Viewpoints Radio
Award-winning reporting on current issues featuring America's leading experts.
How do professionals question people to get the information they want? We talk to a specialist on interrogation and lying about this topic, and how law enforcement and job interviewers use the same tactics to get to the truth and find out if someone might be lying to them.
Economists are saying that American workers’ wages are stagnant and have been for quite a few years now despite working longer hours and being “on call” all the time through technology. That doesn’t mean that business is lagging though, since corporations, their CEOs and other high-level managers are doing quite well in that department. Our guest says that …
Civics classes in many grade schools and high schools aren’t the same as they were 20 years ago. These days, kids are more likely to discuss and debate some of the most pressing issues of the day. We talk to two educators about how some schools are teaching students how to debate correctly, how discussion of hot topics can foster understanding of diverse …
Super Sunday is coming up, and football fans are planning their viewing parties. The first game between the Packers and the Chiefs was barely attended, but interest grew through the decades and now it’s the biggest American sporting event of the year. We take a look back at the game and some of its stars, coaches and dynasties.
The Super Bowl is the big game for the NFL, but it’s also the biggest game for advertisers. Many people who don’t even like football, tune into the game just to see the ads. But what makes a really good Super Bowl ad? We talk to three marketing specialists about how to craft a good ad, how ads are effectively measured and what makes an ad memorable.
There is a lot of talk by politicians and others about immigration policy in the United States. Many Americans are all for open immigration for those fleeing poverty and oppression. Others think that we need to stem the tide of refugees and undocumented immigrants to our shores. Our guests talk about what immigrants to this country offer to all of us and our …
In school we learn that the American Revolution began with the battles of Lexington and Concord. But did it? We talk to a historian and author about the events that preceded those battles that effectively threw out British rule in Massachusetts and set the stage for the other colonies to revolt and fight for freedom from England.
Seventy-four years ago this month, the U.S. was attacked by Japan at Pearl Harbor, drawing the country into World War II. We talk to an author and historian about how FDR, Churchill, MacArthur and others planned for the war during those few weeks before the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
When Congress debates a constitutional point, or when the Supreme Court is considering a case brought before it, we often hear the question, “what did the framers intend?”
This holiday season, there probably won’t be a celebration in the country that doesn’t contain cheese in some form or another. It’s one of America’s favorite snack foods, and cheddar is our favorite variety of the dairy product. But what is cheese? How is it made and how did cheddar get to be America’s iconic cheese? And how do “processed cheese food …
How do young people deal with race in their lives? We aren’t born racist, so how do some of them become that way? We talk to two young readers authors about their new book that addresses the issue.
Most of us have heard the name of Henry Clay, but he’s not one of the people we usually remember the way we do George Washington or Thomas Jefferson. Our guest says that Clay was just as important to our nation as the founding fathers, and he discusses the great contributions this Speaker of the House made to keep our country together, fight for justice, and …
Author Jack London is known for his stories of adventure in the Klondike, the Yukon and other far-away places. Our guest, however, says these stories also reflect his desire to bring the plight of poor and exploited workers to the public’s attention. We’ll hear how London’s hardscrabble youth and physically demanding jobs informed his writing, and find out …
Slang is often thought of as a lower-class way of speaking, although we use it all the time and it does make our language more colorful and vibrant. But how does it come into being? We talk to a linguist and to an author about why slang and jargon are part of our speech, who brings them into our language and why some slang falls out of favor – but should …
These days, a phone or digital interview often precedes the face-to-face meeting for job hunters. If you think that all you have to do is sit in front of your computer or cell phone camera and talk, think again. Resumes are also changing, with online services such as Linkedin and CareerBuilder the first places an employer looks to find an applicant. We talk …
Snapchat is quickly rising to the top of the social media hierarchy, and presidential candidates want to tap into its growing audience. But how exactly do you reach young voters on social media without sounding “too political” and boring? We speak with two media-savvy election pundits about the issue.
The President of the United States has a lot of powers that we think are given to him by the U.S. Constitution. You might be surprised to find out, however, that very little in that document actually outlines the job or the authority the Commander-in-Chief possesses. We talk to a historian about how executive powers and privilege for the President were …
Jazz is the quintessential American music genre, and nobody sings it better than Sheila Jordan. We talk to Jordan and her biographer about Jordan’s rise from poverty to her career singing with some of the most famous jazz musicians of the 20th century, the racism that jazz musicians – both black and white – experienced, and the need to preserve this music …
There has been a debate going on for decades over Social Security and it’s future. We talk to an author and researcher about his ideas on why Social Security is important, isn’t going broke, and how it can be expanded and funded with modest increases in the future.
America is a melting pot of many nationalities, races and religions, each with its own traditions and cuisines. Some of the food that is so loved by families across the country isn’t the healthiest, however, and can cause obesity, blood sugar problems and heart issues. We talk to two experienced cooks and an award-winning baker about how they are trying to …
When we learn about the Bill of Rights in school, we often look at it as ten separate amendments to our Constitution instead of as a single, well-structured work, like a poem or symphony. Our guest didn’t see this either, until he needed a document to type while practicing his word processing program. We’ll hear about his realization that the Bill of Rights …
The Academy Award-nominated film, “The Imitation Game” brought to light the contributions of Alan Turing in breaking the Enigma code during WWII. Throughout his career, he thought that maybe we could build a computer that could think like a human. But could even the best tech whizzes of today build a machine that could not only think but also converse like a …
The next presidential campaigns are gearing up and GOP and Democratic hopefuls are already testing the waters more than 18 months before the elections. The people you see in front of the cameras and in the headlines are only part of the story, though. Behind the scenes are men and women who support the candidates in very important ways. We’ll hear about a …
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