Viewpoints Radio
Award-winning reporting on current issues featuring America's leading experts.
Imagine working for hours on end outside in temperatures exceeding 90 or 100 degrees. On top of this, there’s little shade, minimal breaks and often not enough water. This is the reality for millions of laborers who work in agriculture, construction and other industries. Why aren’t there more legal guidelines protecting these essential workers?
The 2021-2022 school year is officially in full swing. But, it’s not the return that many were hoping for as COVID-19 cases spread, and outbreaks pop up in classrooms across the U.S. While there are barriers and challenges just like last year, school must go on. We speak with education expert, Julie King, to get some tips on how to navigate the hectic back to school season and how parents can …
The average American checks their phone about 90 times a day, according to a 2019 survey from tech research firm, Asurion. How often would you say you check? Every hour? Once every 20 minutes? Do you ever panic when your phone isn’t right next to you?
The news of the Taliban regaining control of Afghanistan has swept news headlines this month. Hundreds of thousands of Afghan citizens have already fled the country, but how will everyday life change for those who remain? We discuss the precarious situation in the region and the reversal of modern freedoms and economic stability for millions of men, women and children.
For astronauts in space, sleeping in a zero-gravity environment surrounded by loud fans, bright lights and cramped quarters can be an issue. We discuss some of the bodily systems behind sleep and how astronauts in space for months on end deal with these challenges.
While this may change as COVID-19 cases rise due to the Delta variant, for now, many schools are moving forward with plans to welcome students back with the caveat of requiring face masks while indoors. We discuss the highly anticipated return.
Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson both made history last month as they rocketed out of Earth’s atmosphere and successfully reached space. This trip was many years in the making as both billionaires built their own respective companies, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, to transport them to space as private civilians. Now, people are lining up and paying hefty prices to take this same voyage. Where …
Wondering what to do with the dozens of face masks and all of those unused yeast packets? Us too. There are several items that Americans sought after during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic that help to showcase what this period in time was like. Once the pandemic is fully over, how will we look back and remember this time? How are museum curators and everyday people remembering this important …
In 2019, the book publishing industry in the U.S. generated more than $25 billion dollars in revenue and employed close to 70,000 people. It’s a massive industry that publishes and generates publicity for many thousands of physical and e-books each year. Literary editor Peter Ginna joins us this week to breakdown the business and the crucial role that editors play in crafting a successful book.
Millions of Americans put off going to a doctor or hospital because they’re afraid of the high cost of care. Depending on your insurance, one MRI scan can cost upwards of a thousand dollars. One trip to the emergency room can mean thousands of dollars in charges that people can’t afford to pay. So, what’s driving these sky-high prices? How can people negotiate down these hefty bills?
The U.S. prison population has decreased during the pandemic, but the number of people behind bars is still close to two million. Some of these inmates have been in prison for decades and at a young age were deemed by the justice system to be ‘unfixable’. This week, we shed light on the cycle of youth incarceration in this country and why people like Ian Manuel, a former inmate, were sentenced to …
Unions, which are organized labor groups, are prevalent across the U.S. You’ve probably heard of the term in the media or may know someone who’s part of a union. But, have you ever heard of a worker center? It operates in similar functions as unions; however, this resource is much more community-based and is more of a guiding advocate in responsive situations where the worker is facing harassment, …
The 50 richest families in the world have a combined net worth of $1.2 trillion. The Koch family, the second richest name on the list, is worth a staggering $100 billion. For many families, it isn’t just about success and business growth, but the business of building wealth through loopholes like philanthropy and loose taxation laws.
Lake Mead, the reservoir created by the Hoover Dam, is at its lowest levels ever recorded. Drought is not a new problem in the West, but it is getting worse as the years go by. What’s being done to curb water consumption and increase supply so people’s taps don’t run dry?
In the U.S., most Americans commonly use vegetable or olive oil when cooking. While we don’t often here about palm oil, it’s in many of the products that we buy at the grocery store, including everything from food to personal care products. And abroad, palm oil is widely used in cooking and frying. Last year, global consumption reached 72 million tons. However, this ingredient is not being …
Baseball is back, and fans can once again revel in the experience of heading to a ballpark, grabbing some peanuts and cheering on their team as they score a homerun. Longtime baseball writer and faithful Phillies fan Timothy Malcolm joins Viewpoints this week to break down some of his favorite stadiums in the U.S. and some tips you should keep in mind before buying a ticket.
Many people are worried that non-native plants and animals are invading the U.S. and preventing native species from thriving. Each year, a lot of money and time is spent trying to rid the land of these aliens - often to no avail. But, are these species present because they’re the only ones that can exist in that environment?
The average person ends up trashing 25 percent of the food they buy from the grocery store. This can mean fresh produce, expired dairy, stale bread – the list goes on and on. This cycle of food waste across households, grocery stores and restaurants adds up, resulting in more than 81 billion pounds of fresh, edible food being thrown away each year. What’s the solution? Two food experts join us …
The cryptocurrency that started it all, Bitcoin, is now valued at around 1.6 trillion dollars. And in just the last month, another, newer form of crypto, Dogecoin has skyrocketed in popularity across the Internet, sharply driving up the price per token. We explore the fascinating and fast-evolving world of cryptocurrency and the future of traditional financial systems as digital currency gains …
How often do you buy an item from the store that’s packaged in a plastic container or wrapped in plastic? Daily decisions like these add up and are feeding into the global plastic crisis. Scientists estimate that there’s anywhere between nine to 16 million tons of plastic on the sea floor, polluting the environment, harming species and releasing harmful microplastics into every corner of the …
Perhaps Stewart’s most dramatic role was the one that not many people know about, but that molded his life and his psyche – not to mention his acting – for most of his career: serving as a fighter pilot in World War II. We talk to an author who delved into Stewart’s war service about how flying missions over Europe and seeing his comrades die affected the actor and the types of roles he chose to …
Dr. Emmanuel Urquieta, from the Center for Space Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine, joins Viewpoints this week to help us understand some of the health impacts of spending time in space and the hurdles that come with longer missions like sending humans to Mars.
Despite the pandemic, carbon emissions are at an all-time high, topping records over the past 3.6 million years. For years, scientists have warned of humans approaching a critical tipping point of global warming – and it’s here. Sustainability scientist Dr. Kimberly Nicholas joins Viewpoints this week to break down the current climate landscape and explain why turning things around requires a …
Physician burnout is still a very real problem in the U.S. – and the pandemic has only exacerbated these feelings in some of the hardest hit hospitals across the country. We speak with Dr. Greg Hammer at Stanford University about the pandemic’s lasting effects on mental health.
Subscribe to get the latest from Viewpoints Radio directly in your inbox.
