For anywhere from $100 to $3,000 or more, you can get ready for doomsday with a prepper kit. Michael Mills, lecturer in criminology at the University of Kent, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the phenomenon of preparing for disaster, if this is unique to America or to a political party affiliation, and if stockpiling food and supplies actually does anything to relieve anxiety. 

Autocrats are rising across the globe — is democracy to blame? Anne Applebaum, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss dictators from Putin to Maduro, the networks they rely on, and why democracies around the world have been complicit in the rise of these despots. Her book is “Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World.”

Roxane Gay has written extensively about everything from Black feminism to office culture – and now she tackles a new topic: gun ownership. The author and contributing opinion writer for The New York Times joins host Krys Boyd to discuss her surprise at the thrill of shooting, why owning a gun is a political act for a Black American and what “stand your ground” laws mean to her. She writes about this in “Stand Your Ground,” an ebook/audiobook original essay found on the subscription service Everand.

One underreported fact about obesity: you could have it and still be considered healthy. Christie Aschwanden is host and producer of “Uncertain,” a podcast from Scientific American. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss what being overweight and metabolically healthy means, why BMI might not be a great tool for understanding health and body size, and what new research is revealing about the how weight and health intersect. Her article is “People Who Are Fat and Healthy May Hold Keys to Understanding Obesity.”

As our understanding of gender evolves, it’s important for caretakers of young people to understand this new reality. Diane Ehrensaft is a developmental and clinical psychologist and the cofounder and director of mental health at the Child and Adolescent Gender Center, as well as professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how to support a child exploring gender and why expressing gender in new ways might signal a cultural zeitgeist. Her book, written with co-author Michelle Jurkiewicz, is “Gender Explained: A New Understanding of Identity in a Gender Creative World.”

The Heritage Foundation’s policy document “Project 2025” has gotten a lot of press, but what exactly is included in this 922-page document — and is it even relevant after the Trump campaign slammed it? Andrew Prokop, senior politics correspondent at Vox, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the policy suggestions laid out in the conservative think tank’s agenda, how much of it might actually be adopted by a potential Trump administration, and the shakeup that’s happened at Heritage since its publication. His article is “Project 2025: The myths and the facts.”

Terms like “revenge porn” have a way of pasting over what’s really happening – a crime. First, Jasmine Mithani of The 19th News joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the damaging effect of labeling all sexually explicit images as “porn” – and how victim advocates are working to rebrand these terms. Her article is “They’re crimes — so why do we keep calling them ‘porn’?” Then, Hollie Toups, a victim of pictures shared without her consent, shares her experience working to pass the TAKE IT DOWN ACT in congress. Her article is, “I was the victim of revenge porn. Congress can protect people like me“

When Jennifer and James Crumbley were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter this spring, it was the first time parents were convicted for a role in a school shooting. John Woodrow Cox, enterprise reporter for The Washington Post, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss his time embedded with the prosecutor who built the case against the parents of a son who killed four students at his high school – and what it means for future legal cases regarding the actions of minors. His article is “Guilty: Inside the high-risk, historic prosecution of a school shooter’s parents.”

More than 7,000 new books are released every day — but most of those writers won’t make a living off their work. Author Michael Castleman joins host Krys Boyd to discuss three distinct eras of book publishing, from the first printing press to Amazon, and why today it’s fairly easy to find yourself in print — but much harder to find an audience to read it. His book is “The Untold Story of Books: A Writer’s History of Publishing.”

Supreme Court justices are selected by presidents and confirmed by senators – but does that mean they necessarily represent the will of the people? Kevin J. McMahon, John R. Reitemeyer Professor of Political Science at Trinity College, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how we got to a court that doesn’t reflect the majority of the electorate, what that means for its reputation, and ideas for how to fix what’s broken. His book is “A Supreme Court Unlike Any Other: The Deepening Divide Between the Justices and the People.”