KERA's Think

[2013-05-01 13:00:00] Is there a way to survive every ailment, setback or heartbreak known to man? Bestselling author Augusten Burroughs believes there is. We’ll talk to Burroughs this hour about his foray into self-help, “This Is How: Proven Aid in Overcoming Shyness, Molestation, Fatness, Spinsterhood, Grief, Disease, Lushery, Decrepitude & More. For Young and Old Alike” (Picador, Paperback, 2013).

[2013-05-01 12:00:00] How are livestock treated in slaughterhouses and how reliable is food inspection in the United States? Journalist Ted Conover worked undercover as a U.S. Department of Agriculture meat inspector and tells the story in “The Way of All Flesh: Undercover in an Industrial Slaughterhouse,” which appears in the current issue of Harper’s.

[2013-04-30 13:00:00] After leading the charge for accountability in public education, how did Texas land in the center of a revolt against standardized tests? We’ll find out this hour with Texas Monthly senior editor Nate Blakeslee, who traces the evolution of high-stakes testing in his current story “Crash Test.”

[2013-04-30 12:00:00] Which classics of literature are worth revisiting as a busy adult and why? We’ll talk this hour with Kevin Smokler who scoured the canon for his new book “Practical Classics: 50 Reasons to Reread 50 Books You Haven’t Touched Since High School” (Prometheus, 2013).

[2013-04-29 13:00:00] What’s on the horizon in the mighty morphing world of public radio? We’ll visit this hour with Peabody-Award-winning NPR correspondent Scott Simon about his new radio show ‘Scott Simon’s Wonderful Town,’ his upcoming novel, and what it’s like to work in the realms of fiction and news at the same time.

[2013-04-29 12:00:00] Could the rest of America look more like Texas soon? We’ll explore the growing influence of our controversial state with Erica Grieder, senior editor at Texas Monthly and a contributor to The Economist. Her new book is “Big, Hot, Cheap, and Right: What America Can Learn from the Strange Genius of Texas” (Public Affairs, 2013). She’ll address the World Affairs Council of Dallas Fort Worth tonight and tomorrow.

[2013-04-25 13:00:00] What was it like to witness Hitler’s ascent to power in Nazi Germany? We’ll talk this hour with Andrew Nagorski, a longtime writer for Newsweek who is now director of public policy at the EastWest Institute. He collects the personal stories from military officers, journalists, Olympic athletes and others in “Hitlerland: American Eyewitnesses to the Nazi Rise to Power” (Simon & Schuster, 2013) which is now out in paperback.

[2013-04-25 12:00:00] Instead of helping humanity improve its collective lot, could the ubiquity of digital access actually be hurting our chances for true freedom and democracy? We’ll talk this hour with Evgeny Morozov, author of ”To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism” (PublicAffairs, 2013).

[2013-04-24 13:00:00] What was the real hunt for Osama bin Laden like? We’ll talk this hour with Greg Barker, director of the HBO Documentary Film, “MANHUNT,” which tells the true story of the two-decade pursuit of the world’s most notorious terrorist. HBO, the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Ft Worth, and the USA Film Festival will premiere the film at tonight’s opening celebration of the 2013 USA Film Festival at Angelika Film Center in Dallas. More info here.

[2013-04-24 12:00:00] Just how bleak would the world be without laughter? We’ll laugh this hour with comedienne and Saturday Night Live veteran Julia Sweeney. She writes about the funny and not-so-funny aspects of life in the new essay collection “If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Your Mother” (Simon & Schuster, 2013).

[2013-04-23 13:00:00] How does a composer approach the creation of a newly commissioned work? We’ll spend this hour with Jake Heggie who’s in town for the premiere of his new “Ahab Symphony.” The UNT Symphony Orchestra, the Grand Chorus, and tenor soloist Richard Croft will perform the work Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the UNT Murchison Performing Arts Center. Ticket information is available here. Tomorrow evening’s performance will also be streamed live via UNTMusicLive.com.

[2013-04-23 12:00:00] Will you ever be able to retire and is retirement even an option for most Americans anymore? We’ll explore the realities of the retirement industry this hour with Martin Smith. His new film “The Retirement Gamble” airs on the PBS series FRONTLINE this evening.

[2013-04-22 13:00:00] From the Think Archive - What fuels the age-old human obsession, fear, and fascination with sharks? We spent an hour last April with Juliet Eilperin, environmental reporter for The Washington Post and author of “Demon Fish: Travels Through the Hidden World of Sharks” (Pantheon, 2011).

[2013-04-22 12:00:00] What was the first Earth Day like? In observance of today’s 44th Earth Day, we’ll look back at the history of the celebration and its influence on the environmental movement with Adam Rome, who teaches environmental history at the University of Delaware. His new book is “The Genius of Earth Day: How a 1970 Teach-In Unexpectedly Made the First Green Generation” (Hill and Wang, 2013).

[2013-04-18 13:00:00] How will our networked world influence design and development in the future? We’ll talk this hour with Robert Bruegmann, author of “Sprawl: A Compact History” (University Of Chicago Press, 2005) and professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He’ll deliver the keynote address this evening at the Second Annual David Dillon Symposium, “Making Connections: The Networked City.”