Long-time friends and folk musicians Ellis Paul and Vance Gilbert join us for a look back at 2003 and a look ahead. We sing out the old and welcome new music and fresh covers of songs by Van Morrison, Lucinda Williams, Woody Guthrie, Neil Young and more.
Guests:
Ellis Paul and Vance Gilbert, songwriters, musicians, and [...]

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Maraniss on the tumultuous days of October 1967. War in Vietnam, student protests at home, and America on the brink of crisis.
Guests:
David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, bestselling author and associate editor, The Washington Post. His latest book is “They Marched Into Sunlight: War and Peace, Vietnam and America, October [...]

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Maraniss on the tumultuous days of October 1967. War in Vietnam, student protests at home, and America on the brink of crisis.
Guests:
David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, bestselling author and associate editor, The Washington Post. His latest book is “They Marched Into Sunlight: War and Peace, Vietnam and America, October [...]

Earlier this month, some of the country’s best writers met in Cambridge, Massachusetts for the 2003 Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism to share their best work. Tonight, we bring you Part Two of a series of readings from those writers–delivered in the authors’ own voices–as part of an annual On Point tradition.
Guests:
Jay Allison, independent [...]

Slogging along on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in his early years, the man born Nathan Brinbaum was looking for the key to stardom. He found the missing link in a young, pretty dancer named Gracie Allen. Gracie was every bit his match: charming and smart, with a natural sense for comedy. Their marriage was [...]

Earlier this month, some of the country’s best writers met in Cambridge, Massachusetts for the 2003 Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism to share their best work. We bring you the first part of a series of readings from those writers, delivered in the authors’ own voices, as part of an annual On Point tradition.
Guests:
Susan [...]

The saying “many happy returns” takes on new meaning around the holidays. From sweaters that are two sizes too big to vases to vases that are just too awful to display, the gift of receiving sometimes can be too hard to bear. But as Cambridge writer Joan Wickersham explains in this radio diary, there can [...]

Firefighters in Glenview, Illinois were told to take down their indoor Christmas decoratons after some residents said they were offended. In Holliston, Massachusetts, town officials initially objected from a request from a rabbi to place a menorah outside Town Hall. ‘Tis the season to argue about holiday decorations.
Guests:
Cathy Young, contributing editor at Reason magazine, [...]

The beef recall is expanded to eight states and one U.S. territory.
Guests:
Guy Nelson, news director KUOW, Seattle, Washington

After a string of early successes and an Oscar for directing, Hollywood superstar Mel Gibson fell into despair in his mid-thirties. He pulled himself out through the faith of his youth, a deeply traditionalist Catholicism that rejects even popes.
Gibson came out of his experience with the decision to make what he calls “a historically accurate” [...]

After a string of early successes and an Oscar for directing, Hollywood superstar Mel Gibson fell into despair in his mid-thirties. He pulled himself out through the faith of his youth, a deeply traditionalist Catholicism that rejects even popes.
Gibson came out of his experience with the decision to make what he calls “a historically accurate” [...]

Mother and daughter Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi have co-authored a new book on why two-income families are not better off, and why they’re even more likely to file bankruptcy. The myths and realities of what is making middle class America go broke.
Guests:
Elizabeth Warren, professor of law, Harvard University and co-author of “The [...]

Mother and daughter Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi have co-authored a new book on why two-income families are not better off, and why they’re even more likely to file bankruptcy. The myths and realities of what is making middle class America go broke.
Guests:
Elizabeth Warren, professor of law, Harvard University and co-author of “The [...]

Comic book artist Art Spiegelman won the Pulitzer Prize for “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale,” a beautiful story about his parents’ experiences during the Holocaust. He’s also the artist behind the 1993 Valentine’s Day New Yorker cover of a Hasidic Jew passionately kissing an African-American woman.
Spiegelman got his early start at the Topps Gum Co., [...]

Comic book artist Art Spiegelman won the Pulitzer Prize for “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale,” a beautiful story about his parents’ experiences during the Holocaust. He’s also the artist behind the 1993 Valentine’s Day New Yorker cover of a Hasidic Jew passionately kissing an African-American woman.
Spiegelman got his early start at the Topps Gum Co., [...]

Music of Christmas past. The history and art of Christmas music through the ages. From medieval to modern times, we take note of some of the best Christmas music through the centuries. Distinguished musical ensemble the Boston Camerata is our guide for an evening of song and celebration.
Guests:
Joel Cohen, Artistic Director The Boston Camerata
Anne Azema, [...]

