KCRW's To The Point Podcasts

PodcastDirectory / Variety / Public Radio
PodcastDirectory / Regions / NA / USA

Hosted by Warren Olney, "To the Point" is a fast-paced, news based one-hour daily national program that focuses on the hot-button issues of the day, co-produced by KCRW and Public Radio International. Primary Format : Public Radio Language : English Also Listed as: City : Santa Monica State/Province : CA Country : USA Region : NA User Tags: User Votes: RSS Feed Website People found this Podcast Searching for: View this Podcast on a Google Map. Podcast iTunes Link Text Only listing of KCRW's To The Point Podcasts Methings.com listings of KCRW's To The Point Podcasts If you like this podcast, you might also like:

View the full archive of KCRW's To The Point Afghanistan: War and Peace in the Graveyard of Empires Does al Qaeda in Afghanistan threaten US security? What about the Taliban? What will it take to establish a credible civilian government? Should the US send more troops or begin conducting a graceful withdrawal? We look at some of the questions facing the latest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Also, insurers suddenly push back against the healthcare reform bill, and football, concussions and memory-related disease.  Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Comes Out of the Closet President Obama wants to revoke "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," but Congress will have to repeal the ban on gays in the military. We hear about morale and civil rights in the military. Also, more troops for Afghanistan, and the Senate Finance Committee on healthcare reform. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The US and Russia: Iran and Nuclear Weapons Hillary Clinton's in Moscow to talk about Iran's nuclear program and renewing the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, not to mention Afghanistan. We hear about diplomacy and nuclear weapons.  Also, after taxpayer bailouts, Wall Street bonuses jump, and despite wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, military recruiting is setting historic records.   Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The President and The Big Easy President Obama touched down in New Orleans today, and the Big Easy seemed to be saying, "It's about time." We hear about reconstruction, flood protection, race and political partisanship. Also violence creates chaos in the the cultural hub of Pakistan, and women's rights in Saudi Arabia. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Barack Obama and the Military-Industrial Complex In deciding what to do in Afghanistan, President Obama faces more than the question of how many troops. It's the clout of the military in a society where the civilian government is supposed to be in charge. After all, it took a former general, President Dwight Eisenhower, to coin the term "military-industrial complex." Also, a run-off election for Afghanistan, and the boy who wasn't in the balloon after all. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Is It Time to Bust the Trusts Again? Big name economists, including Alan Greenspan, are saying it's time to break up financial institutions that are "too big to fail." Is it too late even to regulate the banks and brokerages that caused the financial meltdown?  Does a new agency for consumer finance protection have a chance? Also, a UN-backed commission says that Afghan President Hamid Karzai failed to win re-election, and both carrots and sticks to persuade Sudan to end Darfur's humanitarian crisis. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Pakistan and the Taliban Pakistan's army is finally taking on the Taliban in South Waziristan. Will the much-delayed offensive help the US and NATO against the Taliban in Afghanistan? Is Pakistan more interested in its historic conflict with India? Also, President Karzai is forced into a run-off election in Afghanistan, and the Obama Administration and medical marijuana. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Afghanistan, US Troops and the Run-off Election The White House says President Obama may decide about troops for Afghanistan even before the run-off election on November 7. But a lot depends on security, how the voting's conducted and the outcome. We look at the prospects.  Also, Iran strikes a nuclear deal, and  violence in Rio as Brazil tries to raise funds for the 2016 Olympics. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Local Politics with National Impact With the last national election twelve months ago and the next one twelve months away, the political world is focused on state contests less than two weeks from now. What will races for Governor in New Jersey and Virginia mean for President Obama and Democrats in Congress? Will Maine change the momentum on same-sex marriage? Also, the 'Pay Czar' cuts executive pay, and Twitter and Facebook are what they are but, even in the age of the Internet, television still rules. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Negative Impact of Positive Thinking The key to achieving the American dream is often said to be Positive Thinking, but Barbara Ehrenreich?s new book argues that ?Positive Thinking has Undermined America.?  Was the current  financial collapse the result of self-delusion from the top to the bottom? Also, NATO supports a new strategy for Afghanistan, and the passenger jet that overshot its destination by more 100 miles. