
On Point | Podcast
Hosted by Meghna Chakrabarti, On Point is a unique, curiosity-driven combination of original reporting, newsmaker interviews, first-person stories, and in-depth analysis, making the world more intelligible and humane. When the world is more complicated than ever, we aim to make sense of it together. On Point is produced by WBUR.
Latest episodes

Mar 19, 2025 • 47min
What big changes inside the Pentagon could mean for U.S. national security
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed to reshape the Pentagon. How the Trump administration is making sweeping changes to the U.S. armed services, just two months into its term.

Mar 18, 2025 • 47min
A daughter, a father and a family's struggle with 'American Bulk'
In the U.S., shopping is almost a religion. For Emily Mester’s family, Costco was their Sunday ritual. In her new book, 'American Bulk,' Mester tells the story of how her family struggled with the desire to own everything they possibly could.

Mar 17, 2025 • 47min
What the detention of Mahmoud Khalil reveals about free speech in the Trump era
The Trump White House is using Department of Homeland Security intelligence to identify pro-Palestinian college protesters. Courts have ruled that campus protests are protected by the First Amendment. But as the Trump administration seeks to punish speech it does not like, whose first amendment rights are next?

Mar 14, 2025 • 47min
America's new Gilded Age
President Donald Trump declared America is entering a “Golden Age” on Inauguration Day. But as inequality grows, some historians say that the country is in a new Gilded Age.

Mar 14, 2025 • 39min
The Jackpod: Strategic empathy
On Point news analyst Jack Beatty looks at the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine from Russian president Vladimir Putin’s perspective, as a ‘preventive war.’

Mar 13, 2025 • 47min
What happened when AI went after welfare fraud
Artificial Intelligence algorithms are being used to decide who gets welfare benefits, and how much. Some experts say it’s leading to “devastating” cuts in benefits for those most in need.

Mar 12, 2025 • 47min
The wonder of Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park
Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park was first designated a national monument a century ago. Even with climate change, Glacier Bay has a surprising story to tell about nature’s resilience.

Mar 11, 2025 • 43min
Trump's 2017 tax cuts: Who's better off, who's not?
The House has passed a budget resolution, and a plan to extend President Trump's 2017 tax cuts. What’s known about the impact of those cuts on American taxpayers and the economy?

Mar 10, 2025 • 48min
Federal judge Frederic Block on second chances -- and 'who deserves it'
In 1997, Walter Johnson was given five life sentences for robbery and drug offences. Decades later, he was released by the same judge who originally sentenced him. A conversation with that judge about the power of second chances.

Mar 7, 2025 • 46min
Is NASCAR a monopoly?
Basketball legend Michael Jordan’s automotive racing team 23XI is suing NASCAR, alleging the organization is an illegal monopoly. The case could make waves across the entire sport.
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