KERA's Think

[2012-12-03 13:00:00] How is it possible that hard-working people with steady jobs are still barely getting by and what can be done improve their opportunities and lives? We’ll talk this hour with David K. Shipler, Pulitzer Prize-winner and author of “The Working Poor: Invisible in America” (Vintage, Paperback, 2005). Shipler will be in town to address the Community Financial Stability Summit, sponsored by United Way of Metropolitan Dallas this week.

[2012-12-03 12:00:00] What first inspired humans to travel all the way around the earth and how does the history of such exploration still inspire us today? We’ll talk this hour with Joyce Chaplin, the James Duncan Phillips Professor of Early American History at Harvard University and author of the new book “Round About the Earth: Circumnavigation from Magellan to Orbit” (Simon & Schuster, 2012).

[2012-11-29 13:00:00] Are sustainable design practices gaining ground and what will it take for energy-efficient design to reach a broader market? We’ll spend this hour with Michael Lehrer, FAIA, Principal at Lehrer Architects and designer of the first the first LEED Platinum museum in the world. He’ll address the Dallas Architecture Forum this evening.

[2012-11-29 12:00:00] What are the hot holiday movies this season? Which ones have you already seen and what did you think? We’ll get the picks and pans of this year’s crop of films with Stephen Becker of KERA’s Art&Seek and Chris Vognar of The Dallas Morning News, co-hosts of The Big Screen weekly podcast.

[2012-11-28 13:00:00] Who was the namesake of Mark Twain’s famous character Tom Sawyer and what was his life like in the San Francisco of the 1850s and 1860s? We’ll find out this hour with writer Robert Graysmith, who tells the story in his new book “Black Fire: The True Story of the Original Tom Sawyer–and of the Mysterious Fires That Baptized Gold Rush-Era San Francisco” (Crown, 2012).

[2012-11-28 12:00:00] How do our minds make sense of the world around us and how might the different ways our brains work lead to new understandings of language, psychology, and neuroscience? We’ll talk this hour with Benjamin Bergen, associate professor of Cognitive Science at the University of California, San Diego and author of the new book “Louder Than Words: The New Science of How the Mind Makes Meaning” (Basic Books, 2012).

[2012-11-27 13:00:00] How can parents navigate the ever-widening array of digital entertainment and educational choices for their kids and what factors are important when choosing games, apps, and e-books for children? We’ll talk this hour with Lesli Rotenberg, PBS Senior Vice President of Children’s Media. Rotenberg will speak at TEDxSMU this weekend.

[2012-11-27 12:00:00] What makes falling in love so attractive that many of us do it again and again? We’ll examine the nature of the heart this hour with Davy Rothbart, writer and creator of Found Magazine. His new book is “My Heart is an Idiot: Essays” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012). Rothbart will speak this evening at the Texas Theatre.

[2012-11-26 13:00:00] What events precipitated the U.S.-Mexican War and how did the conflict influence our young country? We’ll look back this hour with Amy Greenberg, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of History and Women’s Studies at Penn State University and author of the new book “A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln, and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico” (Knopf, 2012).

[2012-11-26 12:00:00] What do the holidays really mean and why do most of us only celebrate certain days as holidays? We’ll talk this hour with magician, actor, and author Penn Jillette who believes that we should celebrate every day like it’s a holiday. His new book is “Every Day is an Atheist Holiday!” (Blue Rider Press, 2012).

[2012-11-21 13:00:00] How did Thomas Jefferson manage to inspire his colleagues to action, learn from his failures, and still succeed and what can we glean from his methods today? We’ll talk this hour with Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Jon Meacham. His new book is “Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power” (Random House, 2012).

[2012-11-21 12:00:00] What will happen when we’re able to alter the genetic code of plants, animals, and even ourselves to outsmart diseases, reduce waste, and create new sources of energy? According to our guest this hour, we’re already there. We’ll talk with George Church, Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, Director of PersonalGenomes.org, and co-author of the new book “Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves” (Basic Books, 2012).

[2012-11-20 13:00:00] Which Texan women broke gender and racial barriers to run big ranches, lead towns, direct large banks, and ultimately change history? We’ll find out this hour with seventh-generation Texan storyteller and journalist Carmen Goldthwaite, author of the new book “Texas Dames: Sassy and Savvy Women Throughout Lone Star History” (The History Press, 2012).

[2012-11-20 12:00:00] How did a 16th Century artistic rivalry help fuel the Renaissance? We’ll talk this hour with Jonathan Jones, art critic for The Guardian and author of the new book “The Lost Battles: Leonardo, Michelangelo, and the Artistic Duel That Defined the Renaissance” (Knopf, 2012).

[2012-11-19 13:00:00] What can parents do to help their kids be comfortable with their identities as they come of age? We’ll talk this hour with journalist John Schwartz who tells his family’s story in the new book “Oddly Normal: One Family’s Struggle to Help Their Teenage Son Come to Terms with His Sexuality” (Gotham, 2012).