On his 100th birthday we celebrate the life and music of the great composer Richard Rodgers.
His career spans six decades with 40 musicals and over 900 published songs to his credit. Along with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers wrote some of the most popular music in the [...]

American business is under attack from angry investors are new revelations of corporate greed and fraud. What’s the impact on Wall Street and the still sluggish economy?
Guests:
Greg Ip, economics editor at the Wall Street Journal

Two controversial court rulings this week have American’s temperatures rising over the sometimes blurry divisions between church and state in the U.S.
We’ll look at that intersection where religion enters public life, and vice versa — from Jefferson to Eisenhower to today’s George W. Bush — and ask: where are you finding the overlap uncomfortable? [...]

From Blade Runner to Total Recall, sci-fi fans have flocked to films based on the stories of legendary writer Philip K. Dick. Now, two decades after his death, another one of his stories–Minority Report–has hit the big screen. Garen Daly walks us through the Philip K. Dick film library.
Guests:
Garen Daly, On Point Movie [...]

Actor, writer, producer, political satirist and now Ph.D. (Hon.) is ready to share his life lessons and advice.
Nothing is taboo for Dr. Franken, from sex to religion to the weight you’ll gain to the retirement home you’ll end up in.
Whether you’re an anxious student ready to graduate, a recent grad stumbling through your chaotic twenties, [...]

Commentator Walter Dixon gives his suggestion for an SAT redesign — if it really is supposed to measure what you need to know to succeed in college.
Guests:
Walter Dixon

The High Court ruled 5-4 today that the school voucher program is constitutional and doesn’t constitute the establishment of religion.
Guests:
Paul Peterson, director of the Educational Policy and Governance program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of government and longtime analyst of school voucher programs.

The College Board votes on revamping the SAT exam. The latest version is expected to include a writing section and will have other changes.
Proponents say this new test better reflects high school curriculum and the writing sample will be a useful tool for college admissions offices.
Critics counter the changes will penalize students who don’t speak [...]

On Point’s audio archaeologist Ned Connors looks back at the genesis of the jazz organ and the genius of Thomas “Fats” Waller.
Guests:
Ned Connors, On Point Audio Archaeologist

The troubled telecommunications company
WorldCom announced yesterday that it inflated
profits for more than a year, failing to account for
nearly $4 billion.
If the company files for bankruptcy it will be one of the biggest financial frauds in U.S. history.
As the cloud of corporate scandal looms over Wall
Street, what will be the fallout for investors? After
Enron, after [...]

The G8 Summit is underway in Kananaskis, Canada. Though Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien wanted to focus the meeting on G8 aid to Africa, disagreement over President Bush’s Middle East peace plan and chaos over news of WorldCom’s shocking announcement of a possible accounting scandal today may overshadow all else. We get a live [...]

The House is set to pass a Republican prescription drug coverage plan this week. Not to be outdone, the Democrats are fast following with a plan of their own.
Though the plans differ on key points such as maximum annual expenditure seniors would lay out and what fraction of seniors would receive full coverage, both plans [...]

Last week Amtrak President David Gunn threatened a shutdown of the nation’s passenger rail system.
The Bush administration is offering up a $120 million loan package that will keep the trains running, for now, but the company has not turned a profit in over 30 years. What is the future of rail transport in America?
This hour, [...]

The West is on fire again this summer and this time environmentalists find themselves in the hot seat.
Critics argue lawsuits against proposed forest thinning projects have led to unprecedented fire dangers. Environmentalists counter that it is just politics as usual and more evidence that America doesn’t have a viable fire policy.
This hour, the red-hot debate: [...]

President Bush delivered his much anticipated speech on the Middle East this afternoon.
The Bush Administration has been divided over plans for the Middle East. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney have pushed for the President to avoid creating a clear timeline for Palestinian statehood.
Secretary of State Colin Powell has argued that a [...]

