KERA's Think

[2012-08-14 12:00:00] How important is your privacy and what role does the privilege of privacy play in our ever-evolving democratic society? We’ll talk this hour with Garrett Keizer, who takes an in-depth look at the issue in his new book “Privacy” (Picador, BIG IDEAS/small books, 2012).

[2012-08-13 13:00:00] What’s it like behind the scenes at a Cirque du Soleil performance? How do the athletes, musicians and technicians make it work night after night? Our guests this hour will bring Cirque du Soleil: KOOZA to the area next month. We’ll spend this hour with Michael G. Smith, the artistic director for KOOZA and Jason Berrent, who performs the role of “Trickster” in the production.

[2012-08-13 12:00:00] Which country will control the earth’s limited resources in the future? Our guest this hour, economist Dambisa Moyo, explores the role that China is playing in the global competition in her new book “Winner Take All: China’s Race for Resources and What It Means for the World” (Basic Books, 2012). We’ll talk with Moyo this hour.

[2012-08-09 13:00:00] What role did “The Star-Spangled Banner” lyricist Francis Scott Key play in preserving slavery? We’ll talk this hour with Jefferson Morley, former Washington correspondent for Salon and author of the new book “Snow-Storm in August: Washington City, Francis Scott Key, and the Forgotten Race Riot of 1835″ (Nan A. Talese Doubleday, 2012).

[2012-08-09 12:00:00] What has become of the tribal customs, language, and beliefs of the Oglala Lakota people of the pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota? We’ll talk this hour with journalist and author Alexandra Fuller. Her current National Geographic Magazine cover story is “Life After Wounded Knee.”

[2012-08-08 13:00:00] What are the biggest misconceptions about human nature and gender differences and what does science have to say about them? We’ll talk this hour with Agustín Fuentes, professor of anthropology at the University of Notre Dame and author of the new book “Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You: Busting Myths about Human Nature” (University of California Press, 2012).

[2012-08-08 12:00:00] What’s the best way to recover and ensure appropriate compensation from natural disasters, human-caused tragedies, and acts of violence? Well talk this hour with Kenneth R. Feinberg, administrator of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, the fund for victims of the Virginia Tech shootings, and others. Feinberg writes about his experiences as a mediator in his new book “Who Gets What: Fair Compensation after Tragedy and Financial Upheaval” (PublicAffairs, 2012).

[2012-08-07 13:00:00] From the archives – Who was James Brown before he became the “Godfather of Soul” and the “hardest working man in show business?” We explored the incredible story and heard a few of the greatest soul tunes of the 20th Century last March with journalist and author R.J. Smith, author of “The One: The Life and Music of James Brown” (Gotham, 2012).

[2012-08-07 12:00:00] From the archives – What are the benefits of simply taking a hike? What about when the hike lasts for months and extends for hundreds and hundreds of miles? We talked last spring with Cheryl Strayed who reset her life and learned to manage her grief, depression, and heartbreak with an 1100-mile hike in 1995. Her memoir is “Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail” (Knopf, 2012).

[2012-08-06 13:00:00] From the archives – What causes a behavior to become a habit? Why are good habits so hard to develop and how are marketers and corporations capitalizing on our habits? In March we talked with The New York Times investigative reporter Charles Duhigg. His recent book is “The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business” (Random House, 2012).

[2012-08-06 12:00:00] From the archives – What are the challenges of designing support systems for off-earth exploration? We spent an hour last spring with NASA Engineer Kobie Boykins when he was in town to speak about his work on the Mars rover and other projects.

[2012-08-02 13:00:00] Is there a way to mitigate the current volatility of our social and economic systems by designing built-in coping mechanisms? We’ll explore the possibilities this hour with Andrew Zolli, director of the global innovation network Poptech and co-author of the new book “Resilience: Why Things Bounce Back” (Free Press, 2012).

[2012-08-02 12:00:00] What cements a president’s place in history? According to our guest this hour, biographer and journalist Robert W. Merry, a mix of public opinion and historical context influences how we look back on our leaders. He’ll join us to discuss the presidents and his new book “Where They Stand: The American Presidents in the Eyes of Voters and Historians” (Simon & Schuster, 2012).

[2012-07-24 13:00:00] From the archives – How is an artist’s view of the world represented by their work and what is necessary to make the leap to the physical form of an artwork? We spent an hour last summer with award-winning, internationally-acclaimed artist Tony Cragg. He was in town to open his exhibit “Tony Cragg: Seeing Things” which showed last fall at the Nasher Sculpture Center.

[2012-07-24 12:00:00] Just how hard is it to start a business in a still-developing country? We’ll find out this hour with journalist Max Alexander, author of “Bright Lights, No City: An African Adventure on Bad Roads with a Brother and a Very Weird Business Plan” (Hyperion, 2012)