KERA's Think

[2013-12-18 12:00:00] An investigation by the federal government into Dallas’ affordable housing practices has found that the city violates civil rights laws. This hour, we’ll talk about what the allegations say about Dallas with Scott Griggs, vice chairman of the Dallas City Council housing committee, and Ken Smith, who leads the Revitalize South Dallas Coalition.

[2013-12-17 13:00:00] In the 1960s, The Beatles were marketed as the fun-loving lads from Liverpool, while the Rolling Stones were seen as their more rough-and-tumble rivals. This hour, we’ll learn about the 50-year-long battle of the bands from John McMillian, author of Beatles vs. Stones (Simon & Schuster).

[2013-12-17 12:00:00] With Amy Poehler, Melissa McCarthy and Mindy Kaling ruling screens big and small, comedy has become women’s work. We’ll talk this hour about the rise of funny females with stand-up comedian Linda Stogner, Amanda Austin of Dallas Comedy House and Tina Parker of Kitchen Dog Theater.

[2013-12-16 13:00:00] The left brain, right brain theory has become an accepted approach to how we think about brain function. But new research shows that those directions may be all wrong. We’ll find out why this hour from psychologist Stephen M. Kosslyn, co-author of Top Brain, Bottom Brain: Surprising Insights into How You Think (Simon & Schuster).

[2013-12-16 12:00:00] Why do some consumer products work flawlessly while others do nothing but confound us? We’ll explore teapots, tape measures and other tools around the house this hour with cognitive scientist Don Norman, author of The Design of Everyday Things (Basic Books).

[2013-12-12 13:00:00] As Christmas nears, movie studios are unveiling the best they’ve got in hopes of luring audiences and building cases for Oscar nominations. We’ll find out this hour which films are worth the price of admission from our favorite local film critics: Chris Vognar of The Dallas Morning News, Chris Kelly of Texas Monthly and KERA’s Stephen Becker.

[2013-12-11 13:00:00] This week, some of the biggest scientific minds will descent on Dallas for the 50th Jubilee Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics. University of Chicago astrophysicist Rocky Kolb will deliver the keynote lecture, and before he does, he’ll join us to talk about some of the universe’s many mysteries.

[2013-12-11 12:00:00] A new cross-generational study shows that American college graduates are increasingly deciding to forgo parenthood. And the research shows that men and women are making that choice for different reasons. We’ll discuss the trend with Wharton School professor Stew Friedman, who conducted the study. He writes about his findings in Baby Bust: New Choices for Men and Women in Work and Family (Wharton Digital Press).

[2013-12-10 13:00:00] General Custer’s defeat at the Battle of Little Bighorn was front-page news across America. The journalists who covered the historic battle are often credited with mythologizing Custer, but University of North Texas professor James E. Mueller says that a look back at newspapers of the day disproves that idea. He writes about his findings in Shooting Arrows & Slinging Mud: Custer, the Press, and the Little Bighorn (University of Oklahoma Press).

[2013-12-10 12:00:00] We’re often told to not judge a book by its cover. But science shows that our intuition is often dead on. We’ll find out this hour when and why we should trust our instincts from psychologist Matthew Hertenstein. His new book is The Tell: The Little Clues That Reveal Big Truths About Who We Are (Basic Books).

[2013-12-09 13:00:00] Most insects pose little or no harm to humans. And yet, many people are terrified of anything that creeps or crawls. We’ll find out why this hour from University of Wyoming professor Jeffrey Lockwood. His new book is The Infested Mind: Why Humans Fear, Loathe, and Love Insects.

[2013-12-09 12:00:00] When you recycle an aluminum can or newspaper, did you ever wonder where they go? We’ll find out this hour from Adam Minter. He gets to know the people who are making fortunes on other people’s trash in his new book, Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade (Bloomsbury).

[2013-12-05 13:00:00] Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft were close friends before their political lives drove them apart. And all the while, a muckraking press was doing its part to push the politicians towards reform. We’ll look back this hour at the tumultuous early years of the 20th Century with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. Her new book is The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft and the Golden Age of Journalism (Simon & Schuster).

[2013-12-05 12:00:00] American women and their doctors are opting for C-section births at an unprecedented rate. So why is this happening? We’ll find out this hour from Theresa Morris. Her new book is Cut it Out: The C-Section Epidemic in America (NYU Press).

[2013-12-04 13:00:00] When European settlers arrived in North America, they quickly became the largest population of carnivores that the world had ever known. And they set up an America in which meat has pride of placement on the nation’s plates. We’ll learn more about how and why that happened this hour with Maureen Ogle, author of In Meat We Trust: An Unexpected History of Carnivore America (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).