Ryland Peter Cooder first picked up a guitar at the age of 4 when he lost an eye and maybe needed a new friend. He found it, and so did the guitar and a world of musicians, from the recording studios of LA to Havana and Timbuktu. He’s been a studio star, recording his [...]

Guests:
Scott Peterson, in Iraq for the Christian Science Monitor

Latinos are moving into black neighborhoods. Their vote is being wooed in Washington, and they are more hopeful about their economic future than blacks. Tonight, On Point: the changing face of race in America. As the fortunes of Latino Americans rise will black Americans be left behind?
Guests:
Julian Bond, chairman, National Association for [...]

Books on free trade, income inequality and property rights don’t usually make for easy reading. But look hard enough and you’ll find these same economic principles in the works of wordsmiths like Charles Dickens, Upton Sinclair, and Kurt Vonnegut. When poet Robert Frost considers the opportunity cost of a road not taken, the [...]

North Korea announced its intentiions to formally declare its possession of nuclear weapons and to carry out a nuclear test, administration officials announced today.
Guests:
Richard Wolfe, Chief Diplomatic correspondent Newsweek magazine

The Bush administration has changed the rules of a major program within the Clean Air Act. The “New Source Review” program has been revised to allow electric utilities, refineries, chemical plants and other industrial manufacturers to make upgrades to facilities without using the best available environmental technologies. The General Accounting Office has released a report [...]

The Bush administration said it is considering a U.N.-sponsored multinational force in Iraq, as long as an American commander leads it.
Guests:
Douglas Jehl, New York Times reporter

The abortion wars of the 80’s and 90’s have left Americans in an ethical and political quagmire, with an increasingly conservative middle ground. In his new book “Bearing Right, ” Slate political correspondent William Saletan says that it is the pro-choice conservatives that have won the abortion debate. And what we’re witnessing today [...]

On the eve of the 40th anniversary of King’s “I Have Dream” speech, we examine the importance and relevance of King’s vision. The speech has been recited, rebroadcast, and reused for all kinds of arguments. But what did the original speech mean? What does it mean now? Has the dream been deferred?
Guests:
Drew Hansen, author, “The [...]

The federal government will rack up $480 billion in red ink in 2004, according to a report put out today by the Congressional Budget Office. We look at the numbers and add up the damage.
Guests:
Gail Chaddock, The Christian Science Monitor

Detox. Purify. Weight loss. A growing number of Americans are putting down their forks and picking up fasting. But is fasting the way to weight loss and spiritual rejuvenation, or just another upper middle-class diet fad?
Guests:
Dr. Gabriel Cousens, founder, Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in Patagonia, Arizona
Natalia Rose, founder, The Rose Program and author of [...]

Writer James Carroll is an outspoken columnist who calls the world as he sees it in all its glory and moral failings. A former priest, he is a bitter critic of many of the Bush administration’s policies in the war on terror and challenges his readers to examine their own beliefs. In a column about [...]

The United States had enough troops in Iraq to win the war, but winning the peace has proven to be an even greater challenge. This week, a congressional group returned from Iraq and warned that more troops would be needed to stabilize the country.
Troop buildup could also be achieved by bringing in the United Nations, [...]

The 1970s brought a new wave of daring and irreverent films that washed over the Technicolor dinosaurs of the ’60s. Characters like Travis Bickle, Nurse Ratched, and Michael Corleone gave the disaffected and divided nation a vision of themselves in a time of moral ambiguity and public distrust. The landmark films that, for a [...]

Jessica Stern bravely ventured into the hearts of Muslim fundamentalists organizations in Pakistan, Gaza, and Indonesia. She met with a vast array of extremist groups, including both the Jewish Underground in Hamas in Israel, the creator of the Taliban in Pakistan, and a former commander of the Covenant, the Sword, and the Army of the [...]

