KCRW's To the Point

Conflicting economic indicators make it hard to predict a presidential election that?s focused on the economy. Are the candidates increasing confusion by failing to lay out specific proposals?

Yesterday, President Obama surprised 120 fellow world leaders with a tough defense of free speech and a challenge to Egypt?s new President Mohammed Morsi. We?ll hear how the world body is coping?and not coping?with various crises around the globe. California gets ready for driverless cars. And protests in Athens may shake a fragile coalition.

President Obama told the UN today that the war in Afghanistan will end on schedule in 2014. But it?s a war that could get a lot more complicated before it's finally over.

Rapidly melting Arctic ice has triggered political and economic competition among the world's powers. Can a remote, massive part of the world be preserved and developed?

The Senate is up for grabs. Will we see the ongoing success of Tea Party, or is the bad news racking the Romney campaign trickling down to the state level?

When it comes to trade with China, talking tough is the easy part. Winning cases at the WTO has proved harder. We look at US-China trade -- beyond the rhetoric.

On the first anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, a video showed Mitt Romney discussing the challenge of winning over an electorate where 47 percent of citizens don't pay taxes.

On the first anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, a video showed Mitt Romney discussing the challenge of winning over an electorate where 47 percent of citizens don't pay taxes.

"A letter in a plain white envelope could swing the presidential election..." We talk about the overlooked wizards of winning elections.

Days of anti-American violence have swept through the Muslim World. A ham-handed film set off the rioting, but what's really behind it? Mike Pesca guest hosts.

"Men's work" is on the decline, while industries dominated by women are on the rise. Also, American embassies becomes the targets of Muslim mobs.

After the killing of a US Ambassador in Libya, protests continue at other US outposts in the Muslim world. We talk about the roots and consequences of anti-Americanism.

Ambassador Chris Stevens was considered a hero who helped liberate Libya from Moammar Gadhafi, but he died last night in an armed attack over an anti-Muslim film. Also, the Chicago teachers' strike.

Republicans have cracked down on "voter fraud." Democrats insist it?s ?voter suppression.? Will the election be won or lost not in the voting booth but the courts?

Both Democrats and Republicans are campaigning with traditional appeals to "the Middle Class." Do party platforms offer credible promises to achieve "the American Dream?"