Sydney Wertheim

Associate Producer, On Point

Cathie in Nevada: ‘It’s way better out here. The air’s clear’

Max in New York: ‘I was still feeling a really large sense of loneliness and isolation’

Caitlin in Massachusetts: ‘The town that I had loved and grew up in … had become a place that did not share the same values as my family and I’

‘I just felt uncomfortable in a place where I felt like I couldn't even share my own political views’

Point taken: Reconsidering city life

An aerial view One World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, Sept. 8, 2016 in New York City. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

An aerial view One World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, Sept. 8, 2016 in New York City. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)An aerial view One World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, Sept. 8, 2016 in New York City. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Life

Jennifer in Maine: ‘Can AI be used to help preserve all of the vast variety and richness of human language?’

Bruce in California: ‘I'm less than confident that the government will be ahead of the curve in regulating it’

Amanda in Florida: ‘It definitely has some of the characteristics of Toni Morrison … that’s a little concerning’

Point taken: ‘This technology is very useful, it's also kind of terrifying’

This picture taken on January 23, 2023 in Toulouse, southwestern France, shows screens displaying the logos of OpenAI and ChatGPT. - ChatGPT is a conversational artificial intelligence software application developed by OpenAI. (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP) (Photo by LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP via Getty Images)

FRANCE-TECHNOLOGY-IT-AI

Politics

Karen McMillen in CA: 'I opened my front bedroom window to look out upon what looks to be a scene from a lovely black and white vintage film'

‘I feel the snow blasting around my face, my ears … my glasses.'

‘All shapes and shadows, or shades of muted gray or inky black.'

Steven Ford in Norway: 'It's just absolutely magical. It's slow, but it's dancing'

‘I have the lights of the town and I have a large aurora overhead.'

Beth in New Mexico: 'I look outside and I can see very little tonight'

‘I can hear ... the coyotes in the distance, doing a roll call.'

Jennifer in Maine: 'The birds have gone to sleep, and I walk on the remnants of the last snowfall'

‘Mars shines its rusty red in the night sky.'

Heidi in Maine: 'Hoping it's the last snowstorm of the season, but I love the sound of the wind'

Point taken: In celebration of darkness

Night sky with Cygnus constellation. Northern constellation lying on the plane of the Milky Way, deriving its name from the Latinised Greek word for swan. Artist NASA. (Photo by Heritage Space/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Night Sky With Cygnus Constellation. Creator: Nasa.

Environment

Rachel in Carmel, CA: 'Living with my family I'm able to actually afford to go back to graduate school'

Rhonda in Virginia: 'Parents are actually living with their kids, too'

Melissa in NY: 'Multigenerational living has been a great thing for us'

Kathleen: 'The secret to the success of having a parent live with you is having their own separate space'

Point taken: The benefits of multigenerational housing

Happy multi-generation family cheering in living room

Kathryn in Mass.: 'Gen Z has a huge appetite to learn how to sew'

Rachel in California: 'There's also a really beautiful undercurrent of people learning to make their own clothing'

Taylor in New Mexico: 'I prefer the modern Levi's to the vintage'

Point taken: Listeners sew their way to quality clothing

A sewing station complete with an industrial machine and large spools of thread at a clothing manufacturer in Fall River, Massachusetts. (Allison Hagan/Here & Now)

Jackie in New York: 'I spend as much time with friends as I ever have'

Cale in Washington: 'It's just hard to get together'

Torri: 'I have become pretty isolated'

Lionel in Massachusetts: 'We often overlook any relationship'

Jim in Iowa on his favorite song about friendship: 'It's a song of empathy'

Point taken: How friends 'make up the fabric' of our lives

Friends look at the Milky Way galaxy rising in the night sky in Kuwait's al-Salmi desert, 120Km north of the capital, on Aug. 9, 2021. (Yasser al-Zayyat/AFP via Getty Images)

News

Why Peter Green goes to church: 'To sing together, to worship together, to pray together'

Judith in Washington: 'God is a god of love and inclusiveness'

Beth in California: 'Like most of our Christian friends, we stopped attending church'

Judy in Pennsylvania: 'I go to church to connect with God's love and forgiveness'

Paul in Hawaii: 'What motivates me to go to church is my family'

Sally in Pennsylvania: 'The core tenet of Christianity for me is hospitality'

Point taken: What Christians believe

A man prays while attending an Easter service at Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio, Sunday, April 12, 2020. Many churches are adapting their services as Christians around the world are celebrating Easter at a distance due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Eric Gay/AP)

APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Texas Easter

Megan Roy on how growing up around abuse impacted her view of trust

Megan in Vermont: 'I burned the relationship down. And then I built it to my own standards'

Cassandra in Vermont: 'I've lost complete faith in my fellow Americans'

Jonathan in Boston: 'Al-Anon is a great program for building back trust'

Aurora in California: 'Rebuilding trust starts with a sincere apology'

Samelia in Ohio: 'My trust in democracy has been shaken'

Dakota in Canada: 'I'm going to trust in the things that I believe in'

Point taken: Your takes on trust

A summer camp monitor looks after children (Philippe Huguen/AFP via Getty Images)

Jim in Georgia: 'There's many other problems that this type of system generates'

Erica from Seattle: 'Companies are always looking at cutting costs'

Madeline in Washington: 'This was actually a very positive experience'

Stu in Ohio: 'I've heard many customers just be rude'

Patti in Georgia: 'Go straight to the person at the top'

Point taken: Why customer service is broken — and how to fix it

For many of us, posting on social media is a daily habit. For parents, that often means updates about what their young children are up to. (Robin Worrall/Unsplash)

Business

Joe from South Carolina: 'It is important that I do vote'

Wallis in Iowa: 'Voting is ... one of the lowest effort ways to participate in our democracy'

Nathaniel in Virginia: 'I'm very, very worried about how seriously people are taking democracy'

Jiamei in Brooklyn: 'If you don't vote ... you're actually just giving up this very powerful tool'

Jiamei in Brooklyn: 'I want my generation to be more active'

Point taken: What, if anything, is motivating young voters this election season?

A voter fills out a ballot in the Massachusetts primary election on Sept. 6 at a polling place in Attleboro. (Steven Senne/AP)

WBUR's coverage of the 2022 election in Massachusetts and beyond.

Election 2022