Think from KERA

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Hate flying? Blame deregulation Nov 22, 2023

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Want to know why your flight was delayed and your baggage lost? Blame capitalism. Ganesh Sitaraman is a law professor and director of the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator for Political Economy and Regulation. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why he feels unregulated capitalism created a handful of airline competitors – all too-big-to-fail and receiving government funding – and why he feels improvements are possible. His book is “Why Flying is Miserable: And How to Fix It.”

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Why your commute just keeps getting longer Nov 21, 2023

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How is it that we can travel anywhere in the world faster than ever before, but actual travel times have become slower? David Leonhardt writes The Morning, the flagship daily newsletter for The New York Times. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how a lack of investment in infrastructure has put the U.S. behind peer countries in nearly every category from education to transportation to even life expectancy. His book is “Ours Was the Shining Future: The Story of the American Dream.”

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Remember Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? Nov 20, 2023

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There was a time in the early 1990s when everyone seemed to have carpal tunnel syndrome—now, not so much. Health and science reporter Benjamin Ryan joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how carpal tunnel became an epidemic and what its disappearance says about how seriously we take workplace injuries today. His article published by The Atlantic is “Whatever Happened to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?”

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Why twins really are special Nov 17, 2023

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We have a fascination with identical twins, and twins themselves also grapple with ideas of selfhood. Helena de Bres is a philosophy professor at Wellesley College and a twin herself, and she joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the endless questions she’s asked about her and her sister – and to reflect upon what being a multiple is really like. Her book is “How to Be Multiple: The Philosophy of Twins.”

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Wanting a gun isn’t about fear Nov 16, 2023

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Gun ownership in this country is as much about one’s identity as it is about self-protection. Alexandra Filindra is associate professor of political science at the University of Illinois, Chicago. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how 21st Century gun culture is a product of the 18th Century and how that has left non-white Americans with limited access to gun rights. Her book is “Race, Rights, and Rifles: The Origins of the NRA and Contemporary Gun Culture.”

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Did you know that curiosity is your superpower? Nov 15, 2023

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One way to bridge deep divides is to get curious about the people on the other side. Scott Shigeoka has taught at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center and the University of Texas at Austin. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss what he calls deep curiosity, which pushes people to move beyond biases to see the value in another person’s worldview. His book is “Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World.”

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Beyoncé, Björk and Donald Trump: What makes divas tick Nov 14, 2023

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Divas fill stadiums with screaming fans, and we still can’t get enough of their star power. Spencer Kornhaber, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the magnetism, narcissism and perfectionism of the people we call divas … and why they matter so much to the rest of us mere mortals. His book is “On Divas: Persona, Pleasure, Power.”

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How to get better at self-improvement Nov 13, 2023

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The difference between top performers and the rest of us can often be traced back to an ability to maximize potential. Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist at the Wharton School, and he joins host Krys Boyd to discuss strategies for Average Joe’s to excel. His book is “Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things.”

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Can a democracy survive minority rule? Nov 10, 2023

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Nowhere else in the world does a presidential candidate win the popular vote but lose the election due to an electoral college. Harvard government professor Steven Levitsky joins guest host John McCaa to discuss how minority rule undermines democracy and why the U.S. is vulnerable to partisan takeovers from both the left and the right. His book, written with co-author Daniel Ziblatt, is “Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point.”

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Think America’s too divided? Blame the Founding Fathers Nov 08, 2023

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The framers of the Constitution warned against forming political parties, buy they happened anyway. H.W. Brands is Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin, and he joins guest host John McCaa to discuss the early days of the Republic, when Federalists and Anti-Federalists battled it out and planted the seeds of our current state of division. His book is “Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Adams and the Brawling Birth of American Politics.”

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