If you’re seeking inspiration or guidance for launching your juggernaut business idea, Guy Raz has answers. The creator and host of “How I Built This,” “Wisdom from the Top” and “The Rewind” on Spotify and co-creator of NPR’s “TED Radio Hour” joins host Krys Boyd to talk about his collection of interviews with 200 highly-successful entrepreneurs discussing their rise to success. His new book is called “How I Built This: The Unexpected Paths to Success from the World’s Most Inspiring Entrepreneurs.”

A record number of Americans turned out for the 2020 election, but that might not be even one-half of one percent of the people needed to prevent America’s decline. Mathew Yglesias, co-founder and senior correspondent for Vox, joins host Krys Boyd to talk about his vision for making America economically competitive again and how declining birthrates, empty Rust Belt cities, and immigration backlogs hamper future prospects. His new book is “One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Bigger.”

COVID-19 has upended lives globally, and emerging data shows women have been hit especially hard. This hour, guest host Courtney Collins talks about how the pandemic has created a female recession, how disparities in who receives healthcare have widened, and how the feminist movement often leaves behind women of color.

This year has the nation on edge and looking for levity. It’s worth remembering, though, that a punchline’s humor is often found in its truth-telling. Jerald Walker, professor of creative writing at Emerson College, joins guest host Courtney Collins to talk about his book of bracing – and often funny – essays. “How to Make a Slave and Other Essays” is a finalist for the 2020 National Book Award in nonfiction.

Without algae, we wouldn’t have everyday items like paint, shampoo – even beer! Ruth Kassinger joins guest host Courtney Collins to talk about how this miracle organism might just be the key to creating a more sustainable future. Her new book is called “Slime: How Algae Created Us, Plagued Us, and Just Might Save Us” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).

Last month, the ACLU reported that 525 migrant children separated from their parents cannot be located. And for thousands more, parents know where their children are but cannot get to them. Aura Bogado, reporter for Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, joins guest host Courtney Collins to discuss the 1 in 10 migrant children stranded in U.S. custody for prolonged periods. Her series, co-written with data reporter Melissa Lewis, is called “The Disappeared.”

John Grisham’s characters are familiar by now: brilliant lawyers in over their heads with mysterious, dark forces hot on their heels. And we can’t get enough. Grisham joins guest host Courtney Collins to talk about his prolific pace of writing a book a year – and about the art of the legal thriller. His latest is called “The Guardians.”

For fictional Asian-American character Willis Wu, the magic of Tinseltown is his ticket from obscurity to his ultimate goal: the next “Kung Fu Guy.” Charles Yu, author and writer for shows on FX, AMC and HBO, joins guest host Courtney Collins to discuss his book “Interior Chinatown: A Novel.” It’s a finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for fiction and has drawn praise for its story-within-a-story construction.

Since the first missions to space, the idea of who is the perfect astronaut has slowly transitioned from a maverick white male to include a much broader swath of the population. Jay Bennett, science editor at National Geographic, joins guest host Courtney Collins to talk about how NASA is pinning its future on a diverse collection of scientists and future astronauts. His recent article is “How the ‘Right Stuff’ to be an Astronaut has Changed Over the Years.”

The ability for people to so easily switch from, say, devoted family man to serial killer is the crux of America’s continued fascination with true crime. That’s the subject of “American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century.” Author and investigative journalist Maureen Callahan joins guest host Courtney Collins to talk about the subject of the book, a man named Israel Keyes, who meticulously plotted and murdered victims undetected for 14 years.