KERA's Think

[2013-02-06 13:00:00] What is still needed to help everyone in the world learn to read? We’ll find out this hour with John Wood, former tech executive and author of the new book “Creating Room to Read: A Story of Hope in the Battle for Global Literacy” (Viking, 2013). Wood will speak at the SMU Forum this afternoon and the Communities Foundation of Texas this evening.

[2013-02-06 12:00:00] How are women represented in today’s media and what needs to be done to ensure that the public hears the female point-of-view on important issues in the news and politics? We’ll talk this hour with Julie Burton, President of the Women’s Media Center. Burton will appear at the Gender in Media Forum & Luncheon, hosted by Dallas Women’s Foundation in partnership with the Embrey Family Foundation on Friday, February 8th.

[2013-02-05 13:00:00] What’s the best way to help kids make healthy food and lifestyle choices? We’ll talk this hour with writer Dara-Lynn Weiss who ignited a fierce debate about children and dieting with her April, 2012 column for Vogue magazine. She tells the whole story in her new book “The Heavy: A Mother, A Daughter, A Diet–A Memoir” (Ballantine Books, 2013).

[2013-02-05 12:00:00] What will it take to remove the shame associated with mental illness and what does our community need to provide appropriate resources and care for the mentally ill and their families? We’ll preview this evening’s event Erasing the Stigma: Mental Illness and the Search for Solutions this hour with Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez, Dallas County Commissioner Theresa Daniel, Ph.D., and Grant Halliburton Foundation Board Member Clayton McCleskey. KERA, The Dallas Morning News, and Mayor Mike Rawlings will present Erasing the Stigma: Mental Illness and the Search for Solutions from 7-8:30 this evening. You can listen to the event as it happens live at www.kera.org/erasingthestigma and you can join the conversation via Twitter using the hash tag #erasingthestigma. We’ll also air the event on KERA 13 on Wednesday, February 20th at 7pm.

[2013-02-04 13:00:00] Where do writers find their characters and what drives a great story? We’ll talk this hour with Manuel Gonzales, executive director of Austin Bat Cave, a non-profit writing organization for kids and teens. He’s just published his own first book, “The Miniature Wife: and Other Stories” (Riverhead, 2013).

[2013-02-04 12:00:00] How are innovative educators transforming our schools? We’ll spend this hour with Claudia Allums, Director of the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture’s Louise and Donald Cowan Center for Education, Dawson Orr, Superintendent of Highland Park ISD, and Jennifer Gunn, head of the Rockwall-Heath High School English Language Arts Department. They’ll all participate in the Cowan Center’s 30th anniversary celebration on Saturday, February 9th. This interview is part of KERA’s American Graduate Initiative.

[2013-01-31 13:00:00] How will access to front line and combat-related duties change the careers and lives of women in the U.S. military? We’ll talk this hour with journalist Tanya Biank, author of the new book “Undaunted: The Real Story of America’s Servicewomen in Today’s Military” (NAL Hardcover, 2013).

[2013-01-31 12:00:00] What are the challenges of staging a new production of one of Shakespeare’s best-known plays? We’ll explore the world of King Lear this hour with Kevin Moriarty, artistic director at the Dallas Theater Center and actor Brian McEleney, who plays the title role in the DTC’s production of King Lear which runs through February 17th at the Wyly Theatre.

[2013-01-30 13:00:00] How did the sugar trade change the world and ultimately impact the lives of New World colonial cane growers and their descendants? We’ll talk this hour with Andrea Stuart, author of “Sugar in the Blood: A Family’s Story of Slavery and Empire” (Knopf, 2013).

[2013-01-30 12:00:00] What is today’s fast-paced achievement culture doing to girls? We’ll find out this hour with Ana Homayoun, education consultant and author of “The Myth of the Perfect Girl: Helping Our Daughters Find Authentic Success and Happiness in School and Life” (Perigee Trade, 2012).

[2013-01-29 13:00:00] Where is the common ground between centuries of human philosophical scholarship and modern scientific pursuit? We’ll explore the territory this hour with Massimo Pigliucci, professor of philosophy at CUNY Graduate Center and author of the new book “Answers for Aristotle: How Science and Philosophy Can Lead Us to A More Meaningful Life” (Basic Books, 2012).

[2013-01-29 12:00:00] How did ideas about self-expression and realizing one’s own potential become part of our cultural fabric? We’ll talk this hour with social scientist and writer Jessica Grogan, author of “Encountering America: Humanistic Psychology, Sixties Culture, and the Shaping of the Modern Self” (Harper Perennial, 2012).

[2013-01-28 13:00:00] Why do we sometimes see something that may not truly be there? We’ll talk this hour with Dr. Oliver Sacks, professor of neurology at the NYU School of Medicine and author of the new book “Hallucinations” (Knopf, 2012).

[2013-01-28 12:00:00] Is a more natural approach to life necessarily a better approach for happiness and health? We’ll find out this hour with Nathanael Johnson, author of “All Natural*: *A Skeptic’s Quest to Discover If the Natural Approach to Diet, Childbirth, Healing, and the Environment Really Keeps Us Healthier and Happier” (Rodale Books, 2013).

[2013-01-24 13:00:00] How did a shy young lady from rural Texas manage the transition to First Lady of the United States during one of the 20th Century’s most tumultuous decades? We’ll talk this hour with Michael L. Gillette, former director of the LBJ Library’s Oral History Program and author of the new book “Lady Bird Johnson: An Oral History” (Oxford University Press, 2012).