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On Point
Weekdays at 10am

On Point helps listeners understand how the world works, at a time the world is more complex than ever. Its unique, curiosity-driven combination of original reporting, first-person stories, sound design, and in depth live analysis creates an experience that strives to make the world more intelligible and humane.

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  • Duke University recently announced plans to close and re-home its century-old herbarium. But with climate change and a looming biodiversity crisis, scientists say these preserved collections of old plants are more important than ever. About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
  • Listen: The first chapter of Endless Thread’s podcast Beyond All Repair. Host Amory Sivertson first met Shane Correia in 2017 while interviewing him about his experience with homelessness for WBUR’s Endless Thread. But there is another dark chapter in Shane's life: his older sister being accused of murdering her mother-in-law in 2002, when he was 13 years old. Now Shane wants to know, did his sister commit this brutal crime? About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
  • On Point news analyst Jack Beatty on how presidents lose touch with reality. About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
  • Given the environmental, political, and human costs of accelerating mineral mining, can the United States reach its clean energy goals? It's the final episode of our special series "Elements of energy." About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
  • To electrify our economy, the world needs more nickel. And Indonesia has it. Can nickel pave the road to prosperity? In part four of “Elements of energy," hear how the rush for metals is shaking up global geopolitics. About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
  • Most of the world’s cobalt is extracted in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But to get it, hundreds of thousands of Congolese people labor with no other means to survive. On episode three of On Point’s special series -- cobalt and the human cost of mining. About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
  • Copper is key to our green energy future, but copper extraction is deeply harmful to the environment now. Episode two of On Point’s special series “Elements of energy” explores how to resolve that contradiction. About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
  • The U.S. sits on some of the largest lithium reserves in the world. It’s a key element for clean energy. The start of On Point’s weeklong exploration “Elements of energy” takes us inside America’s push for a lithium boom. About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
  • On Point news analyst Jack Beatty on President Biden’s State of the Union address and the politics of memory, versus the politics of hope. About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
  • Rebroadcast: Millions of Americans sell their blood plasma every year. It’s part of a global, multibillion dollar business. But what is plasma really used for? Kathleen McLaughlin and Dr. Morey Blinder join Meghna Chakrabarti. About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
  • For almost a decade, Poland's democracy was in retreat. But last fall, Poland successfully elected a pro-democracy government coalition. What can the rest of the world learn? About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
  • The GOP prides itself on being the anti-tax party. But it wasn't always that way. In Michael Graetz’s book "The Power to Destroy," he describes how the anti-tax movement became one of the most powerful forces reshaping American politics and society in the past 50 years. About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.