Think from KERA

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Dictators sometimes take power quietly Apr 16, 2025

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Authoritarian regimes sometimes take power all at once – but other times they chip away at societal norms bit by bit. Aziz Huq teaches law at the University of Chicago, and he joins host Krys Boyd to discuss specifically how the Nazis rose to power and began to persecute Jews in part because the rest of German society just went about its business without objection. His article published in The Atlantic is “America Is Watching the Rise of a Dual State.”

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Do you need to be worried about aviation safety? Apr 15, 2025

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Deep DOGE cuts to the FAA have hit the agency hard. Is the public still safe to fly? Isaac Stanley-Becker, a staff writer at The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why DOGE layoffs mean safety technicians and other critical roles are understaffed – and why a smoothly running airport system in America is beneficial for the nation’s bottom line. His article is “The FAA’s Troubles Are More Serious Than You Know.”

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The inequality you may be overlooking Apr 14, 2025

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D.E.I. may be on the way out, but there are still tools out there for those who want to address structural inequality. Nilanjana Dasgupta is provost professor of psychology and inaugural director of the Institute of Diversity Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss our status quo cultural norms — from the way we speak to who ends up in the C-suite — and how money can influence what we see as blind luck. Her book is “Change the Wallpaper: Transforming Cultural Patterns to Build More Just Communities.”

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Roxane Gay on 500 years of feminism Apr 11, 2025

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Feminist author Roxane Gay has put together a compendium of notable feminist works, but even she says it’s not the last word. The contributing opinion writer for The New York Times joins host Krys Boyd to talk about editing a new collection that looks at hundreds of years of feminist writers and why the ideas around women’s rights are always evolving. She’s the editor of “The Portable Feminist Reader.”

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Wanna win with money? Try game theory Apr 10, 2025

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It might not exactly look like a game, but the economy has winners and losers and there are ways to beat the system. Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss what she calls the game of economics and why it’s set up for those who are already financially well off to continue winning – and how using game theory can help level the playing field. Her book is “Hate the Game: Economic Cheat Codes for Life, Love, and Work.”

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How the science of dying can help us live longer Apr 09, 2025

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Scientists are using the secrets of biology to unlock living well past current human life spans. Venki Ramakrishnan shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for uncovering the structure of the ribosome. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, Venki runs a research group at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the quest to live forever, if that’s even ethical, and what it looks like to alter our physiology. His book is “Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality.”

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What A.I knows about you Apr 08, 2025

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Is it possible that conversations with A.I. can be as effective as talking to a friend or therapist? Author Vauhini Vara joins host Krys Boyd to discuss her experience asking A.I. for critiques and insights into her deepest feelings – and we’ll consider the portrait A.I. creates of us based on what we share with it. Her book is ”Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age.”

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Covid changed us Apr 07, 2025

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At the beginning of the pandemic, messages of togetherness were everywhere. That quickly changed. David Wallace-Wells joins host Krys Boyd to discuss Covid five years on, how the pandemic changed the way we view each other, and the distrust it has woven into our most venerable institutions. His opinion piece in The New York Times is “How Covid Remade America.”

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The child abusers you wouldn’t expect Apr 04, 2025

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Medical child abuse, formerly known as Munchausen by Proxy, is not as rare as we’ve been led to believe. Detective Mike Weber has 40 years of law enforcement experience, including 15 years as a crimes against children investigator. He joins guest host Courtney Collins to discuss his experience with several cases of medical child abuse, profiling of the mothers who committed the injuries, and how he meticulously uncovered evidence of these notoriously difficult to diagnose crimes. His book, written with co-author Andrea Dunlop, is “The Mother Next Door: Medicine, Deception, and Munchausen by Proxy.”

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How to re-engage your teen Apr 03, 2025

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It can be bewildering to see a child go from loving to learn to dropping out of academic engagement. Jenny Anderson is a co-author of “The Disengaged Teen: Helping Kids Learn Better, Feel Better, and Live Better” written with co-author Rebecca Winthrop. She joins guest host Courtney Collins to discuss why teens disconnect from the world and to offer strategies to get them back on track not only in the classroom, but also in life. The companion article published in The Atlantic is “The Teen-Disengagement Crisis.”

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