Introducing ‘The Gun Machine’, a podcast about how America was forged by the gun industry

WBUR and The Trace bring you a story that most Americans never learned in history class — a new podcast about the gun industry’s grip on our country.

02:435 hours ago

The moon is seen on Buenos Aires, Argentina, on June 10, 2022. (Luis Robayo/AFP via Getty Images)

Who owns the moon owns the future

Ice and minerals on the Moon could help humanity travel to space’s distant planets and asteroids. But which countries, which companies should get the right to extract those resources?

A plaque used to reserve the seat of the delegation from Israel, is seen during the UNESCO Extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee in Riyadh on September 11, 2023. (FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi-Israel normalization: What's at stake?

There’s growing momentum for what could be a historic Israel-Saudi Arabia peace deal. But why now?

47:18Sep 22, 2023

Simon Denby, a 49 year old apprentice instructor, helps a student at Ironworkers local 29 steel work 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)

Captured: Jack Beatty on the fall in Black and Hispanic working-class support for Democrats

Jack Beatty offers his unique perspective and insight on aspects of current political life in the U.S. In this episode, what’s behind a raft of polls showing a deterioration in...

31:05Sep 21, 2023

A hospital bed is seen placed outside the entrance of Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center on June 29, 2023 in Eagle Pass, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Should medical debt be bought and sold in America?

More than 100 million people in America have medical debt. Some of those trying to help have to resort to debt buying companies. We learn how the debt buying industry...

47:10Sep 21, 2023

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, MT - MARCH 5:A bison looks back as it crosses the road near Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park.
(Photo by Erik Petersen/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Rebroadcast: A record cull of Yellowstone bison intensifies debate into how to best manage them

This year more than a third of Yellowstone’s bison have been removed from the herd – most of them shot – after they wandered out of the national park in...

47:28Sep 20, 2023

Tales from the world of cryptocurrency and casino capitalism

2021 was a good year to invest in cryptocurrency. But then came 2022 and the trillion-dollar crypto wipeout.

47:08Sep 19, 2023

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 5:
A DC resident has an operation growing psilocybin mushrooms, including these Galindoi variation of Psilocybe mexicana mushrooms, two middle, and Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms, left and right, in Washington, DC, on Monday, February 5, 2020. With the legalization of marijuana, advocates are now pushing for other legalizations, like psilocybin mushrooms. Activists in Colorado, Oregon and California have pushed for approval of psilocybin mushrooms and now folks in the District are starting. Many claim medicinal uses - depression, PTSD and other disorders - as is the case in some European countries.
(Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Rebroadcast: Psychedelics and who should be able to use them

In the '60s, some advocates wanted everyone to have access to psychedelics. Not everyone agreed. Now, with psychedelics growing in popularity, the tensions between access, money, and research are back.

45:58Sep 18, 2023

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a political rally while campaigning for the GOP nomination in the 2024 election at Erie Insurance Arena on July 29, 2023 in Erie, Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

Sacrifice: Jack Beatty on the sunk moral cost of the Trump supporter

In this weekly podcast, Jack Beatty offers his unique perspective and insight on aspects of current political life in the U.S. In this episode, the tenacity of Donald Trump's most...

18:16Sep 15, 2023

A radiologist uses a magnifying glass to check mammograms for breast cancer. (Damian Dovarganes/AP)

Why are cancer rates rising among young people?

There's a troubling trend in medicine -- increasing cancer diagnoses in people younger than 50. But why?

47:04Sep 15, 2023

Signage is seen during the HGTV's "Ugliest House in America" For Your Emmy Consideration Event at Saban Media Center on April 28, 2023 in North Hollywood, California. (Photo by Gonzalo Marroquin/Getty Images for HGTV)

How HGTV is transforming our homes — and us

HGTV is a channel for dramatic remodels and dreamy properties. But is HGTV popularizing cookie cutter design over regional character across America?

47:06Sep 14, 2023

A daycare class walking in a public park in Boston Common. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

How to save child care in the face of a massive funding loss

$24 billion of pandemic-era child care funding expires at the end of this month. What can providers and families do?

47:07Sep 13, 2023

Wes Chatham as Amos Burton in The Expanse Season 6, which is currently streaming on Prime Video. (Credit: Shane Mahood/ Copyright: Amazon Studios)

'The Expanse' authors on 'the importance of complicating people'

Award-winning sci-fi writers Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck talk with Meghna about the world they created in “The Expanse” and what they’re working on next.

47:29Sep 12, 2023

A two-armed robot called "ADAM" prepares a cup of coffee for a customer at Botbar coffee shop on May 31, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Is the rise of AI the best argument for universal basic income?

Some estimates say artificial intelligence could replace hundreds of millions of jobs in the not-too-distant future. If that happens, how will people make ends meet?

47:21Sep 12, 2023

Former President Donald Trump speaks at his Mar-a-Lago estate Tuesday, April 4, 2023, in Palm Beach, Fla. (Evan Vucci/AP)

How the 14th Amendment could block Donald Trump from becoming president

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution bars from office any public official involved in an insurrection. Can legal reasoning withstand political reality when it comes to Donald...

46:46Sep 11, 2023

An American flag waves. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

'Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?': Jack Beatty on the 2024 election

In this new weekly special podcast, On Point’s news analyst Jack Beatty offers his unique perspective and insight on aspects of current political life in the U.S. Today, the leading...

26:26Sep 8, 2023

The original English copy of the armistice agreement that halted the Korean War is displayed on the North Korean side of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) on August 24, 2018 in Kaesong, North Korea. (Carl Court/Getty Images)

Can the Korean Armistice Agreement serve as a model for peace in Ukraine?

Observers are asking whether the conflict in Ukraine has reached a stalemate. Could the Korean Armistice agreement, signed 70 years ago, serve as a model for Ukraine and Russia now?

47:29Sep 8, 2023

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 16: Stacy Dean, Deputy Under Secretary of Food Nutrition and Consumer Services, right, turns to fellow witness, Cindy Long, Administrator, U.S. Department of Agriculture, left, during of a hearing of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry hearing to examine the 2023 Farm Bill on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Is it time to rethink how the farm bill works?

Congress is gearing up for another fight over the farm bill -- a massive piece of legislation that could hit $1 trillion for the first time ever. Where's that money...

47:18Sep 7, 2023

A shoreline is pictured from Futaba-machi, Fukushima Prefecture, around 5 km away from the crippled Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant on August 24, 2023, the day on which Japan's government plan to begin releasing wastewater from the stricken plant into the Pacific Ocean. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP) (Photo by PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images)

The health and geopolitical impacts of Japan’s Fukushima wastewater release

12 years after a nuclear meltdown at Fukushima, Japan pours treated wastewater from the site into the ocean. Is the plan safe?

47:02Sep 6, 2023

A 'Now Hiring' sign is displayed outside a resale clothing shop on June 2, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Today’s U.S. labor report shows that employers added 339,000 jobs in May with sectors including construction, healthcare, business services and transportation adding jobs with wages showing 4.3 percent growth over the same period last year. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Why Americans feel pessimistic about their economic future

Even though the economy is doing better, few Americans say they’re better off financially this year than they were last year. So what's behind the pessimism Americans have about their...

47:30Sep 5, 2023