Three A-List reporters settle in for a conversation to remember the war in Iraq and reflect on lessons for building the peace. An On Point On Location special recorded live at The Whaling Church at Martha’s Vineyard
Guests:
Rageh Omaar, former BBC News Africa Correspondent, and Developing World Correspondent, now based in London
John Burnett, NPR’s Southwestern [...]

Ronald Reagan once called Moammar Gadhafi “the mad dog of the Middle East”. Well the old dog has got some new tricks, this week the United Nations is set to debate whether or not to lift sanctions on this one-time rogue nation. How has Libya managed to make its way from pubic enemy number one [...]

A step-back look at the impact of yesterday’s back-to-back bombings in Baghdad and Jerusalem on President Bush’s foreign policy.
Guests:
Maura Reynolds, White House reporter for The Los Angeles Times

The economy seems to be climbing out of its low. But unemployment remains high. The numbers behind America’s elusive economic recovery.
Guests:
Aaron Task, senior writer, TheStreet.com

The economy rushes toward recovery, President Bush says. Low interest rates and tax cuts spark spending. Strong demand spurs job growth. But some economists argue that the recovery is still far away, and Bush is in part to blame. The policy debate can be confusing. For the person who’s lost [...]

Fifty years ago, in a bold and far-reaching covert operation, the CIA overthrew the elected government of Iran. Although the coup seemed successful at first, its “haunting and terrible legacy” is now becoming clear.
Operation Ajax, as the plot was code-named, reshaped the history of Iran, the Middle East and the world. It restored Mohammad [...]

You’ve seen him in sitcoms, and heard him in voice-overs. He’s hosted a television dating game, reality TV, and he tours with “The Improv All-Stars.” Greg Proops has regularly appeared on both the British and American versions of the hit TV show, “Whose Line Is It Anyway.”
But Proops has always considered “stand-up” comedy his real [...]

Cameron Barr, reporter for “The Christian Science Monitor” spoke with us from Baghdad. He described the devestating attack on UN Headquarters in Baghdad and the implications for further UN missions in Iraq.
Guests:
Cameron Barr, reporter for “The Christian Science Monitor”, in Baghdad.

A suicide attacker’s bomb exploded at United Nations’ headquarters in Baghdad today, leaving 17 dead and dozens wounded. The attack is a further blow to security in U.S.-occupied Iraq, and further complicates the U.N.’s role there. After playing second fiddle to British and American aims in Iraq, can the U.N. avoid stepping into the [...]

The United States is a likely target of a major terrorist attack, accorading to a London based research company.
Guests:
David Rice, Senior Analyst, World Markets Research Center, contributor to the company’s World Terrorism Index

For two centuries, West Point has been a secret and mythical place, a national monument whose inner workings have been roped off from the public. “Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point” reveals what it’s like to attend the academy and what it takes to become an Army officer.
Daivd Lipsky, the first journalist to be [...]

Millions of Americans returned to work today as electricty flowed back into New York, Michicagn and Ohio. Detroit’s auto plants, which employe 100,000 people, shut down late Thursday and all day Friday.
Guests:
Jamie Butters, business writer who covers the auto industry for the Detroit Free Press

Sleek, eco-friendly and whisper-quiet hydrogen cars could be the wave of the future–or the spin of Detroit auto manufacturers. Separating the myth from reality.
Guests:
Elizabeth Kolbert, staff writer, The New Yorker and author of “The Car of Tomorrow” in last week’s issue of The New Yorker
Jeremy Rifkin, author, “The Hydrogen Economy: The Creation of the [...]

Think movie soundtracks and you are likely to think of the glossy, sweeping orchestral numbers of composers like John Williams. However, movie scores have an illustrious, alternative history that embraces the smoky, sultry feel of jazz. American jazz masters like Oliver Nelson, Duke Ellington and Quincy Jones are a few that made their mark in [...]

