Women make up nearly half of all gamers, but that hasn’t led to much respect within the video game industry. Amanda C. Cote, assistant professor of Media Studies/Games Studies in the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon, joins host Krys Boyd to talk about the experiences of female gamers and game developers and how the world of gaming might become more equal. Her book is “Gaming Sexism: Gender and Identity in the Era of Casual Video Games.”

Before blasting off, astronauts acquire a set of very high-level skills. But to really have the right stuff, you’ve also got to master basic hygiene in zero gravity. Colonel Terry Virts is a former commander of the International Space Station, and he joins host Krys Boyd to provide a behind-the-scenes look at daily life hovering miles above humanity.  His new book is “How to Astronaut: An Insider’s Guide to Leaving Planet Earth.”

As the world anxiously awaits a rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, there will certainly be people who distrust the science behind it. Sean B. Carroll, Distinguished University Professor of Biology at the University of Maryland and vice president for science education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, joins host Krys Boyd to talk about how science deniers return to the same strategies over and over to create doubt around new discoveries. His article, published in Scientific American, is headlined “The Denialist Playbook.”

If you've ever wondered how Krys chooses who she talks to or what she wants to talk about, this is your chance to find out. Every weekend Krys will share highlights from the conversations she had that week and offer a behind the scenes look at the creation process of Think. On this week’s episode: what if sugar could be sweeter and lower calorie? And a look at hate: how we use it vs. what it really means.

Even if who’ve been fortunate enough to not contract COVID-19, the pandemic has affected in some way each of our home lives and careers. We’ll speak with Amanda Mull, author of The Atlantic’s “A Cubicle Never Looked So Good” lamenting the loss of office culture and colleagues, to Bama Athreya, Senior Specialist for Labor Ad Employment Rights, whose article in Medium, “A Pandemic is No Time for Precarious Work,” discussing the lack of safety nets for essential workers, and to a stay-at-home dad suddenly juggling home school, Legos, and a high-pressure career as an attorney.

Poems, sonnets, entire tomes have been written about pure love. Less ink has been spilled on pure hate. Berit Brogaard, Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Brogaard Lab at the University of Miami, joins host Krys Boyd to talk about the morality, psychology, science, and justifications for an emotion all of us feel, but no one likes to own up to. She’s the author of “Hatred: Understanding our Most Dangerous Emotion.”

The poverty of Appalachia is easy to stereotype and ridicule, but the region’s social and socioeconomic troubles are a snapshot of America’s larger problems. Jeff Young is managing editor of Ohio Valley ReSource, a regional journalism collaborative reporting on economic and social change in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss his investigations into the struggles of the people and businesses there, and why they don’t bode well for the future of the nation. His new book is “Appalachian Fall: Dispatches from Coal Country on What’s Ailing America.”

It doesn’t matter if fashion brands make clothing in plus-sizes if an obese person is still denied medical care because of their weight. Aubrey Gordon is the previously anonymous writer behind the popular Your Fat Friend essays and social media posts, and she joins host Krys Boyd to talk about why the “body positivity” movement doesn’t go far enough to achieve real social justice and basic human rights. Her new book is “What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat.”

The new Space Force military branch has been ridiculed, but the reality is future warfare won’t be fought on the ground. W.J. Hennigan covers the Pentagon and national security for Time Magazine, and he joins host Krys Boyd to talk about the new military branch charged with defending American GPS, communications, weather and missile-warning systems – and why battling its critics is currently job number one. His article is “America Really Does Have a Space Force. We Went Inside to See What It Does.”

The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines is imminent, but who should receive the precious initial doses is still up for debate. Christopher Cox joins host Krys Boyd to think through effective vaccine distribution and if the focus should be on vulnerable populations or super-spreaders. His article for Wired is “Who Gets the First Shot?”