On Point with Meghna Chakrabarti

How the 'super' El Niño could reshape global weather

El Niño has become an annual global climate phenomenon. But this year, scientists are warning of a record-setting 'super' El Niño. What that could mean for the weather ev

The forgotten history of Britain's slave trade

The UK abolished the slave trade more than 200 years ago. But the wealth it created still shapes the country today. A new database reveals the businesses, families and mo

The Jackpod: Ten seconds to midnight

On Point news analyst Jack Beatty on why the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has set its Doomsday Clock at 85 seconds to midnight, its highest estimate of the likelihoo

The bored and the beautiful: How the smartphone killed boredom

Social media. Streaming. Swiping. Today, it's normal to reach for our phones when we're bored. But researchers say passive boredom like scrolling is not the kind of bored

What we can actually do to save the planet

An ever-warming world, rising sea levels, shrinking glaciers — it’s easy to despair over the climate crisis. But scientist Tim Lenton says not every tipping point leads t

Is the meaning of family changing?

Family estrangement – cutting ties with a parent, grandparent, or sibling – is often seen as at odds with the meaning of family as we know it. Sociologist and author Rin

Is your driver's license on the dark web?

153 million U.S. drivers' licenses were hacked and put up for sale on the Dark Web. That's more than half of all licensed drivers. How that happened and what it says abou

The sound of the land before time

What did the Jurassic world actually sound like? Using fossils and AI, scientists have reconstructed the calls of insects that lived alongside the dinosaurs. The result i

The sound of the land before time

What did the Jurassic world actually sound like? Using fossils and AI, scientists have reconstructed the calls of insects that lived alongside the dinosaurs. The result i

The Jackpod: What hath the godly wrought

On Point news analyst Jack Beatty looks into the devotion of white evangelical Americans to Donald Trump and the power of political Christianity. *** Thank you for liste

The secret lives of snow leopards

Ecologist Kullu Suryawanshi has spent 20 years tracking one of the most elusive animals in the world, deep in the mountains of Asia. What has he learned about snow leopar

The secret lives of snow leopards

Ecologist Kullu Suryawanshi has spent 20 years tracking one of the most elusive animals in the world, deep in the mountains of Asia. What has he learned about snow leopar

What's at stake in the race for AI dominance

Top AI researchers and leaders worry AI is developing too fast. But critics argue the U.S. can't risk to slow down in its AI race with China. So, what might a slowdown lo

Free range parenting vs. the zero-risk state

A Virginia mom let her 5-year-old son take a walk alone in her gated community. The authorities found out and now she’s on Virginia's child abuse and neglect registry. Wh

Trump's war on mail-in ballots

The Supreme Court has rejected President Trump’s plan to control how ballots get sent in the mail. But that does not mark the end of the President's efforts to undermine

'A climate of fear' at the Pentagon

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired or blocked promotions of 10% of the military's top ranked officers. Former Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall says it's cre

The Jackpod: Nobody knows dumb has a B

On Point news analyst Jack Beatty on one of President Trump’s oft-repeated rhetorical tropes and what its conjectured origin story might say about his internal salience m

How 9/11 shaped America

Twenty-five years ago, the U.S. suffered the worst terrorist attack in its history. Today, roughly 40% of Americans are too young to remember the events of 9/11. Journali

Did the Treasury just make it easier to launder money?

The Treasury Department recently eliminated a rule that required American companies to identify their owners. The rule was intended to prevent money laundering. What’s dr

Who's to blame when AI goes rogue?

An OpenAI cybersecurity test took an unexpected turn when hundreds of its AI agents got around safeguards and hacked into another tech company. Should OpenAI have done mo