Think from KERA

Epizode

• The joy of small moments 08.07.2026 45min

  We often look for happiness in big, emotional moments but something as simple as touching grass can spark joy. Ian Bogost joins guest host Paige Phelps to discuss the difference between satisfaction and gratification. 
• To understand class, check out a grocery store 07.07.2026 46min

  Grocery stores serve as hubs for many communities, and you can learn a lot about how our society functions (or doesn’t) by looking closely at one. Ann Larson is a fellow with the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, and she joins guest host Courtney Collins to discuss the lives of grocery store workers, who are deemed essential but earn wages that don’t cover basic life necessities. Her book is “Cleanup on Aisle Five: Essential Work, Poverty Wages, and the View from Behind the Supermarket Register.” 
• Why adoption tourism is booming in Utah 06.07.2026 46min

  Couples desperate to adopt often turn to underregulated for-profit adoption agencies. Filmmaker Gabrielle Glaser joins host Krys Boyd to discuss a system ripe for abuse, where “baby brokers” target pregnant women and play on the emotions of hopeful families. The Frontline documentary is called “Baby Brokers.” 
• George Washington never wanted to be president 03.07.2026 46min

  The most reluctant politician we’ve ever had just happens to have been our first president. H.W. Brands is Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin, and he joins host Krys Boyd to discuss George Washington who saw himself as a solider and not a politician why he felt it was paramount for a president to defer to Congress, and the grievances he had against the crown before the Revolution. His book is “American Patriarch: The Life of George Washington.”
• Team Jefferson or Team Hamilton? Their debate rages on 02.07.2026 45min

  Founding Fathers Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton fought for independence and they also fought each other. Jeffrey Rosen, former president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the battles Jefferson and Hamilton had over concepts of liberty and freedom, where they landed on states’ rights vs. a powerful federal government, and why their arguments still frame political battles we have today. His book is “Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle over Power in America.”
• Can American history be a source of pride or shame? 01.07.2026 46min

  America’s history is a mix of pride and shame so how should we square those conflicting feelings? Yoni Appelbaum, deputy executive editor at The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss what it means to be a patriot when scholars argue about the American story, how we can get back to a shared understanding of who we are as a nation, and whether that’s even possible. His article is “How to tell the American story.”
• The revolutionary women who made America 30.06.2026 46min

   The Declaration of Independence might’ve been written by men, but history was being made by women outside Independence Hall. Denise Kiernan, author, journalist, and producer, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the publishers, spies, and other extraordinary women that powered the American Revolution, why they are almost lost to history, and we’ll get the real story of the woman known as “Molly Pitcher.” Her book is "Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution
• It's not easy being No. 2: The presidency of John Adams 29.06.2026 45min

   George Washington may have set the standard for American presidents, but those precedents wouldn’t have mattered if John Adams hadn’t followed through on them. Lindsay Chervinsky, executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the second U.S. president, how he solidified many of the functions of the chief executive we still know in the 21st Century, and why that meant he would sacrifice a second term. Her book is “Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents That Forged the Republic.”  
• After the Flood: A Special Episode from Texas Newsroom and FRONTLINE 27.06.2026 31min

  On July 4th, 2025, devastating floodwaters ripped through the Texas Hill Country, killing more than 130 people. After the Flood, a new podcast from the Texas Newsroom and PBS’s Frontline, has followed survivors over the last year and tries to find out why this happened – and whether it could happen again. In this first episode, you’ll hear what happened during those harrowing early morning hours of the flood. And you’ll meet a father who had just sent his daughter to Camp Mystic two weeks earlier. You can find After the Flood wherever you get your podcasts.
• The surprising reason people name their cars 26.06.2026 45min

  From our little fur babies to “Herbie” the car, we imbue the world around us with wonderous human-like qualities. Justin Gregg is senior research associate with the Dolphin Communication Project and an adjunct professor at St. Francis Xavier University, where he lectures on animal behavior and cognition. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the benefits of anthropomorphism and the detriments of its polar opposite dehumanization. Plus, we’ll be introduced to a wide world where we love to see animals and objects as reflections of ourselves. His book is “Humanish: What Talking to Your Cat or Naming Your Car Reveals About the Uniquely Human Need to Humanize.”
• The fight over how we celebrate 250 25.06.2026 46min