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Is It Time Wall Street Was Paid for Performance? Pay cuts for corporate executives and new rules for banks are designed to protect against another recession.  Are the right people being punished? Is government intervention too little, too late? Also, tensions are high after a deadly day in Baghdad, and Walt Disney is compensating parents whose kids did not become geniuses from watching Baby Einstein. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website In China, the Recession Is Over ? or Is It? China will soon pass Japan as the world's second largest economy, but it's not easy to cope with such rapid expansion. How long can the growth continue? Can the US and China afford to be adversaries or will global problems force an uneasy partnership? Also, the deadliest month since the war began in Afghanistan in 2001, and healthcare reform, the public option and politics in the State of Nevada. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Swine Flu: Mixed Messages and Public Anxiety Mixed messages about swine flu and the availability of H1N1 vaccine have led to confusion and unexpected public anxiety. We hear from parents, doctors and medical researchers today. Also, reports that the CIA is paying Hamid Karzai's brother. On Reporter's Notebook, will California be the first state to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The 'Public Option' Stays Alive for Another Day Rumors that the "public option" was dead "were greatly exaggerated," according to one senior Democrat. Now, both the House and the Senate will debate healthcare reform bills including a government-run insurance plan. We hear about that, about cost control and other issues today. Also, the economy's improving, but still dependent on economic stimulus, and President Obama bears witness to the return of casualties from Afghanistan. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Science, Religion and Public Policy The Roman Catholic Church is conducting a campaign to show that the Bible is compatible with Darwin's theory of evolution. But polls show almost half the American people don't buy it. If belief in God means doubting science, what are the consequences for public policy?  Also, the US brokers a deal to restore the deposed President in Honduras, and Capitol Hill ethics investigations are accidentally revealed. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website FBI Makes an Arrest in a Case of Domestic Terrorism It is being called one of the most serious terrorist threats since 9/11. Najibullah Zazi, a 24-year¬old Afghan entered a plea of ?not guilty? this week to charges of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. His arrest came amidst a number of other terror related cases. How serious were these threats? Are they the result of improved law enforcement? What role did the Patriot Act play? Also, the US and its allies talk to Iran about its nuclear program. On Reporter's Notebook, could mas ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Blame It on Rio: Chicago Loses 2016 Olympic Games The International Olympic Committee today granted the 2016 Summer Olympic Games to Rio de Janeiro, with Chicago eliminated in the first round of voting. The historic decision takes the games to the South American continent for the very first time. Also, unemployment continues to climb, and re-writing the book on evolution, based on a startling new discovery in the African desert.Conan Nolanguest hosts. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Reassessing Afghanistan As President Obama weighs his options on the war in Afghanistan, public support for his policies there is on the decline. What can a troop surge accomplish? How will politics in Afghanistan -- and in Washington ? affect what the United States does? Does Obama face a new Vietnam in the making? Also, Iran's "preventative and defensive operations." On Reporter's Notebook will Roman Polanski be extradited to the US on a 32-year-old statutory rape charge?Sara Terryguest hosts. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website H1N1: What You Need to Know, What You Need to Do As the US government prepares to hand out more than 250 million free doses of vaccine for the H1N1 virus, health officials are confronting fear and misinformation. What is the H1N1, or swine flu, as it's commonly known? Who should take a vaccine against it? By taking early precautions to combat the flu, has the government caused more anxiety than necessary? Also, Also, terror suspect, Najibullah Zazi, enters a plea, and startling news about the placebo effect. Sara Terryguest hosts. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website US and Iran, Face-to-Face for the First Time in 30 Years In Geneva tomorrow, the United States will sit down for direct negotiations with Iran for the first time in three decades. The US, France, Britain, China, Russia and Germany will push for greater transparency on Iran's nuclear program, and threaten sanctions if President Ahmadinejad refuses to cooperate. What can the West hope to achieve at the talks? Will Russia and China agree to stepping up the pressure on Iran? Also,  earthquakes and tsunamis strike Samoa, and pitching the Olympic ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website