Viewpoints Radio
Award-winning reporting on current issues featuring America's leading experts.
Lists are a part of our everyday. Often, they are a forgotten part of our everyday. But Shaun Usher read through countless lists to compile a stunning collection of lists throughout time that shed light on the times, our collective history, and the list makers themselves.
If you’ve had to speak in public, you know the nerves that come with public speaking. So you probably also know the pain of umming, uhhing, or misspeaking. We explore where these vocal blunders come from and what they might mean.
Sarah Smarsh is a journalist and author who grew up poor on a farm in Kansas. She discusses life in rural America, how our culture treats people living in poverty, and the causes she attributes to America’s wage gap.
Sometimes, classifying art in one specific genre can be tricky. Look at Star Wars. It’s a space opera, sure. But what does that mean? It was built to be a Western. And sci-fi. With some fantasy aspects? And who is the intended audience? Is it for kids? Teenagers? Adults? All of the above? That can be the difficulty in classification.
We know so much about the men of the Civil War, but the women from the war are all but forgotten in our history. Historian Karen Abbott decided to change that. She tells the story of several women who helped their sides during the Civil War.
Sexual offenders have to live by a very particular set of rules. They can’t live near playgrounds, they’re on a registry for life. These rules exist to make everyone safer. But they also can limit a reformed criminal’s ability to reintegrate into everyday life and be productive members of society.
We’ve all heard stories of segregated America circa the 1950’s, but historian and author James W. Loewen says not all of those racist institutions have been completely eliminated, even now. Loewen explains ‘sundown towns,’ towns where minorities were not welcomed after sundown, and he says some of them are still unofficially ‘sundown’ due to their lasting …
Opera is a beloved art form, but its racial history is as flawed as the rest of our culture. We talk to Naomi Andre, a professor at the University of Michigan, about the history of race in opera and how this traditional art form is hopefully getting with the times.
Picture books can teach children valuable lessons that will stick with them for life. Our guests discuss the importance of producing books about social issues like race, gender, and disability. And how as a combination of text and images picture books have an advantage when it comes to depicting diversity.
We all love a good theater performance. But are theater and performance good strategies to affect social change? Our guest thinks so. He’s a performer, writer and educator who uses serious play and theater to help change people’s minds and change society for the better.
For centuries, the Catholic Church and the LGBT community have been at odds. Now, the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest, is trying to usher in a new era and welcome LGBT individuals to the church.
It’s a topic that has been in the news lately: how our government detains groups of people. We look back at history to see what really happened in World War II Japanese internment camps, and how we can avoid similar shame now and in the future.
Many of us have spent years dreaming of traveling the globe… but what should we do when we book the trip and are preparing to make the dream a reality? Journalist and author Andrew Solomon gives tips on how to get the most out of your trips, from embracing new cultures to establishing better connections.
Comedy is all around us: all over social media, in advertisements, even on church signs. Former Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings says that while it can be fun, it does come at a cost when jokes are made in arenas where they're inappropriate. We discuss the history and impact of jokes on our culture.
Domestic abuse is something many women and men will experience in their lives. We talk to two psychologists familiar with the subject about what victims can do to remove themselves from the abuse and how being a witness to or a victim of abuse affects the intimate relationship, children, and the family dynamic.
Teamwork is seen as a premium in our culture. We believe that two is better than one. But entrepreneur and author Shane Snow says that we often don’t use our groups and teams to their fullest potential. He gives us the science behind why, and how we can improve our communities.
Public libraries have existed for generations and have long been one of our most cherished community services. But with budget cuts has come a pinch on library staff and technology centers. Our guests discuss the value libraries still bring and why we should support these institutions of our citizenry.
Bringing a new baby home is exciting... and chaotic. The last thing parents want to worry about is their work life. But for many dads, the stigma and financial burdens of trying to stay home means they have little time to bond at home. We talk to Josh Levs, a journalist who took the fight for paternity leave head-on.
Most parents with adolescent boys at home can tell you all about the difficulties of communicating clearly with them. We talk to a clinical psychologist about how to best talk with young men and understand their perspective better.
The #MeToo movement has been getting headlines for months now. The movement was started by women, but what men still have a role to serve in the fight for equality and in the elimination of sexism and misogyny.
Politicians have always stirred up controversy, but no politician has ever done it as often, or as well as Donald Trump. We talk to two experts about the attraction to these politicians.
We talk to experts on sociology and racism about what racism looks like in our modern world and what we all can be doing to help make the world more tolerant and less racially biased.
Awards season is here and one contender is the divisive Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. The film’s racial politics has set the stage for an interesting stretch run to Oscars season.
Sarah Van Gelder, co-founder of Yes! Magazine, travelled across America to see how change is being made at the local level and found examples of community involvement solving big problems.
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