Music of Christmas past. The history and art of Christmas music through the ages. From medieval to modern times, we take note of some of the best Christmas music through the centuries. Distinguished musical ensemble the Boston Camerata is our guide for an evening of song and celebration.
Guests:
Joel Cohen, Artistic Director The Boston Camerata
Anne Azema, [...]

Joan Baez burst into the spotlight in 1959 at the Newport Folk Festival at the age of 18. In the 1960s, she was the popular face of folk as she helped bring upstarts Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Phil Ochs to fame.
She marched alongside Martin Luther King in Selma, stood in the fields with Cesar [...]

Bestselling novelist Amy Tan on her first book of nonfiction “The Opposite of Fate” about familial bonds and fate. From “The Joy Luck Club” to “The Bonesetter’s Daughter”, we travel into the literary–and the real–world of writer Amy Tan.
Guests:
Amy Tan, bestselling novelist and author of the new book, “The Opposite of Fate: A Book [...]

Joan Baez burst into the spotlight in 1959 at the Newport Folk Festival at the age of 18. In the 1960s, she was the popular face of folk as she helped bring upstarts Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Phil Ochs to fame.
She marched alongside Martin Luther King in Selma, stood in the fields with Cesar [...]

Bestselling novelist Amy Tan on her first book of nonfiction “The Opposite of Fate” about familial bonds and fate. From “The Joy Luck Club” to “The Bonesetter’s Daughter”, we travel into the literary–and the real–world of writer Amy Tan.
Guests:
Amy Tan, bestselling novelist and author of , “The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings.”

Despite their disagreements, says Harvard Professor Michael Sandel, liberals and conservatives share an impoverished vision of citizenship. We check in on the state of our democracy with an election on the way.
Guests:
Michael Sandel, Professor of Government at Harvard, author of “Democracy’s Discontent: America in Search of a Public Philosophy”

The National Terror Alert level has climbed from yellow to orange, but are we more prepared? Officials have warned that the threat level is at its highest since September 11th, but to many people that information serves only to raise anxiety.
On Point will examine how threat levels are determined and what is done with the [...]

You wonder how your 30- and 40-something neighbors can afford to live in big houses and send their kids to fancy private schools and summer camps. Their parents may be footing the bills.
Tonight, On Point, growing older and still dependent on Mom and Dad.
Guests:
Donald Cox, Professor of Economics, Boston College
Thomas Shapiro, Heller School of [...]

John Edwards was the first in his family to go to college. Now, this first-term senator from North Carolina is running for president. He is Southern. He is good looking. His rags-to-riches story embodies the spirit of the American dream.
So far, the poll numbers have not been encouraging for Edwards. He trails well behind the [...]

So, the shopping isn’t finished and your house may or may not look like Martha Stewart decorated it, but the sentimental season is here, ready or not. The Irish Tenors join us to celebrate the season with classic carols and songs of Ireland.
Guests:
Platinum-selling recording artists The Irish Tenors: Anthony Kearns, Finbar Wright, and Ronan [...]

Psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton examines the psychology of violence in the 21st century and the rising clash of Islamist and American worldviews. Understanding the rise of superpower syndrome — one psychiatrist’s diagnosis of America in the age of terror.
Guests:
Robert Jay Lifton, visiting professor of psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and author of “Superpower Syndrome: [...]

“We are beginning to resemble extinct dinosaurs, who suffered from too much armor and too little brain.”
– William Sloane Coffin
The Reverend William Sloane Coffin has been called an American prophet. He became famous at Yale in the 1960s for his opposition to the Vietnam War. He was jailed as a civil rights Freedom [...]

Democratic presidential contender, friend of labor and man from Missouri, Dick Gephardt joins us with an eye on Iowa and the White House.
Guests:
Congressman Dick Gephardt (D-MO)
Harold Meyerson, editor at large, American Prospect
Bill Lambrecht, Washington reporter, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst

Parker Brothers got its start in the 1880s, when a 16-year-old George Parker, who loved playing games and had a knack for selling, tried to earn a few bucks on a card game he created called Banking. That was the start of Parker Brothers, which gave us Ping Pong, Sorry and Monopoly. Tonight, [...]

A look behind the lines of the Iraqi insurgency from reporter Michael Ware. And history lessons in Great Powers facing guerrilla war. From the ancient Sythians to the Khmer Rouge to Iraq.
Guests:
Michael Ware, foreign correspondent for TIME magazine, author of “The Hidden Enemy,” the exclusive cover story on the Iraqi insurgents
Jay Winik, historian and [...]

