Excerpts from Dwight Eisenhower’s farewell speech, where he warns the nation not to rely too heavily on its military might.
Guests:

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee today heard the first of two days of hearings on US policy towards Iraq. Committee Chair Senator Joe Biden says the hearings are necessary because “fundamental questions” need to be answered, before the US decides to attack Iraq.
Also today, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and General Tommy Franks spoke before [...]

Bliss it was to be alive in that dawn, but to be young twas very heaven.
If you were a child in 1950s America, basking in the afterglow of victory, the world was a more easy-going place and part of its placidity was the avuncular personality of the man at the top, President Dwight David Eisenhower.
However, [...]

On Point’s Afghanistan correspondent Sarah Chayes visits a small village in southern Afghanistan, where residents are desperately trying to build a well.
Guests:
Sarah Chayes, On Point news analyst and Afghanistan correspondent

Leo Felton went to jail for buglary and came out with plans to “spark a race war.”
Like many new prison inmates, Felton was locked-up, lonely and looking for protection. Racist, extremist and anti-government groups have hit a membership payload among the captive audience in U.S. prisons.
Guests:
Thanassis Cambanis, Federal Court reporter, Boston Globe
Brian Levin, Professor [...]

Bruce Springsteen sings the songs of everyman. His lyrics finds heroes all around us, in the laborer, the veteran, the guy next door.
In his latest album, The Rising, released today, the Boss offers his songs to a broken America. Songs of pain and faith. As Springsteen says: “The verses are the blues, [...]

This summer 3,500 incoming freshman at the University of North Carolina are required to read Michael Sell’s book, “Approaching the Qur’an.” Three students and a conservative Christian organization filed a lawsuit against the university last week.
Interest in the Koran has skyrocketed since 9/11. Many universities have created courses about the Koran, although none [...]

Afghanistan wants to replace its ethnic warlords with a new national military. The US is leading the military-rebuilding effort, but some Western allies say that Washington’s approach might not work, and could make Afghanistan’s security problems even worse.
Guests:
Ahmed Rashid ~ Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia correspondent
for the Far Eastern Economic Review and the Daily Telegraph, [...]

For the most part, Al Qaeda has been rooted out of Afghanistan. The Loya Jirga signaled the start of a new Afghan government. The Afghan people have been free of the Taliban for over six months. All signs point to a new Afghanistan, well on its way down the road of reconstruction.
Or is it? [...]

Will white collar criminals go directly to jaiil? Washington is talking tough, but what’s the reality?
Guests:
David Hilzenrath, Washington Post

With corporate executives being led away in handcuffs, the president talking tough, and investors looking at uncertain financial futures, what to do with white-collar criminals is now a hot-button issue.
Washington has passed tough new legislation that could mean tougher prison sentences for convicted executives. Is shredding documents in the same league as robbing a [...]

Modern day cosmologists wrestle with the big questions: How did it all begin? And how will it all end? Ancient religions and cultures have long turned to the celestial skies to find the answers. Now scientists are taking an empirical approach to understanding the universe based in evidence, not myth.
When scientific [...]

With corporate America under a dark cloud and the job market not looking much brighter, the 20-something generation is facing tough times and an uncertain road ahead. Many are rethinking their values and asking themselves tough questions about what they want and who they want to be when the grow up. In this hour, [...]

Zacarias Moussaoui, the accused 20th September 11th highjacker, stood in front of an Alexandria, Virginia court today. It was the latest in a long series of pre-trial hearings for the French national. Today, Moussaoui entered a guilty plea, then changed his mind. We hear the latest on today’s courtroom events.
Guests:
Josh Meyer - Staff writer and [...]

The boom of the 90’s is going down in flames. Congress passed the Corporate Crime Bill with an almost unanimous vote. High-living CEOs are now doing the perp walk, and law-makers are looking for the next suspect. Before we kiss off the glories of the free market and entepreneurial excess, let’s take a moment [...]

