WFAE has added several new programs to its lineup. One of them is "On Point," which is produced by WBUR in Boston. It airs at 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, beginning today. The show is hosted by Meghna Chakrabarti, who joined WFAE's Morning Edition host Marshall Terry to talk about the show.
Marshall Terry: Meghna, listeners might be familiar with the previous iteration of "On Point," which we carried for a number of years here on WFAE. How is this show similar to or different from that one?
Meghna Chakrabarti: Well, first of all, Marshall, hello and thank you so much for bringing "On Point" back to Charlotte and WFAE. You're exactly right. I mean, long-term listeners will know the show very well in its previous iteration, which was a much beloved two-hour-long talk show, essentially, with two different topics per hour that used to take calls as well. I worked on that show for years and loved it.
But times, they do change — and so the program, we felt needed to change too. So "On Point" in its current version, we try to think of it as essentially an hour-long, sound-rich journey and conversation through really urgent and relevant issues of our time to help explain and understand all the complexities that are going around in our lives. And we don't take calls, but we do introduce a lot of reporting and personal stories into our conversations. I hope and I think that people find it a pretty enriching listening experience every day.
Terry: And I do want to get to the listener participation part in just a moment. But first, I kind of want to focus on you. I thought it might be nice for people to get to know you a little bit better, Meghna. Folks may recognize your name and voice from when you worked on the show "Here and Now," or maybe from the "Modern Love" podcast. That's just a few pieces of your very long resume. What else do you want people to know about you?
Chakrabarti: Well, I never thought I was going to be a journalist growing up. My lifelong dream for years was to be an astronaut. But somehow, I accidentally happened into this career, which I'm very privileged to have and have been doing now for 20 years. Maybe another thing to know about me is, though I've lived in Boston for those 20 years I grew up on the West Coast in Oregon. So that means Bostonians still don't see me as a native, which is OK. I try to bring more of a national perspective to things than the Boston label might offer.
What else to know about me — I've got a couple of kids, I love Lego robotics, I love to read and travel and genuinely extremely curious about our country, about my fellow citizens, and about the world we live in. That curiosity, I hope, is one thing that people hear is a real driver in the show.
Terry: Now, you said you had no intentions when you were younger of becoming a journalist, and your academic credentials do seem to suggest a different path. You have degrees in civil and environmental engineering, environmental science and risk management, and also an MBA. So how did you get into public media?
Chakrabarti: Well, you're right. I mean, I still, to this day, absolutely love science and engineering. That was my undergraduate career and part of my graduate career as well. But, you know, the thing is, my dad used to say that in order to be a top-notch scientist, you had to love it so much that it would keep you up at night because you'd be so excited about the experiments you were working on. And as I got into grad school, I realized that wasn't happening to me. I had an interest in it, but I wasn't that passionate about it. So I had to find a different path. I just did.
Then I would have to say that it's our national tragedy that got me into journalism, that tragedy being 9/11. There was a need in Boston for producers at the time, on a show that would become "On Point," and I started freelancing here at WBUR, and the rest is history. I fell in love with what journalism, at its highest intent, is supposed to accomplish and never looked back.
Terry: So what's your impression of Charlotte and have you been here? Are you familiar with the area at all?
Chakrabarti: Charlotte listeners, please do not hold this against me. But I have not, yet, visited Charlotte, North Carolina.
Terry: It's all right. You're welcome anytime.
Chakrabarti: Yes, I'm hoping to remedy that mistake. So what do I know about Charlotte? Well, let me turn this around. I would love Charlotte listeners to tell me — and "On Point" — what we should know about you. I mean, other than basketball or something, which I might have some tangential familiarity with, but, you know, you can contact us. We've got a voicemail line, email. There are ways to really be part of the "On Point" conversation from local listeners that we really, really, really want.
So instead of me saying 'I don't know anything' ... teach me. Teach me, Charlotte listeners, what should I know about you and your city and region?
Terry: Thank you for taking the time, and welcome to WFAE.
Chakrabarti: Well, I'm grateful to be part of the WFAE family, and it's been a great pleasure to talk with you, Marshall. Thank you so much.
Terry: That's Meghna Chakrabarti, host of "On Point." It airs at 2 p.m. Monday through Friday here on WFAE, beginning today.
"On Point" is one of nine new shows on WFAE's new programming schedule, which debuted Saturday, April 22. See the entirety of our lineup here. For how to contact "On Point" and join the conversation, go here.