Saddam’s history. But Iraq’s struggles aren’t. Not yet. We look at how the U.S. and Iraq can and should push forward the momentum of Saddam’s capture, and what to do now in Iraq.
Guests:
Alex Berenson, foreign correspondent for the New York Times
Anne-Marie Slaughter, Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, [...]

Former House majority leader and outspoken conservative Dick Armey was as well known for his positions - limiting government, lowering taxes and supporting free markets - as he was for his axioms. Tonight, On Point, Armey looks at the current administration and explains why “macho hurts” and “you can’t get your finger on the [...]

Saddam Hussein, who defied the west with contempt and bravado, is now a prisoner. Once commanding with fear and repression, the deposed Iraqi leader gave up without a fight. What is going on inside of the mind of Saddam Hussein?
Guests:
Jerrold Post, psychiatrist, founder of the CIA’s Center for the Analysis of Personality and Political [...]

In 1804, Thomas Jefferson took a straight-edge razor to his copies of the New Testament and cut out everything that suggested a divine nature for Jesus. And then he praised that Jesus to the heavens. Fast forward to the 1970s. Jesus cut a huge swath on Broadway in the smash hits “Jesus Christ Superstar” [...]

With the capture of Saddam Hussein, Iraqis all over the world are breathing a collective sigh of relief. While joy is the most prevalent and immediate reaction, the momentous arrest caused many complex and conflicting emotions.
On Point talks with a roundtable of Iraqis reflecting on the fall of Saddam.
Guests:
Shakar Mustafa, Visiting Professor of Irish and [...]

Music critics Tim Riley and Tom Moon help us sift through the mountains of CD box sets on sale for the holidays. From Bob Dylan to Led Zeppelin to The Buzzcocks, we pick out the ones that really sing.

Guests:
Tim Riley, music writer and critic, author of “Hard Rain: A Dylan Commentary,” and the forthcoming “Fever: [...]

First, the Pentagon found evidence that Halliburton overcharged the U.S. government by as much as $61 million for fuel it delivered to Iraq. Now, the Defense Contract Audit Agency has assigned 20 auditors to examine Halliburton’s activities in a wide-ranging probe.
Guests:
Neil King, reporter covering Halliburton for the Wall Street Journal.

Scoring that elusive Hokey Pokey Elmo. Buying Italian leather boots on the final markdown. Shopping today is so much more than just buying. It’s about pleasure, truth, beauty, and perfection, says sociologist Sharon Zukin. Zukin has scoured the mega- malls, strolled the open-air markets. She has loaded up her cart and listened to consumers. [...]

Feudalism and modernity clash onscreen in the bix box office winner The Last Samurai. The reaction to the modern world encroaching on traditional, honor-based societies has endured far beoynd the Medieval world, with devastating results.
Guests:
Fouad Ajami, Professor of Middle Eastern studies at Johns Hopkins and author of “The Dream Palace of the [...]

Senator Joe Lieberman has made a career of overcoming big odds. In the wake of a surprise Gore endorsement for Lieberman opponent and Primary front runner Howard Dean, the odds against have grown. In many ways Lieberman is a symbol of the “third way” centrist branch of the Democratic Party born out of the Clinton [...]

In his new book, “Sex, Time and Power,” Leonard Shlain looks at sex and how it shaped human evolution. He comes to the conclusion that language evolved so that men and women could negotiate terms of sex. And an awareness of time led men to become aware of their mortality, leading to [...]

Several kids dead at the start of the flu season as concerns build vaccine supplies will run out, and not protect against a virulent new strain. How was the nation’s public health system caught off guard? And what does it say about its ability to respond to other health threats?
Guests:
Karen Auge, health reporter, Denver Post
Dr. [...]

Anti-Semitism is making a dangerous comeback. In just this past month, two synagogues were bombed in Istanbul, and a Jewish school was attacked in Paris. The Anti-Defamation League’s Abraham Foxman warns of the growing threat to Jewish communities worldwide. Tonight, On Point, Foxman on the threat of “the new anti-Semitism.”
Guests:
Abraham Foxman, National [...]

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is in the U.S. to allay fears of a trade war and American job loss to China’s billion-plus workforce. But is the American worker in the heartland still coming up short?
Guests:
Edward Alden, Washington correspondent, The Financial Times
Joseph Kahn, Beijing bureau chief, The New York Times and author of the series [...]

What’s your brand? If you’re a single woman 35 years or older and want to get married, you’d better come up with one, and fast, says author Rachel Greenwald. In her new book, “Find a Husband After 35,” the Harvard MBA tells women how to package their assets, develop a personal brand, use direct mail, [...]