Congress passed a sweeping corporate reform bill today, just as another scandal bubbled up to the surface of the business world. Five former executives of the Adelphia Communications Corporation were arrested today for alleged fraud.
Guests:
Christopher Stern ~ The Washington Post

The author, scholar, and ordained Rabbi, Chaim Potok died yesterday at his home in Merion, Pennsylvania. He was 73. Potok’s works like “The Chosen” and “The Promise” opened up Orthodox and Hasidic life in America to readers around the world. Tonight we remember the distinguished writer
Guests:
Daniel Walden, author of “The World of [...]

According to Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge, the U.S. government may have to consider using the military for the purpose of domestic law enforcement. But doing so would necessitate changes in the long-standing Posse Comitatus Act. To what extent can, and should, the U.S. military serve as a domestic police force?
In the new security [...]

Documentary filmmaker Jamie Doran tells the story of “Massacre at Mazar” — his new film that explores eye-witness accounts of the alleged murder of Taliban prisoners at the hands of the Northern Alliance.
Guests:
Jamie Doran — Atlantic Celtic Films

For the past five years, the United States has been dedicated to working with Iranian President Mohammed Khatami to bring about reform in Iran. Now the U.S. is adopting a hardline approach to its dealings with the government that President Bush labeled as part of the “Axis of Evil.”
The Bush administration has concluded that [...]

Iran and Syria have been supplying a steady stream of arms to the terrorist group Hezbollah. Will the Israeli-Palestinian conflict spread throughout the region? Can crisis be averted?
Guests:
Dennis Ross, Director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Overseas markets are now joining Wall Street in a downward dive. French, German and British markets are all down. Experts say that foreign markets thrived off U.S. growth in the past, and are now suffering with the U.S. downturn. Are today’s industrial economies too synchronized? What’s in store for the [...]

Fifty-Five years ago this month after “something” crashed in the small town of Roswell, New Mexico, a tourist trap was born. Now in its fifth year, The Roswell UFO festival flocks thousands of visitors for four days of all things Extra-terrestrial. We spoke with several Roswell residents about their town and their festival.
Guests:
Sean [...]

Paul Krugman is one of the country’s best economists and one of the most outspoken. In his New York Times column, he calls things as he sees them and right now he has serious questions about how the Bush administation is handling the current economic crisis.
In this hour, Paul Krugman grades the administration’s performance and [...]

Embattled SEC chairman Harvey Pitt spoke at the National Press Club on Friday. He talked about the role of the Securities and Exchange Commission in America’s current uncertain economy. Host Tom Ashbrook and On Point news analyst Jack Beatty discuss excerpts from Pitt’s speech.
Guests:

The telecommunications giant WorldCom declared bankruptcy late yesterday. It’s the biggest bankruptcy filing in US history. What will the consequences be for Wall Street, the telecommunications industry, and the American public?
Guests:
Rudy Baca, Vice President and Global Strategist with The Precursor Group

The troubled telecommunications giant WorldCom filed for bankruptcy late yesterday.
It’s the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history, worth more than $107 billion, far exceeding Enron’s filing of $64 billion last year.
In this hour, WorldCom tanks. Can the telecommunications industry, Wall Street investors, and the American public afford to take the hit?
Guests:
Eli Noam, Director of [...]

Elvis Presley is widely considered the single most important figure in American 20th century music.
At a time when rock and roll was in its infancy, he was the first to successfully fuse the musics he grew up around…. from pop to gospel to country even bluegrass, and form a new and addictive sound.
The music blurred [...]

Almost 25 years after his death Elvis has hit number 1 again in Europe. His 1968 hit “A Little Less Conversation” has been given a 21st century techno dance makeover and is now being played all over European radio stations and dance clubs. We spoke with the 34 year old Dutch DJ Junkie [...]

They fought a war abroad, then they battled to be judged on merit, not the color of their skin. They succeeded on both fronts, thanks in part to the leadership of their commander, Benjamin O. Davis, who was buried with full military honors earlier this week.
Colonel Charles E. McGee, president of Tuskegee Airmen Inc, served [...]

