The Point

Coinciding with the opioid addiction crisis, the need for foster families spiked in Massachusetts in 2014. Due to an increase in the number of children being adopted, the number of children in foster care has stabilized in recent years: but there is still a need for foster homes. On The point, we talk about the process of becoming a foster parent and why it can have such a positive and lasting impact on both children and foster families.

Extended families have been around for generations, but there's a new trend within the last two decades: grandparents unexpectedly finding themselves raising their grandchildren. On The Point, we discuss the emotional, financial, and relationship challenges that grandparents face, as well as the supports and services available.

Trauma experienced in childhood can have a life long impact on emotional and physical health. That’s why finding and treating children who have experienced trauma is essential. We discuss programs that help children recover from various types of trauma, and how participation in the arts can help in the healing process.

As we usher in the New Year, WCAI has some exciting changes to share. We bring you up to date on our programming, schedule, and reporting staff. We also take listener comments and suggestions. Mindy Todd, Director of Editorial, and Steve Junker, News Director, are in The Point studio for this broadcast.

Twice a year, students from around the country descend on Woods Hole for a nine-week intensive training in radio storytelling and production. It’s the Transom Story Workshop, and it has helped shaped the next generation of public radio producers, and brought us the voices and stories of our neighbors. On The Point, we talk with Transom's lead instructor Rob Rosenthal, and hear some of the pieces produced by this fall’s class. Here’s a link to Transom https://transom.org/workshops/about/story

Has it been a rough year? Did you put all of your savings into Bill De Blasio's presidential campaign? Did you get a haircut from Boris Johnson's barber? Did you take a job as a public relations spokesperson for Rudy Guiliani? What better time to laugh at politics than now, with election season gearing up? After all, the Capitol Steps won't tell you any actual useful information, but they will tell you what rhymes with Pete Buttigieg.

For our books show this month, we ask our guests, and listeners, to share their favorite books of the year. From romance to history to whimsy, we visit the literary offerings of 2019 together as the year ends. Guests on the show are Jill Erickson, reference librarian at Falmouth Public Library , Vicky Titcomb of Titcomb's Books in Sandwich, and Petra Mayer, one of the producers of N.P.R.'s Books Concierge . Mindy Todd hosts. List of the titles mentioned on the program

Tornadoes touch down on Cape Cod; Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station shuts down its reactor for good; we can’t stop talking about sharks; and offshore wind is about to transform our region’s energy supply… or maybe not. Sound familiar?

The holidays wouldn’t be the same without those cherished Christmas classics—A Christmas Carol (1951), Miracle on 34th Street (1947), It’s a Wonderful Life, White Christmas… Pour a mug of egg nog and enjoy Christmas at the movies. Reel Music takes your listeners to the movies every week for an hour of orchestral themes from cinema's best film scores. The show is music-centric, with intriguing but brief commentary from host and producer Matt Rogers , who mixes in the occasional vintage snack bar

We talk holiday stories, traditions and memories with Linsey Lee, oral historian curator at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum and editor of three volumes of Vineyard Voices: Words, Voices and Faces of Island People. Listeners from around the area join the conversation sharing their memories of holiday traditions.