Despite his name, DJ logic considers himself a musician first, a DJ second.
DJ Logic (aka Jason Kibbler) grew up at the same time and in the same Bronx neighborhoods as hip-hop did, watching first-hand as people like Afrika Bambaata, Kool Herk, and Grandmaster Flash created a new form of music that became the last revolutionary [...]

Eight years after one of the worst acts of genocide in the 20th century, the Rwandan government is turning towards traditional forms of justice.
With nearly 100,000 people still in jail awaiting trial, formal law courts are overwhelmed with the need to process cases in a timely manner. The government has revived the “gacaca” process - [...]

When President Bush signed a $190 billion farm bill that increased subsidies to American farmers, it was the death knell for millions of small farmers in developing countries around the world.
The flood of American crops on the global market is expected to drive down food prices, making it impossible for family farmers in the Third [...]

In the midterm elections, Republicans and Democrats won’t be gearing up for a fight.
Only 11 out of 425 House districts have been rated as “toss up” contests where either candidate could win. Ten years ago there were four times as many.
The 2002 elections: why Republicans and Democrats are playing it safe. What does it mean [...]

The source of American power lies in the wars of the 19th and 20th century. Have those wars, and their outcomes, positioned America as the premier global superpower, or propelled the US into a future where the “market-state,” and not democratic ideals, reign supreme?
Can the U.S., now commonly accepted as an informal cultural and economic [...]

Historical Maps of the extent of the Roman and British Empires.
Mark Twain, William Jennings Bryan, and other historical figures on the American Empire.
Watch period footage of the Spanish American War.
Guests:

The National Missile Defense system cannot tell a warhead from a decoy, and there’s no evidence that the system will ever work. So says MIT professor Ted Postol.
The Bush administration could spend upward of $200 billion on missile defense, Postol says, but is working to keep any testing failures well under wraps.
In this hour, the [...]

Two Americans captured in Pakistan are believed to be part of Al Qaeda network.
Guests:
Dexter Filkins of New York Times

Israel has begun construction on a 225-mile security fence that will wall off Palestinians on the West Bank from Israel proper.
The fence is a physical manifestation of the concept that Israel must break off all contact with the Palestinians.
In this hour, symbolism and reality of what this wall means for the peace process. Is it [...]

Reflections on the Bishop Conference
Guests:
Sisters from the Carmelite Order of Indiana

Update on today’s suicide bomb attack in Jerusalem and reaction in Israel to the wall.
Guests:
Tom Segev, Columnist for Israeli newspaper Ha,aretz and author of “One Palestine, Complete: Jews and Arabs Under the British Mandate.”

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the Watergate break-in. The scandal resulted in the resignation of a president and produced profound changes in the American political system, including a distrust of the political process.
Watergate was the defining moment of its time. Today it’s the war on terrorism and President Bush has loosened the reigns on [...]

In his latest book, “Terrorism and War,” leftist anti-war historian Howard Zinn calls for Americans to start a “real revolution in our thinking” about war and history.
Zinn says if the U.S. wants to ever find real security, it has to change its posture in the world. That means stop using its military power to intervene [...]

It was “Survivor” meets “Little House on the Prairie,” and for PBS, it was one of their most successful television programs ever. “Frontier House” took three modern families and planted them onto an 1883 homestead. For five months, the families had to live as many Americans lived a century ago — chopping wood, lugging water [...]

For four decades the Persuasions have been keeping alive the art of a cappella music and they do much more than just the do-wop and gospel tunes you’d expect. The Persuasions jump through genres as quickly as they do notes. Country-western, psychedelic rock, children’s tunes and reggae are not spared from a Persuasions concert.
Their music [...]

When President Bush signed a $190 billion farm bill that increased subsidies to American farmers, it was the death knell for millions of small farmers in developing countries around the world.
The flood of American crops on the global market is expected to drive down food prices, making it impossible for family farmers in the Third [...]

The American Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church convened a meeting in Dallas today to figure out what to do with priests who have been accused of sexual abuse. The sex abuse crisis gripping the church has so far brought down hundreds of priests and several bishops.
Many of the bishops at the meeting are pushing [...]

