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On Point
Weekdays at 1 p.m.
Hosted by Meghna Chakrabarti

Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world. Each show is a deeply researched, beautifully produced hour. Listeners will learn, be challenged — and have some fun, too. Produced by WBUR in Boston, and distributed by American Public Media.

  • President Donald Trump hands a signed "Make America Great Again," hat back to a supporter, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017, in Reno, Nev. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
    The Jackpod: The red hat
    On Point news analyst Jack Beatty on the power of the MAGA red hat to forge an identity and spread a political message around the world. About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
  • DANVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES - 2024/04/23: A "vote here" sign is seen at the Danville Area Community Center which serves as the polling place for Danville's Second Ward in Montour County. Pennsylvania's primary election is being held on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (Photo by Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
    Is the U.S. a democracy?
    For decades some conservative scholars and politicians have asserted the United States is a constitutional republic, not a democracy. So which one is it? About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
  • Black students walk through rows of white students to integrate Clinton High School. This went without incident, despite racial disturbances in the town prior to this.
    'A most tolerant little town': The forgotten story of desegregation in Clinton, Tennessee
    Rebroadcast: In 1956, a federal judge ordered the town of Clinton, Tennessee to desegregate its high school. The unrest that followed tore the town apart. About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
  • FALMOUTH, ME - AUGUST 24: Bird watchers look through their binoculars at a bird pointed out by naturalist Doug Hitchcox during the weekly bird walk at Gilsland Farm Audubon Center in Falmouth on Thursday, August 24, 2023. (Staff photo by Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)
    Author Amy Tan's 'backyard bird chronicles'
    Celebrated author Amy Tan doesn’t just write best-selling novels. She’s a passionate birder, too. Her new book on birding describes the wonder she sees looking out her window. About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
  • JERUSALEM - APRIL 07: Israeli citizens demonstrate in front of Knesset (Israeli Parliament) as hundreds of people stage the protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister and the return of Israeli detainees in Jerusalem on April 07, 2024. During the ongoing demonstrations, anti-Netanyahu groups chanted anti-Prime Minister Netanyahu slogans. (Photo by Saeed Qaq/Anadolu via Getty Images)
    Roundtable: What do ordinary Israelis want from their leaders?
    More than six months since the Hamas attack on Israel, dozens of Israelis are still held hostage, over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, and there’s no peace in sight. Israelis on the future of Israel. About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
  • View of the addiction clinic where an armed group executed six people in San Pedro Tlaquepaque, state of Jalisco, Mexico, on July 25, 2022. - Six people were shot dead at a drug rehabilitation center near the western Mexican city of Guadalajara, authorities said Monday. Five men and one woman were killed in the late Sunday attack in the suburb of San Pedro Tlaquepaque, the Jalisco state prosecutor's office said. (Photo by ULISES RUIZ / AFP) (Photo by ULISES RUIZ/AFP via Getty Images)
    Underground addiction care in Mexico -- and its spread to the U.S.
    Across Mexico, thousands of illegal rehab centers treat patients with drug addiction, often holding them against their will. Now, these "anexos" -- informal, underground treatment facilities -- are here in the United States. About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
  • A student prepares to do steel work at Ironworkers Local 29 during an apprenticeship in Dayton, Ohio, on October 24, 2022. - In the face of the rising prices that are crushing this election campaign, Joe Biden is hammering home his message: the tens of billions of dollars voted on by the Democrats will revive American manufacturing and its "good-paying jobs." He is trying to reconnect with the white working class, which has been largely lost to a Democratic Party that has long supported free trade. But in Ohio, where Donald Trump came out on top in the last two presidential elections, inflation and a deep sense of disenfranchisement are hampering this strategy. (Photo by Megan JELINGER / AFP) (Photo by MEGAN JELINGER/AFP via Getty Images)
    The Jackpod: The company they keep
    On Point new analyst Jack Beatty argues that Democrats are losing touch with working class voters. What could they do to change that? About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
  • LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 28: Packs of menthol cigarettes (BOTTOM) are displayed for sale in a smoke shop on April 28, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing to ban both menthol-flavored cigarettes and flavored cigars in a move hailed by public health experts which could potentially lead to 1.3 million people quitting smoking. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
    Should the U.S. ban menthol cigarettes?
    More than 80% of Black smokers smoke menthol cigarettes. The FDA is now pushing to ban the products, saying it will prevent death and disease. Phillip Gardiner and Alan Blum join Deborah Becker. About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
  • How Dallas tackled violent crime
    The city of Dallas reduced its overall violent crime by 30% compared to this time last year. Its mayor and police chief credit the so-called “hot spot policing.” About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
  • WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 17: Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer speaks during an event at the Library of Congress for the 2022 Supreme Court Fellows Program hosted by the Law Library of Congress on February 17, 2022 in Washington, DC. Justice Breyer, who announced he will be retiring on January 27, 2022, has served on the court since 1994. His retirement creates an opportunity for President Joe Biden, who has promised to nominate a Black woman for his first pick to the highest court in the country. (Photo by Evan Vucci-Pool/Getty Images)
    Justice Breyer's ear notch test for our constitution
    Textualism, which sees a legal system's original structure as immortal, is the dominating philosophy on the court today. But retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer argues pragmatism, which considers consequences of legal decisions, is the better mindset. About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
  • Voters queue up to cast their ballot outside a polling station during the first phase of voting of India's general election, in Dugeli village some 33 Km (21 miles) from Dantewada town in Chhattisgarh state on April 19, 2024. As the world's biggest democracy began a six-week election on April 19, thousands of people in villages across Bastar district, one of the last strongholds of the Naxal rebels, cast their ballots. (Photo by Idrees MOHAMMED / AFP) / TO GO WITH 'India-vote-conflict-Maoist', FOCUS by Bhuvan Bagga (Photo by IDREES MOHAMMED/AFP via Getty Images)
    India’s high-stakes election
    Elections in the world’s largest democracy are underway. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s power is ascendant. But, like in other global democracies, so are concerns about religious nationalism and democratic decline. Ashutosh Varshney and Vivan Marwaha join Meghna Chakrabarti. About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
  • How to move from languishing to flourishing
    Languishing. That feeling of a lack of motivation or direction. Most people feel a sense of languishing at some point in their lives. So how do we move from languishing to flourishing? Sociologist Corey Keyes has spent his career trying to find the answer. About: On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
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