AI is solving some of the toughest math problems in the world, including ones that have stumped mathematicians for decades. What it means for human ingenuity when there are no more hard problems left to solve.

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Marine archaeologist Sean Kingsley has explored more than 350 shipwrecks -- from pirate ships in the Bahamas to British India Steam Navigation ships off the coast of Ireland. We ask him what discoveries he’s made so far and what else he hopes to find.

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On Point news analyst Jack Beatty on why Democrats need to embrace the "sticky symbolism" of billionaire private jets.

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A more diverse distribution of money and power could potentially benefit people of all ages. But to get there, what steps can we take toward intergenerational justice?

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Since 2017, the number of CEOs in their late 60s has doubled for Fortune 500 companies. What happens when our country’s most powerful business leaders don’t retire?

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The Baby Boomer generation holds most of the country’s wealth. The top 10% of Boomers have some $55 trillion in assets. What effect does that lopsided wealth have on our economy and society?

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Old voters dominate the ballot box in local, primary, and at times, national elections. They ensure issues like Social Security and Medicare drive the national conversation. How strong is this group's sway on electoral politics in the U.S.?

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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Family estrangement – cutting ties with a parent, grandparent, or sibling – is often seen as at odds with the meaning of family as we know it. Sociologist and author Rin Reczek says it’s time to rethink what family means and what we expect from it.

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153 million U.S. drivers' licenses were hacked and put up for sale on the Dark Web. That's more than half of all licensed drivers. How that happened and what it says about who's doing what with our data.

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What did the Jurassic world actually sound like? Using fossils and AI, scientists have reconstructed the calls of insects that lived alongside the dinosaurs. The result is the closest we've ever come to hearing prehistoric Earth.

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On Point news analyst Jack Beatty looks into the devotion of white evangelical Americans to Donald Trump and the power of political Christianity.

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Ecologist Kullu Suryawanshi has spent 20 years tracking one of the most elusive animals in the world, deep in the mountains of Asia. What has he learned about snow leopards and the humans that share their home?

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Top AI researchers and leaders worry AI is developing too fast. But critics argue the U.S. can't risk to slow down in its AI race with China. So, what might a slowdown look like and who would enforce it?

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A Virginia mom let her 5-year-old son take a walk alone in her gated community. The authorities found out and now she’s on Virginia's child abuse and neglect registry. Who decides what's in a child's best interest.

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The Supreme Court has rejected President Trump’s plan to control how ballots get sent in the mail. But that does not mark the end of the President's efforts to undermine mail-in voting, and change who votes and how.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired or blocked promotions of 10% of the military's top ranked officers. Former Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall says it's created 'a climate of fear throughout the entire institution.' What’s going on inside the Pentagon, and what it means for the future of the U.S. military.

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On Point news analyst Jack Beatty on one of President Trump’s oft-repeated rhetorical tropes and what its conjectured origin story might say about his internal salience map.

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Twenty-five years ago, the U.S. suffered the worst terrorist attack in its history. Today, roughly 40% of Americans are too young to remember the events of 9/11. Journalist Garrett Graff shares an oral history of 9/11, how that day unfolded and how it changed America forever.

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The Treasury Department recently eliminated a rule that required American companies to identify their owners. The rule was intended to prevent money laundering. What’s driving the decision to drop it?

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An OpenAI cybersecurity test took an unexpected turn when hundreds of its AI agents got around safeguards and hacked into another tech company. Should OpenAI have done more to prevent the attack?

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You don’t need a license to ride a bike in the U.S. But e-bikes are a different story. Some states classify them as bicycles, others as vehicles. And in some places, you even need insurance to ride one. How to regulate e-bikes, for personal and public safety.

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It's not just phones anymore. More teachers and even entire U.S. school districts are cutting back the time students spend on laptops and other screens. How do students really learn -- and do screens help or hurt?

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On Point news analyst Jack Beatty on the chasm between what politicians say when they are running for office and what they can do in office, and why he thinks 2026 is the year of the demagogue.

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One in 5 Americans say they've seen a ghost. But what if it was really our brain that had tricked us into thinking we saw something we didn't?

In the "Science of the Supernatural" psychology professor Melissa Maffeo argues how a paranormal experience could be our brains just misinterpreting the external world.

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Highly toxic wastewater from America’s fracking boom is buried in deep underground wells. But in some places that toxic waste is bubbling upwards -- threatening local drinking water. How Marietta, Ohio is trying to fight fracking waste.

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Flock cameras are used by thousands of police forces across the country to track vehicles. But a growing popular backlash has led to cities canceling their Flock contracts. What that says about the tension between public safety and privacy in America.

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Since Google Maps launched in 2005, the little blue dot has come to symbolize a transformation in how we navigate through the world -- wholly reliant on GPS. But what do we lose when we no longer get lost?

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When politicians talk about America’s working class, they often mean blue collar workers without college degrees. But as more workers feel financially squeezed, should we expand that definition?

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Sharon McMahon has built a huge online audience with her explanations of how America’s system of government works. She tells Jack and Dorey why her non-partisan approach to political understanding can rebuild trust.

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We think of ladybugs as cute red beetles associated with good luck and gardening. But the real ladybug story involves poaching, trafficking and a struggle for survival.

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Americans have been told for decades to toss plastic into the recycling bin. But only a small share actually gets recycled. Now, California is trying to overhaul the system by cracking down on misleading labels and holding companies responsible for their plastic waste. Will it work?

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Music. Books. Film. Artificial intelligence is changing how we express ourselves. Is AI a tool for creativity -- or a barrier?

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In his new book, "Walking Red Flag: Dating Advice from Your Favorite Guy Friend," comedian Jared Freid offers tips, tricks and real talk on modern dating.

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James Spooner grew up as a punk rocker with a mohawk. But as a mixed-race kid, he didn’t always feel like he belonged. Then, he found Afro-punk -- and pushed it into the spotlight.

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On Point news analyst Jack Beatty talks to author Ann Larson about her new book "Clean Up on Aisle Five”; the realities of grocery store workers, their place in our society and economy and what it says about the need for dignity in essential labor.

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You might think a healthy brain starts and ends in your head – but there are miles and miles of neuron fibers that connect your brain with nearly every corner of your body. Why a healthy brain needs a healthy body.

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A tunnel. A bright light. Reuniting with deceased loved ones. Many people who have near-death experiences have remarkably similar stories. Why?

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The rate at which artificial intelligence is able to replicate human behavior has increased in recent years. Does that mean it's thinking like us?

In the third episode of "Brainwaves," what artificial intelligence teaches us about our own capacity for thought.

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Consciousness is how we are able to feel, dream and imagine. And yet -- scientists haven't figured out how consciousness definitively works. What we know, what we don’t and what that tells us about our brains.

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The brain is the organ that makes us who we are. It’s our conduit between reality and thought. But somehow, we’ve only scratched the surface in understanding how the brain actually works.

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