The idea that what’s good for corporations is what’s good for Americans has its roots in early 20th Century ideology. Naomi Oreskes is professor of the history of science at Harvard and author of “The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market.” She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the public relations campaigns designed to crush regulations and unions. Her essay “The Magic of the Marketplace,” written with Erik M. Conway, is included in “Myth America: Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past.”

The Jan. 6 committee hearings were a highly produced public display, but they largely left out how social media was used to organize the insurrection. Cat Zakrzewski is a technology policy reporter at The Washington Post. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the political pitfalls the committee faced when confronting the pivotal role of social media, and why it’s so hard to regulate big tech. Her article is called “What the Jan. 6 probe found out about social media but didn’t report.”

One emotion is unlike any other in that it can connect us with humans and nature alike: awe. Dacher Keltner is professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley and the faculty director of UC-Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss a relatively new field of research studying awe, how it can transform the mind and body, and his own personal experiences with it. His book is “Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life.”

The same traits that make autism a social and neurological challenge might also lead to great discoveries. Simon Baron-Cohen is professor of developmental psychopathology and director of the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why he believes innovation comes with certain brain patterns and why it’s time to celebrate those who think differently. His book, now out in paperback, is “The Pattern Seekers: How Autism Drives Human Invention.”

“To infinity … and beyond!” “To boldly go where no man has gone before.” The wonder of space has fueled movies and television shows for decades. Margaret A. Weitekamp is chair of the space history department at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, where she curates the Social and Cultural History of Spaceflight Collection. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how popular culture has tapped into our fascination with space – from Star Trek and Star Wars to Buck Rogers and Buzz Lightyear. Her book is “Space Craze: America’s Enduring Fascination with Real and Imagined Spaceflight.”

Reducing the use of addictive opioids is a noble goal, but people in pain still need help. Maia Szalavitz is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss policies that keep chronic pain patients from accessing their drugs and where they turn when prescriptions aren’t an option. Her article is “Entire Body Is Shaking’: Why Americans With Chronic Pain Are Dying.”

The U.S.-Mexico border is about much more than just heated immigration policy. Geraldo Cadava, professor of history and Latina and Latino Studies at Northwestern University, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the many symbiotic ways the United States and Mexico work together and why misinformation is distracting from the bigger picture. His essay “The Border” appears in “Myth America: Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past.”

A person’s sex designation on official documents has a lot to do with the state they live in. Paisley Currah is professor of political science and women’s & gender studies at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the category of “sex” on government documents and what that says about the future of transgender rights. His book is “Sex Is as Sex Does: Governing Transgender Identity.”

This episode originally aired on August 16, 2022.

In the rapidly expanding solar industry, a lack of oversight has some crying foul. Harper’s contributor Hillary Angelo joins host Krys Boyd to discuss Nye County, Nevada, where 20,000 acres of public land have been earmarked for solar-farm construction—a potential weapon against climate change that also threatens the local ecology, and angers neighbors. Her Harper’s article is called “Boomtown.”

One lesser-discussed strategy to fight climate change: clean your plate. Susan Shain is a reporting fellow for Headway, a section of The New York Times. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how food waste is responsible for twice as many greenhouse gas emissions as commercial aviation, and how one public awareness campaign in Ohio is taking on the battle and winning. Her article is “How Central Ohio Got People to Eat Their Leftovers.”