Seeking a greater role for the laity in the Catholic Church, the grassroots organization, Voice of the Faithful, will hold its first national convention in Boston. Four Thousand members are expected to attend.
Guests:
Paul Baier, Conference Chairman for Voice of the Faithful

In a ground-breaking series of investigative reports, the Boston Globe showed the Boston Archdiocese of the Catholic Church had secretly settled cases in which at least seventy priests who were accused of sexual abuse. The reports showed the Church had spent billions of dollars in hush money and that pedophile priests were shuffled from parish [...]

From the wild swings of the Dow Jones to the frantic eBay auctions to the grain traders in downtown Accra, people all around the world rely on market systems. Large and small, simple and complex, succesful markets all operate under a similar formula, but each market grows and adapts individually to the people it [...]

The chief operating officer of AOL Time Warner Robert Pittman stepped down today. The Internet division has failed to meet profit goals and shares of the company have plummeted 70 percent in the past year. Can new management turn the media giant around?
Guests:
Nikhil Deogun, Media and Marketing Editor at The Wall Street Journal

The nominees for the 2002 Emmy Awards were announced early this morning. We look at who were today’s big winners and losers and predict who will take home the golden statuette.
Guests:
Bob Thompson, Director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University

Suzanne Breen, senior Northern correspondent for the Irish Times, describes the reaction on the ground in Belfast to the IRA’s surprise Tuesday apology.
Guests:
Suzanne Breen — Senior Northern correspondent for the Irish Times

Earlier this week, the Bulwer-Lytton Awards were handed out. Now, not everyone can win a Pulitzer. But even the worst writer in the world can win the Bulwer-Lytton. Named after the second-rate author who penned the frequently mocked phrase “It was a dark and stormy night,” the Bulwer-Lytton (BULL-wur Litton) Award is [...]

The high-tech boom made 20-somethings millionaires, Microsoft king, and connected computer users in a vast global electronic web. Technology spurred the high-growth 90s economy. But what happened after the bubble burst?
The technology that was in the embryonic stages in the 90s–cell phones, the Internet, and personal digital assistants–have become as accepted as telephones [...]

Politics play key role in any urban development projects, particularly with the prime real estate at ground zero. A closer look at the key players.
Guests:
Tom McGeven, New York Observer

The leveling of lower Manhattan presents one of the most complex urban planning challenges to come along in a generation.
As the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation reveals its plans for the World Trade Center site, New Yorkers are asking who’s the client: politics, profits, or people?
In this hour, creating a new Manhattan skyline.
Guests:
Alex Marshall, author of [...]

Katherine Harris, Florida Secretary of State, is running for the District 13 House seat. Her toughest competetitor is Percy, Florida’s first canine candidate.
Owner and campaign manager, Wayne Genthner, talks about why Percy’s bid for the House will keep Florida politics from going to the dogs.
Guests:
Wayne Genthner

Great Britain has recently announced it’s joining a wave of European countries that are relaxing their official policies toward marijuana.
Last week, Britain said that although marijuana will remain technically illegal, police will no longer arrest people for privately using it.
Many European countries including Italy, Spain, and Portugal have already relaxed their drug policies, softening laws [...]

Guests:
Danilo Ballotta, Policy Analyst at the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Abuse

Economic news is again on the front page. Today, Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan, gave his diagnosis of the nation’s economic health. And CEOs around the country are reacting to Coca-Cola’s decision to treat stock options as expenses. We take a look at the vortex of business news and what it all means for this [...]

Has CEO become a four-letter word? America’s top business honchos are being grilled and vilified in the wake of recent scandals.
President Bush is telling CEOs to get their ethical houses back in order. Can they do it? In this hour, our CEO roundtable talks openly and intimately about the challenges ahead.
Can they restore honor in [...]

Guests:
Bruce Kallos, Adminstrator, Arlington County Virginia Employees Retirement System