The Point

WCAI News Director Steve Junker hosts a roundup of some of the week's top local and regional news, including: the Cape's first adult-use marijuana shop is set to open in Provincetown in January; the family behind the Hy-Line ferries is headed to court in a battle over ownership; the state proposes new limits on PFAs; and coyote-hunting contests will be banned in Massachusetts.

For those with alcohol use disorder, the period from Thanksgiving to the first of January can be a particularly difficult time: family get togethers, holiday parties, and toasts to the New Year often revolve around alcohol. On The Point, we discuss supports to help maintain sobriety and what hosts can do to make everyone feel welcome at the party.

On The Point, our panel of mental health experts talks about holiday gift giving, and stress. We discuss what science tells us about the rewards of gift giving, and thoughts about the anxiety some of us feel in the search for that perfect gift... and just what is a perfect gift anyway? Our guests are Marc Whaley, psychiatrist; Anne Geagon, Social Worker; and Jonathan Schwartz, psychiatrist.

On The Point, a conversation with Senator Vinny deMacedo, who stepped down in November, and Representative Randy Hunt, who won’t seek re-election in 2020. We discuss why they are leaving Beacon Hill, why the Cape delegation could serve as a model for other legislators in Massachusetts and in D.C., and some of the challenges facing the legislature in the coming years. Mindy Todd hosts.

WCAI News Director Steve Junker hosts a roundup of some of the week's top local and regional news, including: town administrators are scratching their heads over revenues from the new short-term rental taxes; vape shops reopen – but without the flavored vapes; the Mashpee Rotary may be getting a makeover; and young deer are found on Martha's Vineyard with mysterious paralysis.

140 years ago Henrik Isben’s play A Doll’s House was first staged. It’s become one of the most produced works worldwide, but not without controversy: the play ends with the female protagonist leaving her husband and young children. Author Wendy Swallow wanted to explore what Nora Helmer does next as a divorced and ostracized woman in the late 19 th and early 20th Century. On The Point, we talk with Swallow about her novel Searching for Nora, After the Doll’s House .

Research shows that most faith communities continue to be segregated along racial and ethnic lines. With a roundtable of religious leaders, we discuss why segregation persists, and what is lost when we’re not exposed to a diversity in our congregations. We also talk about steps we can take to make congregations more welcoming to diversity.

Mark Faherty, Science Coordinator at Wellfeet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary , and host Mindy Todd sit down in The Point studio to talk birds. Mark fills us in on the annual Waterfowl Census, and the Christmas Bird Counts are coming up. We have reports of painted buntings in our region! We hear questions and comments from our listeners.

WCAI News Director Steve Junker hosts a roundup of some of the week's top local and regional news, including: the Coast Guard releases hundreds of pages about the Steamship Authority ferry crash in 2017; a stalemate at the statehouse puts local funding in jeopardy; and a study finds contaminated air around New Bedford harbor.

Anyone who lived through the Vietnam War era knows it was a fractious time in American history. The war grew increasingly unpopular over time and many Americans expressed disdain and hostility toward returning military personnel for their service in Vietnam.