  Originally, America’s 250th birthday celebration was a bipartisan effort. Then President Trump took it over. Michael Scherer is a staff writer at The Atlantic, and he joins host Krys Boyd to discuss a newly rebranded celebration called America250, which has led to frustration among lawmakers over breakdowns in communication. Plus, we’ll get an update on where the $150 million allocated for the event from the Big Beautiful Bill has been spent thus far. His article is “Inside America’s Ugly Birthday Battle.”
• Should your pet be in hospice? 24.06.2026 45min

  Hospice care is a good option for dying loved ones so why not pets? Dr. Sunita Puri is the author of “That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour.” She’s also the program director of the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship at the University of Massachusetts Chan School of Medicine, where she is an associate professor of clinical medicine. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss end-of-life care for beloved animals, when to know whether painful treatments are the right option and the emotional decisions pet parents must go through. Her article “When Should You Say Goodbye to a Pet?” was published in The New Yorker.
• India’s population boom goes bust 23.06.2026 46min

  India has claimed the world’s largest population since 2023 but that is going to change fast. Tom Sasse, South Asia Bureau Chief for The Economist, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why a decline in birth rates will hinder future growth, why India might not be able to achieve the wealth of other industrialized countries, and why attracting new immigrants might be the solution. His article is “India’s population will soon be falling probably quite fast.”
• Is modern politics beyond satire? 22.06.2026 46min

  How do you write satire about an administration that is already over the top? Award-winning author Ben Fountain joins host Krys Boyd to discuss his wild new novel in which a pro-wrestler holds almost magical powers that captivate crowds. And that puts him at odds with a very narcissistic, bombastic president. We’ll hear how the current political moment is both sad and funny Fountain’s book is “Rasputin Swims the Potomac.”
• The U.S. state that could have been a Black utopia 19.06.2026 46min

   After the promises of Reconstruction began to wither, Black Americans searched for freedom in radically different locales. Caleb Gayle is a journalist, author and professor at Northeastern University, and he is also a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine. He joins guest host John McCaa to tell the story of Edward McCabe, who made it his life’s work to set up a Black state in Oklahoma. His book is “Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State.”  This episode airs December 10th, 2026.
• The DOD’s war on diversity 18.06.2026 46min

  Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has again blocked promotions for Black servicemen a pattern within the administration. Clint Smith, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss his interviews with dozens of enlisted and civilian Black servicemembers who feel the accomplishments of Black servicemembers are being erased by the military and what that means for the how we tell the story of Black service in America. His article is “The Betrayal of Black Patriots.”
• Is heterosexuality over? 17.06.2026 46min

  Dating should be fun, but single, straight people are finding it a drudgery or even worse cringe. Magdalene J. Taylor, senior editor at Playboy, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss “heteropessimism” where straight people don’t have positive feelings about playing the field why men label women as self-absorbed and women call men “toxic,” and why we need to turn these ideas on their heads. Her essay “There’s Nothing Wrong With Wanting Men” was published in The New York Times.
• Did we evolve to be selfish ? 16.06.2026 45min

  The common evolutionary question centers around nature vs. nurture, but maybe we should be asking if we are designed to cooperate or compete? Jonathan R. Goodman is a social scientist based at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the University of Cambridge and is the author of “Invisible Rivals: How We Evolved to Compete in a Cooperative World.” He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss Darwinian survival vs. species interdependence, what makes us either selfless or selfish and how humans respond in real-world situations that test these theories. His article in Aeon is “How selfish are we?”
• The city through the eyes of a garbage collector 15.06.2026 45min

  Imagine what you can learn about a city by picking up the garbage of the people who live there. Simon Paré-Poupart, a sociologist and garbageman in Montreal, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss his life on the back of a garbage truck, why he prefers the term G-men to garbagemen, and the people who are called to do this dirty job well and with pride. His book is “Trash!: A Garbageman’s Story,” and his companion piece in Harper’s is “The Conscience of the City.”
• The secular saints of Civil Rights 12.06.2026 46min

  In many Black households of yesteryear, portraits of Martin Luther King, Jr. hung alongside pictures of John F. Kennedy and Jesus. Sharron Wilkins Conrad, fellow at Southern Methodist University’s Center for Presidential History, joins guest host John McCaa to discuss how Black families viewed martyred leaders who advocated for change and how that respect didn’t extent to President Johnson, who was tasked with actually passing Civil Rights legislation. Her book is “The Trinity: John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Civil Rights in African American Memory.”