Think from KERA

 You’ve got to get your 10,000 steps in today, right? Except that’s not based on any real science. Courtney Rubin writes about medicine, health, fitness, and wellness and she joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how the myth of the 10,000 steps came to be, why science is complicating that number and what you should know when you hit the pavement for that daily walk. Plus, we’ll consider the joys of wal...

 The NFL knows that concussions are a risk for its players – and it’s largely the players who carry the burden of protecting themselves. New York magazine features writer Reeves Wiedeman joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how the league’s approach to concussions has affected high-profile players like Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, why CTE is still a major concern, and why the NFL is chang...

One surprising trend that’s come out of the higher education demographics: white college-age Americans are ditching school. Katherine Mangan, senior writer for The Chronicle of Higher Education, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why white student enrollment has been declining for years, why administrators are just now catching on to this fact, and the delicate balance of recruiting underrepresented...

As the world goes electric, drilling for fossil fuels will increasingly be replaced by digging for metals. Journalist and author Vince Beiser joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the increased demand for cobalt, nickel, copper and other metals to fuel everything from batteries to the wires that transfer energy – and how access to those resources feeds geopolitical relationships. His book is “Power Meta...

After polls teased a close presidential race, swing-state votes offered a sharp rebuke to the Democratic party. Wall Street Journal reporter Ken Thomas joins host Krys Boyd to discuss what some Democratic strategists are calling a disaster for the party, why the Left’s cultural issues aren’t bringing in the votes, and who the party might turn to next. His article, written with Annie Linskey, is “H...

If you’re someone who always thinks the sky is falling, chances are you’re not very happy. Jamil Zaki, professor of psychology at Stanford University and the director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why cynicism leads to not only a more dismal outlook on life, but deleterious health effects. Plus we’ll hear why a little dose of hope can inject joy into ever...

Waves of Black progress have historically been accompanied by waves of significant backlash. Anthony Walton is a poet, professor and the writer-in-residence at Bowdoin College, and he joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why gains in Black life have so often come with periods of reckoning, why racial trauma in this country so often repeats itself, and why the country wasn’t prepared for its first Black...

 What exactly are we missing out on when we only experience something online rather than IRL? Christine Rosen is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a columnist for Commentary magazine, senior editor at the New Atlantis and fellow at the University of Virginia’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the lure of the digital world, with its...

For years, we worried about overpopulation, but the reality is now there aren’t enough babies being born to replace a greying population across the globe. Nicholas Eberstadt is Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss depopulation occurring on five continents, why pro-natal programs cost a lot but aren’t seeing results, and wha...

Jasmine Rashid is a financial activist and Director of Impact for Candide Group. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why taboo discussions about wealth and money need to happen for social change, how shopping small businesses can put pressure on multi-national corporations, and her easy how-to guide for a budding activist that starts with pinching pennies. Her book is “The Financial Activist Playb...

There’s a difference between hearing and listening, and there’s an art to cultivating the latter. Elizabeth Rosner, novelist, poet, and essayist, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how listening is the skill of interpretation, how she learned to hear the important things left unsaid in her own upbringing, and what science can teach us about the sounds that envelop us. Her book is “Third Ear: Reflecti...

Think of students who made it into the Ivy League — can you believe some of them made it there without ever actually finishing reading a book. Rose Horowitch, assistant editor at The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why top students are complaining about having to read books for college classes, how testing culture has contributed to this problem, and what this means for developing critic...

It’s Election Day, and the votes are being tabulated. So how can we know the counts are accurate and the data is safe? Derek Tisler, counsel in the elections and government program at the nonpartisan Brennan Center, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss election tabulation and security, why we might not know the official winner on election night, and what makes new technology so effective in counting vo...

Helen Phillips a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss her novel about a near-future techno-dystopia, where escaping to nature is the only way to heal – and how her characters make difficult decisions to find solace away from looming technology. The novel is called “Hum.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad...

Holidays and elections mean tough conversations – it’d be great to have some tools to navigate them. Harville Hendrix and Helen LaKelly Hunt are counselors who specialize in creating safe spaces for conversations, and they join host Krys Boyd to discuss why you should avoid negative comments at all costs, how to grow with your partner to better understand their point of view and how to hear people...

From the famous “Psycho” shower scene to “Poltergeist” and Chucky, America has a fascination with horror. Jeremy Dauber, professor of Jewish literature and American studies at Columbia University, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how horror reflects worries of a collective culture, how the genre helped the fight against slavery and how changing gender roles spark new creations. His book is “America...

 To root out inefficiency and corruption in government, we turn to inspectors general. Glenn A. Fine served as the Inspector General of the Department of Justice and the Acting Inspector General of the Department of Defense. He’s now a non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution, an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law School and has taught at Stanford Law School and he joins host Krys Boyd to...

The history of sexuality in America is not as straightforward as it might seem. Rebecca L. Davis, professor of history at the University of Delaware, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how gender has determined roles regardless of someone’s sexuality, why the Puritans weren’t so prude, and how our views changed in the 21st Century. Her book is “Fierce Desires: A New History of Sex and Sexuality in Am...

Vladimir Kara-Murza is so dedicated to bringing democracy to Russia that it’s nearly cost him his life on multiple occasions. Kara-Murza was sentenced to 25 years in a Siberian prison colony for disparaging the invasion of Ukraine but was released as part of this summer’s historic prisoner swap that also freed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. marine Paul Whelan. Host K...

Ronald Reagan is an icon for conservative thought in America — but he didn’t always deliver on his lofty ideals. Max Boot is a historian and foreign-policy analyst, a senior fellow for national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a columnist for the Washington Post. And he’s a lifelong conservative. He joins guest host John McCaa to discuss why Reagan’s policies weren’t always...

Author John Grisham is known for his legal thrillers – but he’s recently turned his attention to real-life stories of justice that are often just as gripping. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss cases of wrongful convictions, miscarriages of justice and common oversights that permeate the justice system. His book, co-written with Jim McCloskey, is “Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convi...

The zoning debate between NIMBYs and YIMBYs is fueling a housing crisis felt nationwide. Jerusalem Demsas, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why she feels decisions about land need to be accountable to the public, why zoning boards and preservationists are hurting home affordability, and why the buck should stop at elected officials. Her book is “On the Housing Crisis:...

Along with dealing with airport security and disruptive passengers, flight attendants must also battle low wages. Natalie B. Compton, travel reporter for the Washington Post, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why even though being deemed essential workers, flight attendants struggle with living paycheck-to-paycheck. Plus, we’ll hear about the surprising rules that determine how much flight attendant...

Lost in the current conversations about reproductive rights and the value of motherhood are the voices of those who didn’t choose to be childless. Eugenia Cheng joins host Krys Boyd to yearning to be a mother while not being able to, why she feels pinned in by stereotypes and labels, and what she wants a broader public to understand. Her recent essay in The Wall Street Journal is headlined “I Am C...

The concept of death can trigger an existential crisis in humans. Do animals face the same fears? Susana Monsó is associate professor of philosophy in the Department of Logic, History, and Philosophy of Science at the National Distance Education University (UNED) in Madrid. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss what animals know about dying – from mourning rituals to attempts at saving lives – and i...