Visiting Mars one day is the ultimate trip from some tourists, but is that a good idea? Kelly Weinersmith, adjunct faculty member in the BioSciences department at Rice University, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the impracticalities of space colonization and the conflicts it could create back on Earth. Her book, co-written with husband Zach Weinersmith, is “A City on Mars: Can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through?”

Genetic medicine once looked like the future of health care, but its promises have yet to materialize. James Tabery is a professor at the University of Utah in the Department of Philosophy and a member of the Center for Health Ethics, Arts, & Humanities. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why precision medicines focused on gene technology benefit only the rich, while average citizens are left behind in this new model of curing disease. His book is “Tyranny of the Gene: Personalized Medicine and Its Threat to Public Health.”

Want to know why your flight was delayed and your baggage lost? Blame capitalism. Ganesh Sitaraman is a law professor and director of the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator for Political Economy and Regulation. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why he feels unregulated capitalism created a handful of airline competitors – all too-big-to-fail and receiving government funding – and why he feels improvements are possible. His book is “Why Flying is Miserable: And How to Fix It.”

How is it that we can travel anywhere in the world faster than ever before, but actual travel times have become slower? David Leonhardt writes The Morning, the flagship daily newsletter for The New York Times. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how a lack of investment in infrastructure has put the U.S. behind peer countries in nearly every category from education to transportation to even life expectancy. His book is “Ours Was the Shining Future: The Story of the American Dream.”

There was a time in the early 1990s when everyone seemed to have carpal tunnel syndrome—now, not so much. Health and science reporter Benjamin Ryan joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how carpal tunnel became an epidemic and what its disappearance says about how seriously we take workplace injuries today. His article published by The Atlantic is “Whatever Happened to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?”

We have a fascination with identical twins, and twins themselves also grapple with ideas of selfhood. Helena de Bres is a philosophy professor at Wellesley College and a twin herself, and she joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the endless questions she’s asked about her and her sister – and to reflect upon what being a multiple is really like. Her book is “How to Be Multiple: The Philosophy of Twins.”

Gun ownership in this country is as much about one’s identity as it is about self-protection. Alexandra Filindra is associate professor of political science at the University of Illinois, Chicago. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how 21st Century gun culture is a product of the 18th Century and how that has left non-white Americans with limited access to gun rights. Her book is “Race, Rights, and Rifles: The Origins of the NRA and Contemporary Gun Culture.”

One way to bridge deep divides is to get curious about the people on the other side. Scott Shigeoka has taught at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center and the University of Texas at Austin. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss what he calls deep curiosity, which pushes people to move beyond biases to see the value in another person’s worldview. His book is “Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World.”

Divas fill stadiums with screaming fans, and we still can’t get enough of their star power. Spencer Kornhaber, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the magnetism, narcissism and perfectionism of the people we call divas … and why they matter so much to the rest of us mere mortals. His book is “On Divas: Persona, Pleasure, Power.”

The difference between top performers and the rest of us can often be traced back to an ability to maximize potential. Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist at the Wharton School, and he joins host Krys Boyd to discuss strategies for Average Joe’s to excel. His book is “Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things.”