Think from KERA

Whether you notice it or not, you speak with an accent. Valerie Fridland, professor of linguistics, discusses why some are fading away, and more.

Alex Mayyasi, host of the new podcast “Gastronomics” and a longtime contributor to “Planet Money,” joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the nuts and bolts of the economy.

Clifford Winston is an economist who specializes in transportation and microeconomic policy. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss where the low-priced cars have gone.

The U.S. military attack on Venezuela was fast and surgical — so how is the country doing now?

Anna Konkle is co-creator and co-star of the Hulu series “Pen15,” and she joins host Krys Boyd to discuss her childhood – when her parents fought all the time and she felt like the peacemaker.

Cal Newport, professor of computer science at Georgetown University, discusses how employing computers to do our deepest thinking dulls our ability to concentrate.

Jodi Kantor, Pulitzer-prize winning New York Times investigative reporter, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how to find passion in your work, what it takes to find out what we’re good at and how to choose work that the world needs.

If you know someone who falls in love at first sight over and over again, there’s a word for that: emophilia.

Journalist Fortesa Latifi joins guest host Courtney Collins to discuss family reality content and the perks, money and fame that come with it.

Schools around the country are shuttering their Black studies departments—often without regulatory prompting. Jafari S. Allen, a professor of African American studies, discusses why schools are blaming low enrollment for shutting down these departments.

Derek Thompson, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the phenomenon where we’re on our phones but digitally surrounded by people, and how this isolation is rewiring us to be more anti-social – including in both our personal relationships and political lives.

Charles Bethea discusses immersive camps that teach men how to become alpha males.

Social psycologist Paul Eastwick discusses discuss why we need to look past imperfections when choosing a mate.

Lexicographer Kory Stamper discusses the difficulty of defining colors and why it took the help of scientists to create descriptions of everything around us.

Deepika Chopra outlines strategies for developing optimism.

Vanessa S. Williamson is a senior fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings and a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the history of taxation in this country

Simon Lewson discusses the courage parents must drum up to allow children to have age-appropriate autonomy.

Stanford Law fellow Duncan Hosie discusses why the judicial branch shouldn’t be the end game for dealing with a president’s executive orders.

Michaeleen Doucleff discusses misconceptions about dopamine, why it’s making kids lonely and ways to introduce healthier habits.

Social security benefits help children and spouses survive after a death — but accessing them is a Sisyphean task. Chabeli Carrazana discusses why.

Dutch teens with mental illness can choose to end their lives though euthanasia. Charles Lane discusses how, why and the controversial psychiatrist behind the movement.

Jon Lee Anderson discusses why Cuba was declared a threat to U.S. national security and how this compares to 1962’s Cuban Missile Crisis.

Nicola Twilley talks to Krys Boyd about the breakthroughs — and setbacks — in the quest for artificial blood, why it’s needed more than ever, and why eyes are on Big Pharma to finance it.

Eric Levitz is a senior correspondent at Vox, and he joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how only about a half of 1 percent of homes are owned by institutional investors

Len Gutkin, editor of The Chronicle Review, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why some feel a return to the classics is a strategy to even out Left-leaning college campuses.

NYU School of Law Professor Kenji Yoshino discusses how the language of DEI backfired and how to build a “multicultural meritocracy.”

McKay Coppins, staff writer at The Atlantic, discusses how his magazine gave him $10,000 to use as seed money as he explored the rise of online sports gambling.

Opinion columnist Megan McArdle discusses why she thinks the idea of a billionaire wealth tax is a short-sided idea.

Plenty of crime dramas and horror films feature a psychopath on a rampage. That diagnosis, however, might be the real fiction. Rasmus Rosenberg Larsenis is assistant professor of forensic epistemology.

Researcher Kyle Manley makes the case for leaving public lands as-is and how we can put a dollar value on ecological impact.

Historian Helen Zoe Veit discusses her new book, Picky: How American Children Became the Fussiest Eaters in History.

Drew Fagan discusses why one of our largest trading partners has found itself in the crosshairs of President Trump.

Tayari Jones discusses her new novel.

There is a species of elephant that looks and behaves differently than the ones we’re most familiar with — and explorer Steve Boyes is trying to find them.

