On Point with Meghna Chakrabarti

Older Americans control more political power and wealth than ever before. It's the topic of a special series from On Point all this week -- starting with America's aging politicians.

***

On Point news analyst Jack Beatty brings historical context to analysis that President Trump’s war with Iran has no realistic off-ramp.

***

Historian Beverly Gage hit the road to learn about our country's history. She visited more than 300 historic sites -- from museums and battlefields to roadside attractions. What she learned about how America honors its history.

***

After spending 8 years running focus groups with voters, the former Republican operative and Never-Trumper says she knows not only how voters think but why they vote the way they do.

***

More than half of men under 50 in the U.S. have an open online sports book. Public health experts warn it's easier than ever to get addicted to gambling. Atlantic staff writer McKay Coppins spent a year exploring the world of sports betting, and why the pastime is particularly bad for young men.

***

El Niño has become an annual global climate phenomenon. But this year, scientists are warning of a record-setting 'super' El Niño. What that could mean for the weather everywhere on planet earth.

***

The UK abolished the slave trade more than 200 years ago. But the wealth it created still shapes the country today. A new database reveals the businesses, families and monarchs enriched by slavery. And it’s forcing a reckoning in the UK that's long overdue.

***

On Point news analyst Jack Beatty on why the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has set its Doomsday Clock at 85 seconds to midnight, its highest estimate of the likelihood of global catastrophe.

***

Social media. Streaming. Swiping. Today, it's normal to reach for our phones when we're bored. But researchers say passive boredom like scrolling is not the kind of boredom that sparks creativity. How can we reclaim boredom in the digital age?

***

An ever-warming world, rising sea levels, shrinking glaciers — it’s easy to despair over the climate crisis. But scientist Tim Lenton says not every tipping point leads to doom.

***