The lawyer for suspected dirty bomb plotter Jose Padilla was in court today, pressing for her client to be returned to the criminal justice system. Attorney Donna Newman was appointed to represent Padilla before he was named an “enemy combatant” and put under the jurisdiction of the Defense Department.
Newman is arguing that her client’s detention [...]

It’s made of chemical you use to unclog your drain and clean your car engine. Its production can lead to huge explosions and a smell that would make even the most iron stomach queasy. It is highly toxic, dangerous, and addictive. But it is becoming the drug of choice for an alarming number of American [...]

On day one of the loya jirga, the traditional Afghan tribal council called in times of crisis, Interim President Hamid Karzai received support from two key Afghan figures. Former King Zaher Shah and former President Burhanuddin Rabbani have both thrown their support behind Karzai to head up Afghanistan’s transitional government.
The 87-year-old former king opened the [...]

They are among the oddest couple of friends you will ever meet. Michael Tarazi is an American citizen and an emissary for the Palestinian Liberation Organization. He was a former corporate lawyer who did not even realize he was Palestinian until he was age 15. Harvard-educated, he is now considered one of the most articulate [...]

Long known as the dean of the White House press corps, Helen Thomas has covered every U.S. president since John F. Kennedy.
Her post as White House correspondent for United Press International, which she held until she resigned in May of 2000, gives her a unique perspective on the inner workings of the past nine administrations [...]

A U.S. citizen with links to al Qaeda was planning to build and detonate a so-called “dirty bomb,” Attorney General John Ashcroft announced today.
The suspect, Abdullah Al Muhajir, was arrested a month ago and is now being treated as an “enemy combatant,” which means he is now under the jurisdiction of the Defense Department and [...]

Bobby McFerrin is one of the natural wonders of the music world.
The ten- time Grammy winner has probably become most famous for his 1988 hit “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” But, with a four-octave range and a vast array of vocal techniques, McFerrin is no mere singer.
He is music’s last true Renaissance man, a vocal explorer [...]

The most successful e-commerce site in history EBay survived when other dot-coms faltered.
From Beanie Baby collectors to NASA officials looking for old computer parts, millions of people around the world have trolled the EBay site in their quest for the perfect find.
Inside Ebay…the powerhouse behind the online retail revolution.
Guests:
Adam Cohen, author of “The Perfect Store: [...]

In what Ari Fleischer is calling the most dramatic government restructuring since 1947, President Bush will announce this evening sweeping changes to how homeland security is managed.
Among the changes the president will announce is that the department of homeland security will become a cabinet-level office. It will be the first new cabinet department since 1988.
The [...]

Global fish stocks are at an all-time low, and many fear that the oceans may be heading past a point where recovery is possible. And the impact is starting to be felt.
The European Union has issued a new set of restrictions on fishing. A coalition of chefs have agreed to stop serving the now-endangered Chilean [...]

Last week, the Odyssey spacecraft sent back news that had the inhabitants of earth buzzing: the best evidence yet that water exists on Mars. Beneath the Martian soil is enough frozen water to fill Lake Michigan twice.
In order to harbor life as we understand it, a celestial body would need to have water in abundance. [...]

A new report from the Bush administration acknowledges that global warming is real, and warns that serious problems like rising sea levels are likely to worsen during the next century.
“The changes observed over the last several decades are likely mostly due to human activities, but we cannot rule out that some significant part of these [...]

Balancing the right to free speech versus a person’s right to privacy is not a new issue in the United States. But the dawn of the Internet era has created new questions of privacy that the legal system is struggling to catch up with.
Take for instance one site that photographs women going into abortion clinics [...]

The troubles of Argentina have been well publicized. Colombia continues to be ravaged by a well-documented civil war. And now South America’s second-oldest democracy, Venezuela, is seeing turbulence that could potentially destabilize the region.
Venezuela experienced a coup in April. It was a short-lived coup, as just two days later, President Hugo Chavez was restored to [...]