Think from KERA

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What it's like to be a puppy Feb 03, 2023

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Between housetraining and playtime, the first year of a puppy’s life is also marked by a burgeoning personality. Alexandra Horowitz, senior research fellow and head of the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College, Columbia University, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss her observations of her own puppy, Quid, and the major milestones dogs make in the first year of their lives. Her book is “The Year of the Puppy: How Dogs Become Themselves.”

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The role of your brain in long Covid Feb 02, 2023

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Long Covid has real symptoms but isn’t always detected by medical tests. Natalie Shure of The New Republic joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why long Covid is confounding doctors and may well have a psychological component that shouldn’t be overlooked. Her article is “We Might Have Long Covid All Wrong.”

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From the archives: We need to start paying attention to boys’ problems Feb 01, 2023

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In the quest for gender equality, it’s easy to overlook that many men have not fared well in recent years. Richard V. Reeves is director of the Boys and Men Project for the Brookings Institution. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss ground lost in the classroom and workplace for boys and men, and about how helping men doesn’t mean giving up on gender equality. His book is “Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It.”

This episode originally aired on September 26, 2022.

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The U.S. wasn’t founded on free markets Jan 31, 2023

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The idea that what’s good for corporations is what’s good for Americans has its roots in early 20th Century ideology. Naomi Oreskes is professor of the history of science at Harvard and author of “The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market.” She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the public relations campaigns designed to crush regulations and unions. Her essay “The Magic of the Marketplace,” written with Erik M. Conway, is included in “Myth America: Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past.”

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Could Big Tech have stopped January 6? Jan 30, 2023

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The Jan. 6 committee hearings were a highly produced public display, but they largely left out how social media was used to organize the insurrection. Cat Zakrzewski is a technology policy reporter at The Washington Post. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the political pitfalls the committee faced when confronting the pivotal role of social media, and why it’s so hard to regulate big tech. Her article is called “What the Jan. 6 probe found out about social media but didn’t report.”

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How to experience moments of awe every day Jan 27, 2023

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One emotion is unlike any other in that it can connect us with humans and nature alike: awe. Dacher Keltner is professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley and the faculty director of UC-Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss a relatively new field of research studying awe, how it can transform the mind and body, and his own personal experiences with it. His book is “Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life.”

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Some of the greatest minds in history were autistic Jan 26, 2023

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The same traits that make autism a social and neurological challenge might also lead to great discoveries. Simon Baron-Cohen is professor of developmental psychopathology and director of the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why he believes innovation comes with certain brain patterns and why it’s time to celebrate those who think differently. His book, now out in paperback, is “The Pattern Seekers: How Autism Drives Human Invention.”

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From Star Trek to Star Wars: Our obsession with space Jan 25, 2023

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“To infinity … and beyond!” “To boldly go where no man has gone before.” The wonder of space has fueled movies and television shows for decades. Margaret A. Weitekamp is chair of the space history department at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, where she curates the Social and Cultural History of Spaceflight Collection. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how popular culture has tapped into our fascination with space – from Star Trek and Star Wars to Buck Rogers and Buzz Lightyear. Her book is “Space Craze: America’s Enduring Fascination with Real and Imagined Spaceflight.”

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Cutting people off from opioids may not be the solution Jan 24, 2023

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Reducing the use of addictive opioids is a noble goal, but people in pain still need help. Maia Szalavitz is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss policies that keep chronic pain patients from accessing their drugs and where they turn when prescriptions aren’t an option. Her article is “Entire Body Is Shaking’: Why Americans With Chronic Pain Are Dying.”

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The border is about more than undocumented immigration Jan 23, 2023

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The U.S.-Mexico border is about much more than just heated immigration policy. Geraldo Cadava, professor of history and Latina and Latino Studies at Northwestern University, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the many symbiotic ways the United States and Mexico work together and why misinformation is distracting from the bigger picture. His essay “The Border” appears in “Myth America: Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past.”

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