KCRW's To the Point

With the deadline for avoiding the "fiscal cliff" just a month away, there are new doubts about whether it's going to be met. We hear about political lines in the sand..

A major second-term challenge for President Obama is ending the war in Afghanistan. What are America's goals beyond troop withdrawal by 2014? What's the future of a country embroiled in violence for the past 30 years?

Three weeks after the election, there's been only one high-level meeting about the "fiscal cliff," despite warnings about a recession. What are the prospects of reaching a deal? Would it be so bad if they didn't?

If you've never heard of a MOOC, don't worry. Massive Open Online Courses are only a year old. But several schools are using them to reach millions of students worldwide.

Internet technology uses more electrical power than any other US industry except for manufacturing. How much energy is wasted to keep your information available full time?

For the first time since 1920, the Agricultural Census is showing an increase in American farmers. Some grew up in cities and are getting financial help from the government.

On the busiest week of the traveling season, we hear how the flying experience has changed as an industry with narrow profit margins struggles to meet public demand.

The incident that forced a CIA director to resign is being cited as evidence that technology and laws passed since 9/11 are turning the US into a "surveillance state."

Rockets fired from the Gaza Strip continue to fall in Israel, as Israel?s retaliatory airstrikes kill more civilians in Gaza. We update the resumption of violence, the Arab spring and Israeli politics.

Today's escalation of violence between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Also, the prospects for "comprehensive immigration reform."

America's boom in oil and natural gas may create jobs, but it's already bad news for the environment and could drastically set back efforts to cope with global warming.

In the aftermath of the President's re-election, states, hospitals and insurance companies are now faced with fully implementing the Affordable Care Act. How deeply rooted is the continued opposition? What are the prospects for affordable coverage for 30 million uninsured Americans?

The FBI investigation of "inappropriate emails" has spread from the CIA to the Pentagon. Is the US at risk? Is it about the hubris of powerful men and designing women?

With Washington still divided in the aftermath of last week?s election, can the President and Congress keep the nation away from the so-called fiscal cliff? We?ll hear about the prospects for compromise to avoid another recession.

With women now the majority of American voters, and record numbers of newly elected women headed for the Senate and Congress, is this "the Year of the Woman?"