On Point
 | |
| Genre | News: analysis, commentary, features, interviews, specials |
|---|---|
| Running time | c. 110 min. |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | WBUR |
| Syndicates | National Public Radio |
| Hosted by | Tom Ashbrook |
| Created by | Graham Griffith |
| Produced by | Karen Shiffman Julie Diop Sam Gale Rosen Pien Huang Eileen Imada Stefano Kotsonis Hilary Barngrove McQuilkin John Wihbey |
| Recording studio | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Original release | 17 September 2001 – present |
| Opening theme | "Everything is Alright" |
| Website | www.onpointradio.org |
| Podcast | Podcast / RSS feed |
On Point is a two-hour call-in radio show hosted by Tom Ashbrook, a former Boston Globe foreign editor and reporter, author and Internet entrepreneur. It is produced by WBUR in Boston and syndicated by National Public Radio. The show addresses news issues, as well as arts and culture, health, technology, environmental, and business topics.
It is now distributed to 190 public radio stations across the United States by NPR. Major markets include New York City and Washington, D.C., as well as Ann Arbor/Detroit, Miami, Nashville, St. Louis, Des Moines, Madison, Milwaukee, Grand Rapids, Hartford, Providence, Tampa, Spokane, Eugene, and parts of California. On Point also averages more than 450,000 podcast downloads a month.
Past guests
The show has featured political guests such as former President Jimmy Carter; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich; former Secretary of State James Baker; and Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
Other guests of public note include Gloria Steinem; Bill Cosby; Camille Paglia; music mogul Russell Simmons; Joyce Carol Oates and John Updike; Jack Welch, George Soros, Jeff Bezos, Tom Perkins, and Eli Broad; and journalists David Remnick, Eleanor Clift, Trudy Rubin, Andrea Mitchell, Andrea Stone, Martha Raddatz, Clarence Page, Ron Brownstein, Chris Matthews, David Gergen, Ellen Goodman, Thomas Friedman, and David Brooks.
The show also features a wide array of arts and culture programming. Musical guests have included: Joan Baez, John Mellencamp, Indigo Girls, Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch, Lou Reed, KD Lang, Herbie Hancock, Martin Sexton and Ry Cooder.
Notable coverage
The show traveled to Shanghai, People's Republic of China, to broadcast a week of programming from April 14–18, 2008. Topics ranged from the Beijing Olympics to Chinese cinema. Among the guests were leading China analysts, officials and journalists. A new website was launched to coincide with the trip.[1]
In the run-up to the 2008 presidential campaign, the show interviewed Barack Obama, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, John Edwards, Ron Paul, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd and Sam Brownback. Election commentators included Donna Brazile, Tom Brokaw, Bob Shrum, Dana Milbank, Tony Fabrizio, Joe Klein, EJ Dionne, Pat Buchanan, Peter Hart, and Hendrik Hertzberg. The show traveled to both the Democratic and Republican conventions, broadcasting live in the morning and at night.
Tom Ashbrook's medical leave
Host Tom Ashbrook went on medical leave in November 2007 to undergo heart bypass surgery. He resumed full-time broadcasting Jan. 2, when he discussed his medical journey in a show with his doctors and nurses.
Time and location
On Point is broadcast live from Boston on WBUR FM (90.9 MHz) from 10 to 12 EST, occupying the former time slot of The Connection, and repeated from 7 to 9 p.m. The show often features senior editor of The Atlantic Monthly and historian Jack Beatty, as a news analyst. Jane Clayson, former CBS morning anchor and correspondent, is commonly the show's fill-in host; NPR's Jacki Lyden, Anthony Brooks and James Hattori have also hosted.
On Point was created by Graham Griffith, and first broadcast on 17 September 2001 to provide special coverage in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. The show's popularity led to it becoming a standalone program, first broadcasting under the On Point name on 4 February 2002.
It is currently led by senior producer Karen Shiffman and directed by Eileen Imada.
The On Point theme music, "Everything is Alright", comes from the album Pause by Four Tet.
