KERA's Think

[2013-05-30 12:00:00] How has the Mexican drug war affected those who claim both countries separated by the border? We’ll talk this hour with Alfredo Corchado, Mexico bureau chief for The Dallas Morning News. He’s reported from the trenches of corruption and violence for both the paper and his new book “Midnight in Mexico: A Reporter’s Journey Through a Country’s Descent into Darkness” (The Penguin Press, 2013). Corchado will speak at SMU’s Meadows Museum this evening at 6:30 in a joint program from The Dallas Morning News and SMU’s Tower Center for Political Studies. He’ll also address the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the Warwick Melrose Hotel in Dallas.

[2013-05-29 13:00:00] What makes the swordfish such a coveted trophy and how is our taste for the fish affecting its chances for survival? We’ll talk this hour with writer and painter Richard Ellis. His new book is “Swordfish: A Biography Of The Ocean Gladiator” (University of Chicago Press, 2013).

[2013-05-29 12:00:00] Who were the founders of our country, really? We’ll learn about their frustrations and their triumphs this hour with historian Joseph Ellis. His new book is “Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence” (Knopf, 2013). Ellis will speak at the Dallas Museum of Art Tuesday as part of the Arts & Letters Live series.

[2013-05-28 13:00:00] How did the site of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination become a haven for his legacy? As part of KERA’s coverage of the 50th anniversary of the event, we’ll talk this hour with Stephen Fagin, associate curator and oral historian at the Sixth Floor Museum. His new book is “Assassination and Commemoration: JFK, Dallas, and the Sixth Floor Museum At Dealey Plaza” (University of Oklahoma Press, 2013). Fagin will speak at the museum on Wednesday afternoon.

[2013-05-28 12:00:00] How are the practices of advertising and public relations coming together? We’ll talk this hour with Michael Serazio, journalist and assistant professor of Communication at Fairfield University. His new book is “Your Ad Here: The Cool Sell of Guerilla Marketing” (New York University Press, 2013)

[2013-05-23 12:00:00] How does photography help us understand the human condition? We’ll talk this hour with Steve McCurry, a photographer for National Geographic Magazine. His solo exhibition “The Unguarded Moment” is on display at Laura Rathe Fine Art, and he’ll give a lecture at the gallery this evening.

[2013-05-22 13:00:00] Will longer lives mean better ones? We’ll find out this hour with Sonia Arrison, a founder of Singularity University. Her new book is “100 Plus: How The Coming Age Of Longevity Will Change Everything, From Careers And Relationships To Family And Faith” (Basic Books, 2013).

[2013-05-22 12:00:00] What’s the downside of the new adoption movement? Are some children taken from families who still want them? We’ll talk this hour with Kathryn Joyce, who wrote the exposé “The Child Catchers: Rescue, Trafficking, And The New Gospel Of Adoption” (Public Affairs 2013)

[2013-05-21 13:00:00] Where can you find the best barbeque in Texas? What makes it so memorable? We’ll scour the corners this hour with Daniel Vaughan, the longtime ‘cue sleuth who just became Texas Monthly’s first ever barbeque editor. His new book is “The Prophets of Smoked Meat: A Journey Through Texas Barbecue” (Anthony Bourdain/Ecco, 2013). Vaughan will sign his book at a barbeque on Saturday, at Four Corners Brewery in West Dallas.

[2013-05-21 12:00:00] What makes political cartoons stick with us after the headlines fade? We’ll talk this hour with Victor Navasky, longtime editor of The Nation and professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. His new book is “The Art of Controversy: Political Cartoons and Their Enduring Power” (Random House, 2013).

[2013-05-20 13:00:00] How does Romare Bearden’s legacy live on in contemporary art? We’ll find out this hour with Fort Worth artist Sedrick Huckaby, who credits Bearden as an important influence. The exhibition Romare Bearden: A Black Odyssey is now on view at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth. Huckaby’s oil painting Hidden in Plain Site is also on view in the museum’s atrium.

[2013-05-20 12:00:00] Why can’t we all just get along, anyway? Could the answer lie in two basic personality types and a handful of ways to misunderstand each other? We’ll talk this hour with cultural psychologist Alana Conner, co-author of “Clash!: 8 Cultural Conflicts That Make Us Who We Are” (Hudson Street Press, 2013).

[2013-05-16 13:00:00] Can the way primates interact explain the human capacity for empathy and community? We’ll talk this hour with Emory University biologist Frans De Waal, who makes the case for morality as a product of evolution, rather than religion, in “The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism Among the Primates (W. W. Norton & Company, 2013).”

[2013-05-16 12:00:00] Why are many young adults embracing slower-paced and more home-centric lifestyles and what does the trend say about our changing society? We’ll find out this hour with Emily Matchar, who follows neo-homesteaders, crafty moms and gardening hipsters in her book “Homeward Bound: Why Women Are Embracing the New Domesticity” (Simon & Schuster, 2013).

[2013-05-15 13:00:00] How do words and their meanings color our experience with possibility and how does our changing language keep us learning? We’ll spend this hour with Grant Barrett and Martha Barnette, hosts of the popular public radio show “A Way With Words.” The pair appears at the Lakewood Theater Thursday evening to benefit the Aberg Center for Literacy.