KERA's Think

Washington Post classical music critic Michael Andor Brodeur is a lifelong lifter, and she joins host Krys Boyd to discuss his examination of modern masculinity, why the gym took over after the Industrial Revolution, and what building muscle means for healthy — or unhealthy — identities

Greg Eghigian, professor of history and bioethics at Pennsylvania State University, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the history of America’s fascination with UFOs — an obsession that spread globally — and what it all means for our civilization back here on Earth.

New York Times Magazine staff writer Emily Bazelon joins host Krys Boyd to discuss what makes a university a “safe space” for free speech, how 90s era laws complicate that, and how students should be included in discussions about the rules of campus protesting.

Science journalist Rachel Nuwer joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the phenomenon, which has been recorded since ancient times, and how it may offer insight into how we understand consciousness.

Maggie Mertens joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how the modern Olympics were originally meant solely for men, the health excuses invented to keep women on the sidelines, and how innovations like the humble sports bra revolutionized sports.

Nina Guilbeault joins host Krys Boyd to discuss companies working to make vegan foods more accessible to the general public, and how food movements catch on.

Nora Kenworthy is a professor at the University of Washington Bothell, and she joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why so often GoFundMe campaigns fail and why even the most successful fundraising efforts mask the inequities of a health system that’s too expensive for most Americans.

Despite the charged rhetoric to the contrary, there actually is work getting done in Washington.

Frank Bruni, a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why Americans are finding identities in grievances, why hardships have become so performative, and how we are missing out on what’s working for the country, collectively.

Emmeline Clein joins host Krys Boyd to discuss her own struggles with an eating disorder, how she didn’t meet the weight requirements to be considered anorexic, and how we judge people based on their relationship with food

Beth Linker joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how posture ignited public health panics and race hierarchies of previous generations and why we should examine our previous beliefs to better understand fitness today.

Kevin Kwan is back with a new summer read. The author joins host Krys Boyd to discuss his new novel – which again dives into themes of class, race, and money.

Rahul Jandial joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how dreams help or brains function, why they are essential to memory and why dreams across cultures are remarkably similar.

Macaela MacKenzie joins host Krys Boyd to discuss Title IX, the formation of professional women’s leagues, and their fight for equality on and off the playing field.

Dylan Scott, a reporter for Vox’s Future Perfect, and science journalist Jyoti Madhusoodanan, join host Krys Boyd to discuss the reasons why cancer is hitting earlier and earlier, and the scientific breakthroughs using the body’s own immune system to combat it.

The op-ed columnist for The New York Times joins host Krys Boyd to discuss his memoir, which details the danger of war zones and oppressive regimes – and the exhilaration of telling the stories of unsung heroes.

Matteo Wong is a staff writer for The Atlantic, and he joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the looming extinction of some 7,000 languages since A.I. is only using about 10 to learn from.

R.O. Kwon, author of the novel “Exhibit,” joins host Krys Boyd to discuss her interviews with parents who are made to feel like monsters because they wish their lives had taken different paths, how love for offspring doesn’t play into the conversation, and her own certainty that she never wants to be a mother.

Christopher Wong Michaelson is Opus Distinguished Professor and academic director of the Melrose and The Toro Company Center for Principled Leadership at the University of St. Thomas and on the Business and Society faculty at NYU’s Stern School of Business. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the differences between career and calling and how we assign meaning to our vocation.

Roma Agrawal, an engineer, author and broadcaster, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss simple inventions such as the rivet and string that we don’t think of as particularly revolutionary but which carry all the innovations of today on their shoulders.

Author and journalist A.J. Jacobs joins host Krys Boyd to discuss his year of following the Constitution as closely as possible.

Jennifer Senior, a staff writer at The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the story of her aunt Adele, who was sent away at age 6 because of intellectual disabilities.

Jeff Karp, a professor at Harvard Medical School and MIT, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss his strategies for lengthening attention span coming from his experience with significant ADHD.

Reiko Hillyer, associate professor at Lewis & Clark College, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the history of prison furloughs in this nation.

Tommy Tomlinson joins guest host Courtney Collins to discuss the world of competitive dog shows, where the lives of dogs take on a new level of attention to detail.

Leslie Jamison joins guest host Courtney Collins to discuss her new memoir about the intense joy she felt watching her child grow coupled with the duality of sorrow as she faced divorce.

Science journalist Isobel Whitcomb joins guest host Courtney Collins to discuss the newest science of concussion and how medical science is working to better disseminate the newest, best advice.

Christopher Mims, technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the growing life span of batteries for these high-tech cars, with a future promising as much mileage as gas-powered vehicles.

Ruth Reichl, former editor of Gourmet magazine joins host Krys Boyd to discuss her new novel, which tells the story of a woman one a life-changing culinary trip to France.

Alice Randall, the first Black woman to write a No. 1 country hit, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the Black roots of country music.

Sahaj Kaur Kohli, advice columnist for the Washington Post, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why seeking out therapy is really difficult for the children of immigrants.

