To the Point KCRW
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- News
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A monthly reality-check on the issues Americans care about most. Host Warren Olney draws on his decades of experience to explore the people and issues shaping – and disrupting - our world. How did everything change so fast? Where are we headed? The conversations are informal, edgy and always informative. If Warren's asking, you want to know the answer.
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Nicholas Kristof on good news in a bad world; Steve Lopez on aging
Despite war and pandemic, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof finds good news in a “stunning” decline of worldwide poverty and “extraordinary” improvements in child mortality. Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez examines retirement options for an aging population as he finds himself getting older.
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For the first time in Iran’s history, women are leading a counter-revolution
Writer and author of The Great Revolution: Turmoil and Transformation in Iran , Robin Wright says that after weeks of protest on the streets of Iran, “for the first time in human history, you're beginning to see a counter revolution ignited by women. ” Later, despite the failure of the UN’s leadership conference on climate change, New York Times science reporter David Wallace-Wells says, “we're moving much faster than most analysts projected a few years ago,” and says the climate crisis is not as bad as he thought when he wrote,” The Uninhabitable Earth ” five years ago.
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Can the news media help save democracy?
Former New York Times and Washington Post Media Critic Margaret Sullivan says America faces a threat to democracy. In her new book, “Newsroom Confidential: Lessons (and Worries) from an Ink-Stained Life,” she says it’s time to move on from “objectivity” and make reporting a form of activism. And, Scott Galloway says America is not yet lost, but it has gone adrift, and that’s the title of his latest book. In “Adrift,” he talks about income inequality, polarization, and failing young men. But he says, “I think they can be undone … the ills that plague us are fixable.”
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Will Trump run for White House again, can PG&E keep lights on?
Will Trump run for the presidency again? And in the aftermath of California’s deadly wildfires, can the state’s largest utility, PG&E, mend its ways?
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Diablo Canyon: Can the nuclear plant work safely for 10 more years?
What are the risks of keeping the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant open? And an atheist and Muslim agree on what happens when people find religion through politics.
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Is catastrophic news coverage fit for human consumption?
Does the news really have to be all that bad, or does our addiction to catastrophe drive outlets to deliver what sells? How might today’s media be fixed?
Customer Reviews
How does Warren Olney do it?
This is an amazing podcast. Typically, they take a late-breaking story, find seven or eight real experts from all sides, get them all on the telephone, and then Warren Olney asks them the perfect question to get them to tell what they know -- cuts them off for information breaks, keeps them interacting, keeps the focus where it should be -- says a droll or funny thing to each of them that advances the argument or lightens things up a little. Does he have 6 brilliant junior assistants writing down questions for him? Is he quick as a mongoose and sharp as a tack himself? It is just a small miracle every night.
Stay informed with this show
Olney invites enlightened insight from his eminently informed guests who often come from both sides of the isle. He conducts the discussion like a maestro stopping one voice to introduce another with experienced and respectful deftness and deference in the end allowing all a chance to add to the perspective of the listener. One is left with a more nuanced view on the issues of the day. Although a little more left leaning then when it was a radio broadcast this podcast still manages to avoid the echo chamber trap.
Super show
Warren Olney does a great job of getting guests with competing points of view. He presses each guest to respond directly to the criticisms of opposing guests. This leads to a productive conversation where listeners get to feel very informed about issues tackled. Alternative hosts don't have the same quality, so I've learned to skip those shows, but they're few and far between. Overall, a great show.