Viewpoints Radio
Award-winning reporting on current issues featuring America's leading experts.
How often do you skim a headline and feel like that’s all you need to know? Or gather your daily news from a Twitter or Facebook feed? Economist & journalist Tim Harford joins Viewpoints this week to share the impacts of sensationalized or one-sided information and how we can all become more inquisitive consumers of content.
We discuss the new Hulu release, Framing Britney Spears, which follows Spears’ rise to pop stardom, the ups and downs of her life in the spotlight and the controversial conversatorship that she’s reportedly been under since 2008.
Between the internet, radio, podcasts and books, there’s a wide breadth of information out there on how to get your finances in order. But sometimes the mixed advice and confusing explanations can lead to complete inaction. This week, we speak to a personal finance expert about the starting key steps you can take to build your financial future and prepare …
The world of youth sports can be incredibly stressful. Long practices, hefty investments and increasingly selective teams can add up to parents pushing their kids to the brink. We speak with Rich Cohen, a hockey dad, about the modern pressures of the competitive sport and why some parents end up caring more about the sport than their own kid does.
While many small, neighborhood stores are fighting to keep their doors open, e-commerce giants like Amazon are seeing staggering growth. In fact, 2020 was the most successful year-to-date for the company. The pandemic has forced millions to buy more items online or through curbside pick-up. So, how has this shift in shopping habits changed the retail game …
Segregation not only divides cities but leads to divided people as well. It fuels biases against people who may look or act different than us, leading to generations of inequity and discrimination. Viewpoints speaks with social justice activist, Tonika Johnson about the many impacts segregation has had on the city of Chicago.
The northwestern coast of South Africa & Namibia has been a mining hub for diamonds since the 1900’s. Local workers labor through long shifts and hazardous working conditions in order to feed their families. The pay? Roughly five cents per carat of rough diamonds found. While some may argue that the industry stimulates the local economy, once a company …
Compulsive buying disorder affects around five percent of Americans. With prime shopping season fully underway, the number of ads and limited-time deals can lead to several unneeded purchases. We speak with psychologist, Dr. Michael Vilensky about how retailers get you to keep buying and what to do if you feel like you’re shopping is getting to be a problem.
There are more than 5.2 million Native Americans living in the U.S., yet only a small fraction cast a ballot each election cycle. What factors lead to this low turnout? Viewpoints speaks with two experts about how historical bias feels into the current challenges facing this group.
In 2016, President Trump ran on a platform that vowed to deport all of the undocumented immigrants in the country. However, four years later and this population is still relatively the same. Is it a practical plan to deport millions who have lived in the U.S. for more than a decade, are law-abiding and fill important jobs that would otherwise be vacant?
Author and comedian, James Veitch has made a name for himself by replying to these scams and continuing the conversation, effectively wasting the scammers time as much as they waste ours. We speak with him about his trade and the major telltale signs to look out for in a scam.
On a single night in the U.S. there are more than 550,000 people homeless – and this number is only set to rise as COVID-19 has forced millions out of work and shattered the stability of the U.S. economy. As a child or teen who has to deal with homelessness at a young age, it can be a tough road of shifting from temporary housing to another shelter.
How can a simple police call lead to the killing of an unarmed and unresisting man? For weeks, protests and outrage have spread across the U.S. and internationally as the killing of Floyd brings racial inequality and police brutality into focus once again. Even in the midst of a pandemic, people are showing up to say they’re fed up with the lack of equal …
Jessica Byrne is a 26-year-old software engineer that has saved more than $300,000 in a short span of time. We speak with Byrne about how she grew her skill base in order to up her salary and then save thousands by smart saving and investing.
In most states, construction is deemed an essential service during the COVID-19 pandemic. With roadways fairly clear and schools temporarily closed, crews are getting to work while still adhering to social distancing rules. In effect, construction spending was up 4.7 percent in March 2020 compared to March 2019. Viewpoints speaks with two people working in …
Even as Americans shelter-in-place, coffee consumption is up in the first four months of 2020. Why is coffee a drink that is so popular across the globe? The drink was first consumed by Sufi monks in the fifteenth century as part of a religious ceremony, but quickly gained popularity across the Middle East where it then eventually spread to Europe. …
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the housing crisis as many millions of Americans can no longer afford to pay rent or their monthly mortgage. Viewpoints speaks with two housing experts about why so many people struggle to find affordable housing in the U.S. and one possible solution to the problem.
On a typical day, the National School Lunch Program serves 20.2 million free lunches to students in need, according to the USDA. With sweeping school closures across the U.S. in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of students are going hungry. Viewpoints discusses the new reality foodservice workers face and the balance between staying safe and …
With many unknowns hanging above our heads during this global pandemic, it’s vital to stay present and positive. We discuss small steps you can take each day to find structure as well as the importance of looking at the long-term picture.
Coronavirus has affected nearly every industry across the globe, including the entertainment biz. We discuss how several facets of Hollywood, from production to movie theatres, have adapted to the new reality.
Throughout history marijuana wasn’t just used in medicinal or recreational settings, but also part of religious ceremonies or used by warriors before wartime battle. We speak with pharmacology expert Dr. Richard Miller about the drugs global history and its prohibition in the U.S. over the last 70 years.
If you take a look at some of the newer brands that are shaking up retail – from Dollar Shave Club to Casper – all of these ideas are based off traditional products rather than new inventions. How are some of these innovative startups outperforming the big-name, traditional brands that have ruled the consumer market for decades?
The topic of healthcare is one of the most-debated issues so far in the 2020 election – but what’s the fix for the expensive, inefficient system that’s currently in place? So far it’s a murky answer. Millions are struggling with the high cost of care, doctors are burning out and patient-doctor interaction is at an all-time low. We speak with an industry …
Roughly 15 percent of 25 to 35-year-old’s are back living with their parents, according to a 2018 study by Pew Research Center – and this number is only on the rise. Higher rent, cost of living and student debt are all contributing factors, however, there are some young adults stuck in an unmotivated, directionless state often labeled as “failure to launch.” …
Subscribe to get the latest from Viewpoints Radio directly in your inbox.
