Viewpoints Radio
Award-winning reporting on current issues featuring America's leading experts.
How we buy our food has drastically changed throughout the decades. We discuss the evolution of the grocery marketplace from local grocers to big-box retailers and how this has affected the production chain. More so, how food co-ops operate and aim to help support local farmers and communities.
Racial segregation still persists throughout the U.S. One factor contributing to this inequality is the structure of our towns and cities. Richard Rothstein and Tonika Johnson talk about how past laws and our government created a divided demographic and the impact this has on certain populations.
Journalist and author Dahr Jamail exposes how climate change is affecting our ecosystems and natural landscape, including the melting and disappearance of massive ice glaciers. We discuss the long-term consequences of global warming and what we can do as a society to reverse the damage.
We examine how television series have grown to be more diverse and inclusive in the Peak TV era. One such show is Ramy, a new Hulu original, which candidly follows the life of a young, first-generation Muslim man and the challenges that arise with the melting pot of cultures.
If you came upon a rundown, roach-infested bunkhouse in the heartland of America, full of middle-aged and elderly men in poor health who worked all day at a job for little pay and had been for decades, you might think you had time traveled back to the 19th century. We talk to an author who writes about this very situation where mentally challenged men were …
We all get gut instincts when we walk into a room of strangers. Do we fit in here? Do these people seem friendly? Snap judgments are simply a part of how we function. But Princeton University psychology professor Alexander Todorov says that while these first impressions are natural, we should try to resist them.
For decades, science fiction was a genre written almost exclusively by white males. Now, the genre is flourishing with diverse voices, thanks in part to the trailblazing writer Octavia E. Butler. Historian Gerry Canavan discusses the obstacles Butler faced and her legacy on one of the most popular genres in American literature.
In the 20 years since writing the young adult novel Speak, based on her own rape, author Laurie Halse Anderson has met with numerous audiences of adolescents. She has found a huge gap in the ways girls and boys perceive what constitutes sexual consent, abuse, and the consequences of assault.
Everyone knows about the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, but not many know about the powerful and loyal confidant FDR relied on, Marguerite “Missy” LeHand. Our guest discusses the life and work of this remarkable woman and how she helped and influenced one of the greatest chief executives of our time.
Horror movies are major box office. Some experts see the film “The Creature from the Black Lagoon” as a turning point. One reason is the Gill Man character, created by an often overlooked female trailblazer in monster design, Millicent Patrick. An author who has researched Patrick discusses her significance in American culture and the horror film genre.
Statues commemorating the Confederacy remain in some towns in the US South, though its principles promoting slavery and oppression of blacks are in disrepute. Some towns have removed these statues in the face of heavy opposition. A former Mayor of New Orleans describes how his thinking evolved toward a decision to remove the statues in his city, and the …
Jordan Peele used to be best known as a sketch comic, but his second film as a director, “Us,” is showing that the success of his first, “Get Out,” was no fluke.
Anecdotal evidence and some real data science both suggest that we never grow out of the things we loved at 15.
These days, there is data on just about everything. Our social media presence, our careers, our web search history- it’s all crunched into data points. And author Seth Stephens-Davidowitz says all that data can shed plenty of light on the truth about who we really are underneath all of our social formalities.
Reshma Saujani is a lawyer, a former political candidate, an author and the founder of Girls Who Code. She says our society puts too much pressure on women to be perfect, which means girls are afraid to explore their true passions for fear of failure. She’s hoping to change that, and to teach girls that it’s okay to try something that you might not succeed …
The right to an education is guaranteed to all students, regardless of disability, by federal law. But experts and parents are now wondering if we are doing enough to help autistic students maximize their abilities to live their best possible lives. We discuss the current status of public schooling for students with autism and how the systems in place can be …
We talk to the parent and the doctor of a transgender child to discover what science says about gender transitions and how one family navigated the issues associated with having a child you suddenly don’t fully understand.
Every year, there is some outrage over Oscar snubs. This year, many of us wish Ethan Hawke had been nominated for First Reformed. We look at why.
Since the beginning of the U.S. prison system, religion has been suggested as a way to help rehabilitate criminals. We talk to Tanya Erzen, a professor of religion, about why that is and what role prison ministries play in the lives on inmates.
Women have served in the US military dating all the way back to the Revolutionary War. Back then, they had to lie about their sex and their names in order to get enlist, but some did. Now, combat positions are open to women. We discuss the vital role women have played in America’s military might.
It used to be that when you were watching sports, you were only watching with the people in the same room as you. Now, sports have become the gold-standard for entertainment that demands a second-screen.
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.
There are all sorts of myths about how we can avoid dementia or how to best brainstorm a new idea. We talk to a psychologist and author to get the inside scoop on how our minds really work, and why we just can’t resist the urge to watch cute animal videos online.
Body image, food addiction, societal pressure, and obesity can be tricky problems to talk about. Author Kristan Higgins tries to do just that in her novel Good Luck With That. She talks about her experiences, her research, and how we can approach discussing these pressing, but difficult, issues.
Subscribe to get the latest from Viewpoints Radio directly in your inbox.
