To the Point

President Trump denies climate change. But Joe Biden has laid out “the boldest plan of any candidate in history,” says UC Santa Barbara environmental scientist Leah Stokes. KCRW hears how climate change threads the political difference between fossil fuel workers — who are worried about their jobs — and advocates of the “Green New Deal.”

The first debate of the 2020 presidential campaign was like no other. Forget Lincoln-Douglas, Kennedy-Nixon or Reagan-Carter. Can a hallowed democatic institution be restored before the November election?  

The U.S. has a history of repressing people of color, but systemic racism doesn’t tell the whole story. Isabel Wilkerson traces it to the caste system in India, which had echoes in Hitler’s Germany. She describes an infrastructure that  is not seen by whites or people of color, but needs to be looked at.

The Trump administration claims a COVID-19 vaccine could be available as early as November, just in time for the election. Also pro athletes are being more politically active  — will their message resonate with African American men?

It’s been 75 years since two atom bombs destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the world learned that nuclear weapons could annihilate civilization. Today, America’s nuclear weapons policy makes that as likely as ever. What needs to be done to make the world safer?

Scientific evidence shows that wearing a mask can protect both the wearer and the community around them from COVID-19. Yet some Americans, including President Trump, are still reluctant to put on a mask. Are there political implications for President Trump and the Republican party, especially in the Sun Belt states where COVID-19 cases are surging?

After killings and other violence recorded on camera, Black Lives Matter supporters are demanding police reform. Also an update on a potential travel ban from the European Union and the latest on the much anticipated June decisions from the Supreme Court. 

Less than a month after the police killing of George Floyd, the protests around the country continue. Diverse Americans are expressing solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.  Is the country undergoing a transformation? Also: Ezekiel Emanuel on what Americans can learn from other countries when it comes to health care.

A four-part documentary series from KCRW. In the first episode of Samaritans, we meet Christine Curtiss, learn where she came from and what her everyday life is like on the street. She has a community of friends in Mid-City, LA who look out for her. One of them enlists the local government. Follow her story and unpack the homeless experience in LA.

The police killing of George Floyd has protesters focusing on another key issue — environmental injustice. Will a historically white environmental movement embrace racial justice and equality? Separately in the podcast, KCRW hears from two people who are anxiously awaiting this month’s Supreme Court decision on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).