Viewpoints Radio
Award-winning reporting on current issues featuring America's leading experts.
The FDA is a massive organization that handles a wide variety of regulations and responsibilities. However, some critics argue that the FDA has failed to evolve with the times, spending large amounts of resources on dated measures and messaging tactics. Former FDA employee Dr. Richard Williams joins us this week to highlight some of these issues within food …
The Delta variant is causing the COVID-19 pandemic to still linger on this year, but many are optimistic that the worst is now behind us. Pediatrician Dr. Jenna Wheeler joins us this week to offer up some advice on holiday gatherings, keeping healthy through flu season and the importance of getting younger children vaccinated as soon as they’re eligible.
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 …
Gold mining has been a lucrative business for many generations. Today, it’s still a booming industry with global mining companies expanding into new markets each year. This week – we highlight the incredible story of activists in northern El Salvador who stood up to mining company, OceanaGold and won.
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 …
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 …
New York is the latest to legalize recreational marijuana, creating thousands of new jobs and is expected to generate billions of dollars in revenue after a lackluster year for the state in tourism, real estate and business. But in a fast-growing industry, how do you make sure that smaller entrepreneurs aren’t left behind? Or those who’ve been systemically …
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has developed a quick and affordable saliva-based test that makes it possible for students, faculty and staff to get checked twice a week for COVID-19. We speak with one of its creators, Dr. Martin Burke about the largescale implementation of this method and the upcoming challenges with flu season quickly …
Navigating back to school this year has been challenging to say the least. With switching policies and protocols, everyone is just trying to get through the fall one day at a time. Viewpoints speaks with two education experts about the biggest barriers to learning and what online education technology can really offer students.
Once it is safe to travel again – where’s the first place you plan to go? Acclaimed travel guide, writer and TV host, Rick Steves joins Viewpoints this week to share how you can get the most out of your travels and fully immerse yourself in the local culture, people and history without spending a fortune.
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 …
Drones are already a multi-billion-dollar business and the industry is only set to grow in revenue over the next five years, reaching an estimated 63 billion by 2025. The unmanned aircraft systems can be applied to a wide breadth of tasks and are an essential resource during war, rescue and public health crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Viewpoints …
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 …
While some of us have fond memories of an idyllic childhood filled with joyous birthday parties and summer road trips, some children face a completely different home life. This instability can overtake a child or teen and lead them down a dangerous path. The nonprofit, Friends of the Children, understands the importance of getting to a child early on and …
The first U.S. case of the plague presented in the early 1900’s in San Francisco. We speak with author, David Randall about the outbreak and how it changed sanitation practices and government response.
In the social media era, the techniques bullies use are getting more public and crueler. We look at bullying, the shame it can cause, and how it can stick with us for life.
Author Susan Meissner discusses with us the Spanish Flu of 1918, how it interacted with World War I, the immense cost of the sickness, and how her novel explores the illness.
We talk to a scientist who is working on new technology that will make filtering and sanitizing water more efficient.
When was the last time you thought about how you drive? Do you know how to survive a blowout on the highway? What if your brakes fail? Do you really know how much to inflate your tires, or do you just estimate? Our guests – a tire specialist and a race car driver who is also a Hollywood stunt driver – share advice on these and other important driving issues.
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.