Gentle parenting indulges a child’s biggest emotions – and it’s wearing parents out. Monica Corcoran Harel is a journalist who covers culture and relationships.

Bruce Hoffman discusses the potential of retaliation on U.S. soil and the Dept. of Homeland Security’s capacity to prevent it.

Ibram X. Kendi, the founding director of the Howard University Institute for Advanced Study, discusses how authoritarian leaders tap into the fears of white populations.

We hear a lot about the tribulations for young men in America today, but that doesn’t mean young women have it easy. Faith Hill, staff writer at The Atlantic, discusses.

David Frum, staff writer for The Atlantic, discusses what Trump’s tolerance for risk might mean for the future of this conflict.

Natasha Loder, Health Editor for The Economist, discusses why alcohol consumption is starting to wane.

Author Michael Pollan explores how much we know about the mysteries of the conscious mind.

Nick Chater, professor of behavioral science at the Warwick Business School, discusses why it’s not moral failings of individuals that contribute to social ills like climate change and obesity, but built-in systemic failures.

Keon West, social psychologist at Goldsmiths at the University of London, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss his rigorous research into racist beliefs, the results of social experiments that show how far we’ve moved the mark since the Civil Rights era and what we can definitively say about prejudice today.

George Saunders’ latest novel takes readers into a journey of the soul—this time quite literally. The Booker Prize-winning author talks with host Krys Boyd about his latest work, which takes on greed, capitalism, and questions of good and evil from the perspective of a being that must transport a soul to the afterlife—but this time encounters questions that define our modern age; Saunders also talks about how his own personal spirituality shapes his writing process.

Charles Duhigg, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, discusses the success of Republican strategy to develop local leaders and why the Democrats have fallen behind.

Daniella Mestyanek Young is a cult survivor and Harvard-trained psychologist. She discusses why she feels every organization falls within a “spectrum of cultiness.”

Ben Rein is a neuroscientist. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why, like good sleep and proper nutrition, social interaction is critical.

The Smithsonian holds thousands of objects in their collection. The conversation about what to display can get contentious. Writer Lily Meyer discusses.

Leslie John, James E. Burke Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, discusses why sharing our feelings garners trust.

It’s been four years since the beginning of the Ukraine war. David Kramer discusses why he thinks the U.S. should increase military assistance to Ukraine.

After a pandemic-era spike in crime, public safety numbers are improving. Henry Grabar discusses the surprising reasons why.

Washington Correspondent Ben Terris discusses President Donald Trump’s health and the discrepancies in what the White House says about it.

Author Daisy Hernandez discusses we welcome some immigrants and shun others.

As the nation nears its 250th anniversary, it’s a fitting time to consider the very best – and very worst – of our foreign policy decisions. James M. Lindsay, Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy, discusses them.

Matthew L. Demont, Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Professor of History at Dartmouth College, discusses the fight Black military personnel faced to gain civil rights at home.

Kate Brown, a distinguished professor in the history of science at MIT, discusses how community gardens can transform neighborhoods.

Rachel Weiner, local transportation reporter for The Washington Post, discusses why foot traffic on American streets is dangerous

Walter Isaacson joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how one sentence in the Declaration of Independence set out a promise of America.

Karen Weise joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how data centers are driving up electricity costs for everyone.

Physician and contributing writer at The New Yorker Dhruv Khullar joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the use of A.I. in medicine.

Enter A.I. Drew Harwell is a technology reporter for The Washington Post, and he joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the rise of obituary-writing artificial intelligence, how funeral homes are eager to embrace it.

Clay Shirky, vice provost for A.I. and technology in education at New York University, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how professors are using A.I. in the classroom and whether or not the technology gets in the way of critical thinking.

Nate Soares joins host Krys Boyd to discuss what happens when A.I. brain power surpasses what humans are capable of.

Mehrsa Baradaran discusses the history of the wealth gap and why politics keep that gap alive for Black Americans.

Michael Shermer discusses misinformation and why it’s essential we reject the idea that nothing can be verified as truth.

Ben Fritz, entertainment industry reporter for The Wall Street Journal, gets into why hyper-individualized content is coming at the expense of culture.

