Viewpoints Radio
Award-winning reporting on current issues featuring America's leading experts.
The United States still has the highest number of inmates in the world, with more than 2 million people behind bars. For a segment of this population, spending weeks, months, or even years in solitary confinement is very much a reality. We speak with two criminal justice experts about the lasting effects of solitary confinement and the mental health crisis …
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?
How do artists find inspiration for a new song on an album, or a new idea for a movie? We discuss how great art is more interconnected than you may think.
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 …
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 …
About 60 percent of Americans don’t yet have a written will in place. People spend a lifetime working hard, saving money, building assets, but often never think about what would happen in case they suddenly passed away. Viewpoints speaks with life planning expert, Abby Schneiderman, about the importance of organizing your life both on paper and online.
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 …
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.
Today, the field of forensic science is one of the most important tools that investigators have in cracking a case. From forensic geology to DNA analysis to ballistics, analyzing the science behind each crime is crucial. To better understand its beginnings, we go back to the twentieth century to shed a light on Edward Oscar Heinrich – an innovative man who …
How exactly does a forensic sketch artist create such a detailed and accurate profile based off a single, hour-long witness interview? Lois Gibson, a longtime police sketch artist in Houston, joins Viewpoints this week.
We speak with constitutional law expert, Professor Carlton Larson about its limited use in modern courtrooms and the public’s perception of the law versus its actual scope and definition.
The 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Florida was the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history. Viewpoints speaks with high school teacher Jeff Foster who was there that day and is still an active voice in ending gun violence.
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.
Each year, white collar crime results in losses that range between 300 and 800 billion dollars. Comparatively, other street-level crimes only total 16 billion dollars. We explore the prevalence of white-collar crime in our country and the systems that allow this corruption to flourish.
Seasons one, two and three of “Dark” are now streaming on Netflix. The highly rated show has an intricate plot that’s sometimes hard to follow but it's ultimately worth the watch.
Each year, prisons cost taxpayers 80 billion dollars. But with two thirds of those incarcerated returning back behind bars within a few years, clearly something within the system is broken.
Just a week into the journey, three people aboard were murdered and there were multiple suspects. The murder trial that follows is historic and helped shape modern law today.
Arguably, the most famous voice from that region is Anne Frank – the young teenage girl who wrote of her daily life in hiding until she was discovered in 1944 and died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. While Anne Frank is a prominent voice, there are many other stories of those who hid out for years, evading capture and awaiting freedom.
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.
There are millions of Americans who live together as husband and wife, but never become formally “married.” What are their rights? Who gets the house, the car and the bank accounts if the relationship ends or one of them passes away? We speak with a contract and family law attorney who has written extensively on the subject to find out how society and the …
For almost 200 years, its members have protected tiny towns along the border and have helped solve numerous crimes and corruption throughout the state. However, the valiant group also has a darker history filled with corruption, murder and violence against minorities.
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 …
Human use of cannabis dates back to tens of thousands of years ago. And the drug 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.
Today, body-worn cameras are a mainstay in many police departments across the country. While the new technology increases transparency, is it leading to better relationships between the public and police? How are innovations in the field - including the incorporation of artificial intelligence - changing officers’ day-to-day duties?
