KCRW's To the Point

Donald Trump is defying GOP tradition by proposing a new entitlement: paid leave for the mothers of newly born children. Clinton wants new fathers on the government payroll, too. Either plan would help the US catch up to the rest of the world.

Obamacare has made health insurance available for millions of people who didn't have it before. It's anything but perfect, and now Bill Clinton has made it an unavoidable issue in this year's presidential campaign — intentionally or otherwise. We compare the best laid plans of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

The most powerful military in the world is not big enough for Donald Trump, although Hillary Clinton's considered more likely to use it to intervene overseas. We continue our reality check on the presidential campaign

It's Day Two of our Reality Check on the campaigns of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Their positions on climate change are as different as night and day. We hear what that might mean for energy policy, the environment and national security — depending on who makes it to the Oval Office.

When it comes to addressing the high cost of higher education, the difference between Clinton and Trump is much more than apples and oranges. That's according to one of our guests in part one of our reality check on issues in the presidential campaign.  

It's been 15 years since the attacks of September 11, but that's not the only reason they're back in the news.  The Obama White House calls it "embarrassing" that bipartisan majorities in Congress have given victims' families the right to sue Saudi Arabia, and the battle's not over yet. 

The race for the White House now includes the battle between the sexes, as Hillary Clinton's gender and Donald Trump's gender discrimination are now front and center in an increasingly bitter campaign. We hear what to expect in the after math of the first debate and the run up to the next one.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has accused Russia and the Syrian government of war crimes in the siege of Aleppo. With each side blaming the other, it's a crisis likely to face the next President of the United States. 

It was the first direct confrontation between the two most unpopular presidential candidates since public opinion polling began. It was mostly about personalities and stage presence -- while touching on jobs, race and gender. 

Donald Trump is doing what no billionaire candidate for President has done before: mixing his personal business with his political campaign. We hear about potential conflicts of interest now -- and if Trump should get to the White House. 

Guest host Todd Purdum explores Hillary Clinton's challenges in wooing younger voters.

Police killings of black people in two more American cities have raised the total of such incidents to more than 200 in this year alone.  It now goes almost without saying that black Americans don't believe official explanations, and the Congressional black caucus is demanding Justice Department action. We hear about recent developments deeply rooted in American history.

America's "service economy" features fast food and retail industries that depend on part-time workers. That's great for business, but it's hard on the workers involved. This week the Seattle City Council passed new rules that might provide them a better chance for survival. We update the always controversial relationship between employers and employees. 

Starting back in the 1940s, antibiotics revolutionized the science and practice of medicine. But they're being used so often, and for so many reasons, that bacteria are learning to strike back — mutating to develop resistance. Now, the UN is trying to slow down a life-and-death crisis of global proportions.

Bombs in New York and New Jersey and stabbings in Minnesota are raising familiar issues about national security. They might well influence ongoing debate about Edward Snowden. Did he perform public service by leaking classified information about intrusive surveillance, or is he a traitor who made Americans more vulnerable?