Homeschooled: A Memoir Author Stefan Merrill Block discusses why his mother thought public school would kill his creativity and how he thinks of homeschooling today.

Duncan Hosie discusses how the Supreme Court is stripping Congress of its influence.

Michael O’Hanlon, Philip H. Knight Chair in Defense and Strategy at the Brookings Institution, joins guest host John McCaa to discuss the evolution of how the nation approaches defense – from fledgling republic to global superpower.

Jim Rutenberg, writer at large for The New York Times Magazine, discusses the role of the FCC during President Trump’s time in office.

Oona A. Hathaway, the president-elect of the American Society of International Law discusses why a golden age of treaties seems to be tarnishing.

Molly Hennessy-Fiske, national reporter for The Washington Post, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how the killing of Renée Good has put new focus on the tactics protestors use and what legal experts say about possible charges.

Journalist and author Stefan Fatsis discusses how A.I. is changing the traditional dictionary and why dictionaries are more complicated than you might think.

Writer Amanda Fortini joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why the last generation with an analog childhood is finally in the limelight.

Helen Lewis, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss Newsom’s positioning as a leading candidate to run for president in 2028.

Joshua Keating, a senior foreign policy correspondent at Vox, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why Trump believes the U.S. has a right to intervene in global affairs across the Western hemisphere.

Dr. Charles Knowles, professor of surgery at Queen Mary University of London, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the science of addiction and his own problem drinking.

Author Chuck Klosterman joins guest host Paige Phelps to discuss all things football.

Paul Stares is General John W. Vessey Senior Fellow for Conflict Prevention and director of the Center for Preventive Action, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss CFR’s annual conflict risk assessment survey.

Will Freeman is a fellow for Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss Nicolás Maduro’s removal and the United States’ new bid for dominance in Latin America.

Daniel M. Davis is head of life sciences and professor of immunology at Imperial College London. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the facts vs. myths of keeping your immune system healthy.

Chris Duffy is a comedian and host of TED’s podcast “How to Be a Better Human,” and he joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the link between humor and innovation.

Avantika Chilkoti, Global Business Correspondent for The Economist, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how A.I. is affecting the pornography industry.

David Greene, journalist, author and former host of NPR’s Morning Edition, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss his dive into people’s personal obsessions.

Binary thinking is black or white, on or off, good or bad – and our modern world requires a more nuanced approach. New York Times opinion columnist Thomas L. Friedman

Marina Bolotnikova, Deputy Editor for Vox’s Future Perfect, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how scientists are coming to the conclusion that fish feel pain.

New Yorker staff writer Rivka Galchen joins host Krys Boyd to discuss geothermal energy, which pulls energy from the ground.

Steve Ramirez, neuroscientist and associate professor of psychological and brain sciences at Boston University, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how certain memories might be edited with pulses of light and what this means for people dealing with life-altering trauma.

Rutger Bregman, historian and co-founder of The School for Moral Ambition, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why so many people feel like their jobs don’t make a difference in the world.

Lindsey Stewart joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the medicine that stemmed from African traditions that was often more trusted than white doctors’ advice, how this magic was passed down through generations, and how it endures today.

John Kounios is professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and director of the Creativity Research Lab at Drexel University. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss what scientists understand about how the brain solves problems – and how we might tap into this phenomenon more often.

Martha Barnette, co-host of the popular radio show and podcast “A Way with Words,” joins host Krys Boyd to discuss her love of language and all the myriad ways words bring us joy.

Helen Lewis is a staff writer at The Atlantic and host of the BBC podcast series “The New Gurus” and “Helen Lewis Has Left the Chat”. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why the very idea of “genius” is a social construct.

This hour, host Krys Boyd is joined by three guests who will explain how we can regain our ability to focus and tame our overactive minds – plus we’ll learn all about the growing research into the many ways listening to music benefits our brains.

Journalist and “The Great British Bakeoff” finalist Ruby Tandoh joins why everyone is a “foodie” now.

Arthur C. Brooks, a Harvard Professor and columnist at The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss a compendium of his columns about the pursuit of happiness.

Dr. Eric Topol is executive vice president and a professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research and he joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the study of what he calls the “wellderly” – those people who age to 80 without chronic disease.