President Bush declared major combat operations in Iraq officially over more than three months ago. However, the situation for American soldiers remains very dangerous as they continue to be under attack each day. Who are the people attacking U.S. troops and why are they attacking? What motivates the Iraqi resistance? What are their personal [...]

You work crazy hours. You beat every deadline. The reward: a pink slip and two weeks of severance pay. After climbing up the corporate ladder, you slip back to the first rung. From a corner office you go to unemployment, and then a dead-end job. Putting your career in reverse [...]

Guests:

The lights are out in New York tonight and into the Northeast, the Midwest and parts of Canada. Air conditioning is off, cell phones are out of service, there are no subways or traffic lights, and hospitals are running on emergency generators. Millions of people are are on hold in the summer heat.
Guests:
Ellis Henican, [...]

Baseball is as American as apple pie, the fourth of July and … exploitation? Critics charge that young Latino players are misled by major league dreams.
Guests:
Steve Fainaru, investigative sports journalist, co-author of “The Duke of Havana: Baseball, Cuba, and the
Search for the American Dream”
David Fidler, Professor of Law and Ira C. Batman Faculty Fellow, Indiana [...]

An elaborate sting operation involving Russian, British and American law enforcement has lead to the arrest of Hemant Lakhani, a British arms broker. But what does the arrest mean to airline travelers in America? The case reveals both a functioning security apparatus and vulnerabilities at the same time. In order to further protect travelers airlines [...]

Nearly 8,000 physicians signed on to a proposal for a national health insurance plan published tomorrow’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
We talk with doctors spearheading the push for universal healthcare. Will Washington heed their call for reform?
Guests:
David Himmelstein, associate professor of medicine, Harvard University and co-founder, Physicians for a National [...]

Christine Todd Whitman was criticized on both flanks for her actions as head of the Environmental Protection Agency, so there may be a new Sheriff in town. George Bush has nominated Utah Governor Mike Leavitt to succeed Whitman.
According to the president, Leavitt “respects the ability of state and local governments” and “rejects the old ways [...]

Guests:
Dan Tokaji, Professor of Law at Ohio State University and council for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California
David Dill, professor of computer science, Stanford University.

He challenged Bush I for the White House. Now Pat Buchanan casts his critical Conservative eye over the White House of Bush II and George W’s prospects in Election 2004.
Guests:
Pat Buchanan, editor of The American Conservative Magazine
Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst, senior editor at the Atlantic Monthly Magazine

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy said this weekend that prison terms are too long and that mandatory minimum sentences for some federal crimes should be abolished. Meanwhile, the Justice Department said it will begin compiling data on judges who give lighter sentences than federal guidelines prescribe. Prison sentences, they say, should be uniform [...]

The Blues run like a deep river through American history and culture, giving expression to the men and women who worked the farms, levee camps and prisons of the American South.
John A. and Alan Lomax followed the Blues across the dirt roads and road the rails across forests and plantations to record the sound of [...]

Is the United States doing enough to prevent or prepare for another terrorist attack? A survey of 2,041 urban hospitals done by The General Accounting Office reveals a nation unprepared to meet the challenge of a major attack.
Controversy over funding for flight marshals and a damning report on the “woefully unprepared” system of first [...]

Malden Mills owner Aaron Feuerstein became a corporate hero seven years ago when much of his mill burned to the ground. He did what no board of directors would ever have allowed him to do: he continued to pay his unemployed workers and vowed to rebuild the mill.
Now the mill that makes Polartec fleece [...]

The latest information on the bombing of the Jordanian Embassy today in Baghdad.
Guests:
Robert Worth, New York Times reporter in Baghdad

Should we capture Saddam Hussein alive? The hunt intensifies for the deposed dictator but there is little consensus on what to do with him if American troops find him. The Bush administration appears to be split. The State Department wants to jail him but there are reports that the Pentagon prefers he be killed, like [...]

26 year-old Georgy Russell says she is running for governor of California to reclaim politics for the ordinary people.
Guests: