KERA's Think

[2013-03-25 12:00:00] Who says the age of exploration is over? We’ll talk this hour with urban planner and explorer Moses Gates who writes about his adventures online and in the new book “Hidden Cities: Travels to the Secret Corners of the World’s Great Metropolises; A Memoir of Urban Exploration” (Tarcher, 2013).

[2013-03-21 13:00:00] Why does the story of Adam and Eve surface so often in today’s pop culture? We’ll talk this hour with Linda Schearing, Professor of Religious Studies at Gonzaga University and co-author of “Enticed By Eden: How Western Culture Uses, Confuses, (And Sometimes Abuses) Adam and Eve” (Baylor University Press, 2013).

[2013-03-21 12:00:00] What can college students learn by visiting the historic sites of the Civil Rights Era? We’ll find out this hour with Dennis Simon, the Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor of Political Science at SMU, Reverend Ray Jordan and Emily Mankowski, a member of the SMU Honors Program and a senior majoring in Human Rights. They’ve just concluded the annual SMU Spring Break Civil Rights Pilgrimage.

[2013-03-20 13:00:00] How have newsgathering and reporting changed with the immediacy of social media? We’ll talk this hour with Andy Carvin, senior strategist for NPR, about his use of Twitter to report on the Middle East. Carvin’s new book is “Distant Witness: Social Media the Arab Spring and a Journalism Revolution” (CUNY Journalism Press, 2013).

[2013-03-20 12:00:00] What causes domestic violence? What are the warning signs that violence is happening and how can women, kids, and family members get help? We’ll discuss the impact of domestic violence and ways to end the cycle of violence this hour with Dr. Preston Wiles of UT Southwestern Medical Center, Jan Langbein, Executive Director at the Genesis Women’s Shelter, and Vanessa Vaughter, Primary Prevention Coordinator for Hope’s Door. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings will host a rally against domestic violence at 10 a.m. this Saturday at Dallas City Hall.

[2013-03-19 13:00:00] To what ends would you go to learn to cook and eat all the foods of your dreams? We’ll explore the traditional ingredients and techniques of French cooking and eating this hour with John Baxter, who writes about his adventures in “The Perfect Meal: In Search of the Lost Tastes of France” (Harper Perennial, 2013).

[2013-03-18 13:00:00] Why do some ideas, products, and stories seem to take off when others don’t? We’ll discuss the secrets of social transmission this hour with Jonah Berger, the James G. Campbell Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and author of the new book “Contagious: Why Things Catch On” (Simon & Schuster, 2013).

[2013-03-18 12:00:00] What are the benefits and potential risks from having access to so much information in digital form? We’ll talk this hour with Viktor Mayer Schönberger, Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at the Oxford University Internet Institute and co-author of the new book “Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think” (Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013).

[2013-03-14 13:00:00] Could improving your gardening game make cocktail hour more fun? We’ll find out this hour with Amy Stewart, author of the new book ”The Drunken Botanist: The Plants that Make the World’s Great Drinks” (Algonquin Books, 2013).

[2013-03-14 12:00:00] What contribution will the Millennial Generation ultimately make to our society? We’ll talk this hour with David Burstein, founder and executive director of the youth voter engagement organization Generation18. His new book is “Fast Future: How the Millennial Generation Is Shaping Our World” (Beacon Press, 2013).

[2013-03-13 12:00:00] How did the United Nations headquarters end up in New York? We’ll examine the post-World War II competition to house the UN this hour with Charlene Mires, Associate Professor of History at Rutgers University-Camden and author of the new book Capital of the World: The Race to Host the United Nations (NYU Press, 2013).

[2013-03-12 13:00:00] What challenges did early Christians actually face? We’ll talk this hour with Candida Moss, professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of Notre Dame and author of ”The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented a Story of Martyrdom” (HarperOne, 2013).

[2013-03-12 12:00:00] What exactly is going on at Guantanamo Bay and how are the legal maneuvers happening there different from the justice system we’re familiar with here at home? We’ll talk this hour with Jess Bravin, Supreme Court correspondent for The Wall Street Journal and author of the new book ”The Terror Courts: Rough Justice at Guantanamo Bay” (Yale University Press, 2013).

[2013-03-11 13:00:00] How could encouraging kids to play more help make them better students? As part of KERA’s American Graduate Initiative, we’ll talk this hour with Peter Gray, research professor in the Department of Psychology at Boston College and author of the new book ”Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life” (Basic Books, 2013).

[2013-03-11 12:00:00] What are the potential risks and rewards from new oil extraction methods like fracking? We’ll explore the North Dakota oil boom this hour with Edwin Dobb, whose current National Geographic Magazine cover story is “The New Oil Landscape.”