On Point

After Georgia passed restrictive voting laws, corporate leaders spoke out. We discuss this new wave of corporate activism and what comes next. Ronnie Chatterji, Ashley Spillane and Jack Beatty join Kimberly Atkins.

Nearly 30 years before the video of George Floyd's death sparked protests across the nation, there was another video. It captured a brutal police beating of a man named Rodney King. In March 1991, a local resident filmed a group of Los Angeles police officers beating King with batons. The video went on Los Angeles television and then around the world. Four Los Angeles police officers were eventually tried and acquitted in 1992. Los Angeles erupted in riots. The entire sequence of events,...

Listener advisory: This hour contains explicit language. When quoting language used by police officers assaulting Rodney King in 1991, a guest uses a racial slur. The word is uttered by John Burris who represented Rodney King in his civil lawsuit against LAPD in 1994. Almost 30 years ago, four Los Angeles police officers went on trial for brutally beating a man named Rodney King. Now in Minneapolis, a different trial, a similar defense. From LA in '92 to Minneapolis today, what has and...

The Biden administration says it won't allow states to cancel annual standardized testing. Some parents and educators are pushing back. We take a look at what statewide assessments measure during a pandemic. Prudence Carter, Luvelle Brown and Laura Jimenez join Meghna Chakrabarti.

A recent Gallup poll found that fewer than half of Americans belong to a house of worship. But while Americans might be losing their religion, they are not losing their religious fervor. What’s filling the God gap? Shadi Hamid, Casper ter Kuile and Joseph Bottum join Meghna Chakrabarti.

What does China want its future to be? How does it see its own rise as a global power? We discuss what we need to understand about the story China tells about itself. Tong Zhao, Dr. Yangyang Cheng and Elizabeth Economy join Meghna Chakrabarti.

Investigative journalist Amanda Ripley wanted to understand the sources of human conflict. So she studied it for more than four years. She detected a strong pattern to the most intractable conflicts, big and small. She found it in divorces, gang violence and political polarization. From the personal to the tribal, we discuss high conflict, and how to pull free of it. Amanda Ripley, Curtis Toler and Jack Beatty join Meghna Chakrabarti.

Variants. They're all over the news. We push beyond the headlines and answer everything you want to know about COVID variants. Tara C. Smith, Angela Rasmussen and Mary Jo Ondrechen join Meghna Chakrabarti.

For decades, sperm counts in Western countries have been in sharp decline. Researcher Shanna Swan joins Meghna Chakrabarti to tell us why, and what needs to be done to stop what could soon be a fertility crisis.

Biden's $2 trillion plan to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure. How does he say he'll get it done? By raising corporate taxes. We discuss corporations, taxation and American infrastructure. Pam Olson, Jason Furman and Jack Beatty join Meghna Chakrabarti.

Saving for a comfortable retirement -- beyond Social Security -- almost always works best when you start saving early, and then continue to save throughout your entire working life. But as you'll hear from this story, those two things do not always go together. Lisa Granfield lives in Walpole, Maine. At age 58, she works part-time at an assisted living facility. In this radio diary, we hear how she navigates a broken retirement system.

A pair of economists from either side of the aisle have a plan to help the millions of low income Americans who can't save for retirement. We talk about it. Teresa Ghilarducci and Kevin Hassett join Meghna Chakrabarti.

The trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin enters its second week. We talk about what’s unfolded thus far in the courtroom, and how Minneapolis and the Black community are responding. Tim Arango, Suzette Hackney, Gary Bailey and Rose Scott join Meghna Chakrabarti.

New studies show that even in the midst of a pandemic that disproportionately took older lives, people over 50 were generally mentally better off, more resilient -- possibly even happier. We hear why science says your best years could be yet to come. Dr. Laura Carstensen, Dr. Alexandre Kalache and Ashton Applewhite join Meghna Chakrabarti.

Scientists to this day can’t define what life is. For every definition, there’s an animal, a plant -- something that breaks the rules. So how does science answer that? Writer Carl Zimmer joins Meghna Chakrabarti to explore the borderlands of life.

Georgia's new election law isn't the only major voting change in the works. We look at efforts in Arizona to limit how people vote by mail. Jeremy Duda, Michelle Ugenti-Rita, Jack Beatty, Bertrall Ross and Randy Perez join Meghna Chakrabarti.

Scientists investigating the pandemic still can't pinpoint the exact origin of the coronavirus that caused it. The WHO is poised to report on its search — but some are skeptical about their conclusions.

We hear from Democratic and Republican representatives who want to change how the United States goes to war.

When unusual winter storms battered the South this year, the people of Jackson, Mississippi lost clean drinking water for almost a month. Jackson is just one of many American communities relying on a century-old water supply system. We discuss America’s fragile water infrastructure – and how to fix it.

At least 400 people have been charged for the Capitol insurrection. Former lead prosecutor Michael Sherwin says those charges could soon include sedition. Over two months later, what have we learned about the preparation behind the breach of the Capitol? Mary McCord and Ryan Reilly join Meghna Chakrabarti.