The Point

In October of 2015 the El Faro, a US flagged cargo ship, sank in Hurricane Joaquin northeast of the Bahamas. Despite a seasoned crew, state of the art navigation systems, and advance warning of the storm, the ship went down with without sending out a Mayday and without launching lifeboats. All 33 souls on board were lost. George Michelsen Foy is a lifelong mariner and author. His most recent book is Run the Storm: A Savage Hurricane, A Brave Crew and the Wreck of the SS El Faro. Mindy Todd hosts

A number of studies show that students who don’t read during their summer break see their reading abilities stagnate or decline! Jill Erickson, reference librarian at Falmouth Public Library , and Mary Fran Buckley from Eight Cousins bookstore in Falmouth, join us on The Point with thoughts on summer reading and suggestions for all ages.

There have been numerous books written about the Cuban Missile Crisis by both historians and those who had first-hand knowledge of the people and events that took place. One aspect of the events leading up to the crisis that hasn’t gotten much attention is the story of the U-2 pilots who were performing top secret surveillance flights of Cuba. Michael Tougias and Casey Sherman, the authors of The Finest Hours , have teamed up once again to tell the story of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the U-2

WCAI News Director Steve Junker hosts a roundup of some of the top local and regional news of the week. This week's guests include: Patrick Cassidy of the Cape Cod Times, Sarah Tan of WCAI, Sara Brown of the Vineyard Gazette, Tim Wood of the Cape Cod Chronicle, K.C. Myers of the Provincetown Banner, Brittany Bowker of the Martha's Vineyard Times, and Andy Tomolonis of SouthCoast Today.

US Coast Guard flight crews stationed on Cape Cod are at the ready 24 / 7 to respond to vessels in distress from New York City to the border of Canada. In this special broadcast, we talk with Coast Guard pilots, flight mechanics and rescue swimmers about their work and tag along on a helicopter training flight to see them in action. We also hear the story of a woman who was rescued 300 miles offshore by a Coast Guard Helicopter crew in Hurricane Grace.

Philip Hoare is fascinated by the sea. He swims in it every day, regardless of the season. He studies the creatures who call the sea home: those living and those found dead along the shore. He muses about the relationship humans have with the sea, and he writes about it all, beautifully. We talk with him about his lifelong fascination with the sea and his new book RisingTideFallingStar .

It’s been five years since the Hawthorne Art Barn in Provincetown was saved: the non profit group Twenty Summers renovated the barn so it could once again serve as a venue and inspiration for art and artists. Next month, we continue our tradition of airing several of the events taking place in the Barn, but today we discuss the expansion of the Twenty Summers program. Joining us is Joshua Prager, one of the program's founders, along with Executive Director Camille Ives-Beck.

Art in public spaces is a growing trend and we’ve seen a number of installations across our region. The Mid Cape Cultural Council hopes to bring a new public art initiative to downtown Hyannis. Joining us to discuss the value of public art and the proposed project is Rachel Youngling, the treasurer of the Mid-Cape Cultural Council , and artist Mary-Ann Agresti.

Mezzo Soprano Andrea Baker has performed in opera houses around the world playing title roles in many different productions. She’s returning to the States and Cape Cod with her new program titled Sing Sistah Sing . Find info here on her June 2 nd performance coming up at Cotuit Center For The Arts .

WCAI News Director Steve Junker hosts a roundup of some of the top local and regional news of the week. This week's guests include: Patrick Cassidy of the Cape Cod Times, Sara Brown of the Vineyard Gazette, Tim Wood of the Cape Cod Chronicle, Josh Balling of Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror, Ed Miller of the Provincetown Banner, Jim Kinsella of the Enterprise, and George Brennan of the Martha's Vineyard Times.