New Yorker staff writer Gideon Lewis-Kraus joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the industry trying to create “electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles”—a.k.a. flying cars.

Kate Abramson, associate professor of philosophy at Indiana University Bloomington, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss what defines gaslighting, what motivates perpetrators, and why the idea intrigues us so.

Daniel Bessner, contributor to Harper’s Magazine, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how investors are changing the business landscape for television and movie writers – and the ways writers hustle for any work.

Bill Wasik from The NY Times Magazine joins host Krys Boyd to discuss a late 19th century wave of activism that moved our culture away from seeing animals as just property to a new way of viewing their lives with compassion.

Devorah Heitner, an expert in young people’s relationship with digital media and technology, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how to balance protecting kids with allowing them to have some level of autonomy.

Serginho Roosblad, video producer for the Associated Press’ Global Investigations team, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss an investigation into why “nonlethal” techniques still led to more than a thousand deaths over a 10-year period.

OiYan Poon, co-director of the College Admissions Futures Co-Laborative, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the diversity of feelings about the affirmative action ruling among Asian Americans.

Christine Emba, staff writer for The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how extreme wealth buys influence while not necessarily providing innovation.

Robert Sapolsky, professor of biology and neurology at Stanford University, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss his case against free will. We’ll hear why, even without this control, we are still bound to be moral and decent humans.

Writer and filmmaker Kabir Chibber joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why colorblind casting still has roots in Euro-centric thinking, and how it often distracts us from actually confronting racism.

Amber Ferguson of The Washington Post joins host Krys Boyd to discuss two women, one who didn’t want to give birth and another who couldn’t, and how the fall of Roe changed their lives.

Abrahm Lustgarten, an investigative reporter for The New York Times, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss where people might eventually resettle and the cities that could capitalize on that forced migration.

Alua Arthur, founder of Going with Grace, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how she’s devoted her career ushering individuals and families through the process of death and why she believes it’s a sacred moment.

Travis Rieder, faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss our everyday challenges and the moral quandaries they put us in, and how to do the decent thing in a global and complex world.

Uché Blackstock MD, founder of Advancing Health Equity, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss her family how she’s devoted her career to understanding and addressing health inequities of different races.

Venki Ramakrishnan, structural biologist and Nobel Prize winner, 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.

Jeffrey Engle, Director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the history of third-party candidates and how they’ve impacted – or not – presidential elections.

Vincent Schiraldi, founder of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice and the Justice Policy Institute, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss parole and probation, which he calls a “recidivism trap,” and make the case that these practices should be abolished.

Author and journalist Abigail Shrier joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why, even as more adolescents are receiving mental health care than ever before, the numbers for those suffering continues to rise.

Dr. Elizabeth Comen, an oncologist specializing in breast cancer, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the history of sexism in medicine and why lingering stereotypes still affect women’s medical care.

David Ambroz joins host Krys Boyd to discuss his life’s work of fighting for child welfare, the subject of his new memoir.

Harry Cliff, a particle physicist based at the University of Cambridge, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the reasons we only understand about five percent of what makes up the vast reaches of outer space.

In this special edition of Think, host Krys Boyd will prime listeners to have their best viewing experience and talk through the science of what’s actually happening 223,000 miles above our heads.

Teresa Ghilarducci, professor at the New School, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why our golden years only look rosy for the wealthiest among us, why social security can’t keep up, and why going back to work is the only option for so many.

Andrea Long Chu, book critic for New York magazine, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why she believes it is an inalienable right to choose one’s sex and why children need to have agency in their own lives.

Historian Talmage Boston joins host Krys Boyd to discuss his dive into the lives and leadership styles of eight presidents, from Washington to Reagan, and the ways they shaped American society.

USC professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett discusses the small towns across America that are thriving and, by many metrics, outperforming much larger urban centers.

University of Massachusetts, Amherst professor David Toomey joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why piglets flop, dogs slide and octopuses play, and what that tells us about animal cognition and biology.

Wall Street Journal assistant editor Paul Beckett joins host Krys Boyd to discuss what is known about Gershkovich’s condition in prison, the efforts to free him, and what journalism looks like in Putin’s Russia now.

Brian Resnick is science correspondent at Vox, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why new GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy seem to target appetite but actually work with brain chemistry.

Steven Rogelberg, professor at UNC Charlotte, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why one-on-one check-ins with employees are proven to increase job performance – and why we avoid them anyway.

Michael Bruter, professor of political science at the London School of Economics, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the psychology of voting, why it helps us feel connected to a larger purpose in life, and how voters make their choices.

Sarah McCammon, national political correspondent for NPR, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss when politics get in the way of religious beliefs in evangelical churches, and how that’s driving some members away.

Sara Suzuki, senior researcher at CIRCLE, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the issues that are most important to young voters and how candidates can best reach them.

Elaine Lin Hering joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how to voice an opinion, even when it’s uncomfortable, and how you can advocate for yourself and others.

