resignation Letter

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.

More » | Comments [4]