Rhaina Cohen, producer and editor at NPR, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss when friends become non-romantic partners, teaming up to weather finances and aging, and why we should work to protect these significant bonds.

Michael J. Graetz, professor emeritus at Columbia Law School, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the history of how we got to the enormous partisan divide we see today about taxation, and how race and class play into it.

Frontline producer and editor Michelle Mizner joins host Krys Boyd to discuss Mstyslav Chernov’s first-person account of life under siege, the horrors of a bombed maternity hospital and, ultimately, the power of the press.

Ernesto Londoño, a New York Times reporter, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the changing views of sobriety, why some in the medical community feel like total abstinence is unrealistic, and how this is changing addiction treatment.

Rogé Karma, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why food and fuel prices don’t factor into core inflation numbers but do influence how Americans feel about the economy.

Camilla Nord, who leads the Mental Health Neuroscience Lab at the University of Cambridge, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the latest science of brain health – what works to return to equilibrium and why it sometimes doesn’t.

Anna Motz, a forensic psychologist, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the traumas that lead to unspeakable crimes committed by women, her work inside the prison system, and why denying female violence is denying female agency.

Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative journalist Charles Duhigg joins host Krys Boyd to discuss what makes certain people so adept at facilitating the exchange of ideas, how we can make ourselves heard, and how we can better navigate tough conversations.

Dennis Yi Tenen, associate professor at Columbia University, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why we shouldn’t be afraid that A.I. is coming for jobs.

Jeff Sharlet, professor at Dartmouth College, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how American political leanings are taking the form of religious devotion – and how Ashli Babbitt, who was killed during the January 6 insurrection, has become a martyr for many on the far right.

Ankush Khardori, senior writer for Politico Magazine, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the Supreme Court’s decision to weigh in on Trump’s immunity claims and the upheaval the justice system would see if a Trump conviction actually resulted in jail time.

David Bellos, professor of Comparative Literature at Princeton University, joins host Krys Boyd for a history lesson on how copyrights came to be, and what happens now that generative A.I. has entered the picture.

Ian Robertson, professor at the Center for BrainHealth at UTD, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the science of confidence, how it positively influences both the mind and body, and how it can make us both more innovative and happier.

Richard L. Hasen, professor at UCLA, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why he feels we need a Constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to vote, and why leaving it to the courts to decide who can vote is a bad idea.

Lauren F. Friedman, an editor at Consumer Reports, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss CR’s rigorous testing of fast foods and supermarket products to find the harmful chemicals that enter our bodies. READ MORE

Sabrina Strings, professor at the University of California, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why she believes the relatively low numbers of Black women in relationships and marriages is a backlash to the Civil Rights movement.

Jonathan Rauch, contributing writer to The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the lasting harms had on not only career diplomats but the broader LGBTQ community across the country – and why he says it’s time for a reckoning.

Bianca Bosker, a contributing writer at The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how the art world operates and the role of gatekeeping in who gets shown and who can buy art.

Science journalist Rebecca Boyle joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why the partnership between the Earth and the Moon is so critical for life on our planet.

Ruha Benjamin, a professor at Princeton University, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why we are failing at imagining a better world and how thinking big is the path to unlocking good.

Matthew Shaer, contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how distracted and angry drivers are causing more crashes and automobile fatalities.

Simone Gao is a journalist and she joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how China’s economic woes affect the larger global economy, and why the Chinese populace might be losing patience with its leader.

Ayesha Rascoe is the host of NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday, and she joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the many reasons why Black students turned to these institutions – a decision the Howard University graduate once made herself.

Host Krys Boyd talks with Francis X. Rocca and Eder Díaz Santillan about how the new ruling is being put into practice worldwide and about how gay Catholics are receiving the news.

Edwin Raymond, a veteran of the New York Police Department, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss practices inside police departments that contribute to unequal patterns of enforcement, and his ideas on how these can change.

Joel Achenbach, reporter for The Washington Post, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why our emotions are getting the better of us when it comes to discussing politics

Shayla Harris, director and producer of a new PBS documentary series called “Gospel,” joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the legacy of this American art form, from its birth in churches to its rise to the mainstream.

Host Krys Boyd talks with guests Andrew Van Dam, Bryan Walsh, and William MacAskill on population projections and what factors people consider when deciding to have children or not.

Brad Olson, news editor for The Wall Street Journal, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the ways a semaglutide drug transformed his life and – now that he’s facing a future without it – his anxiety over gaining the weight back.

New Yorker staff writer Kyle Chayka joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how algorithms are homogenizing our design choices, how our desires are being anticipated by computers, and what this says for creativity and innovation.

NPR’s Global Democracy correspondent, Frank Langfitt, joins host Krys Boyd to talk about how these seismic shifts upend the lives of everyday people – and about how they challenge American power around the world.

Education journalist Laura Pappano joins host Krys Boyd to discuss this evolution – which dates back to at least the 1990s – and how school boards are now ground zero for much of the culture wars.