When a great-great-grandfather’s violin turns out to be a Stradivarius, a rural Black child’s future opens up. Author Brendan Nicholaus Slocumb joins host Krys Boyd to talk about his novel, “The Violin Conspiracy.” It’s a thriller, which explores class and race in contemporary classical music circles and involves the theft and ransom of a treasured instrument, a family inheritance called into question.

There’s so much more to the 1990s than just the angst of Gen X — but that does heavily define it. Author Chuck Klosterman joins host Krys Boyd to talk about his examination of a decade or so defined by burgeoning tech and 9/11, plus Seinfeld and Oprah. His newest work is “The Nineties: A Book.”

The world is watching as Russia continues to amass a large military presence on the border with Ukraine. David J. Kramer, managing director of global policy at the George W. Bush Institute, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss Russia’s motives, the Western response to the growing conflict, and if there will be war in Europe – potentially the largest invasion since World War II.

What is friendship but a chronicling of two lives, sometimes best described in prose. Essayist B.D. McClay joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the many phases of a friendship, from joy to loss, using touchstones from classic stories. Her essay published in Lapham’s Quarterly is called “Summer, Glorious Summer.”

This episode originally aired Sept. 9, 2021.

Scrolling endlessly without focusing on one thought is a problem of modern life. Journalist Johann Hari joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why we’re only able to focus on tasks for minutes at a time, what happened to our attention span, and how these racing thoughts can be monetized by big tech. His book is “Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again.”

When the world went into lockdown, Danielle Tcholakian took on sobriety. The Jezebel columnist joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the first year she lived without alcohol – a year during which so many people lived in fear and isolation at the beginning of the pandemic, but she found freedom and purpose. Her article is “I Got Sober in the Pandemic. It Saved My Life.”

With English as a global lingua franca, what other cultures and linguistic traditions are we missing out on? Rosemary Salomone is a linguist, lawyer and the Kenneth Wang Professor of Law at St. John’s University. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the implications for a world dominated by English – from legal issues to class divisions. Her book is called “The Rise of English: Global Politics and the Power of Language.”

What would our world look like if everyone gave up eating meat? Roanne van Voorst is a futures-anthropologist, president of the Dutch Future Society and works as a lecturer and researcher in sustainable humanity and futures-anthropology at the University of Amsterdam. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss her vision for a world not reliant on meat for food or clothing, and to make an argument for giving it up for the health of the planet. Her book is “Once Upon a Time We Ate Animals: The Future of Food.”

If you’re wondering if you might be part of a cult, listen closely to those around you – if everyone sounds the same, that might be a clue. Amanda Montell is a language scholar and host/creator of the “Sounds Like a Cult” podcast, and she joins host Krys Boyd to talk about how language is used to develop the us vs. them mentality that solidifies people’s membership in cults – and cultish organizations. Her book is called “Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism.”

The episode originally aired Aug. 10, 2021.

Sometimes, to escape life’s mounting problems, it is essential to take a walk in the woods. Lucy Jones joins host Krys Boyd to talk about her story of overcoming addiction by forming a deep connection with the beauty of nature, and the biological reasons humans need to be outside. Her book is “Losing Eden: Our Fundamental Need for the Natural World – And Its Ability to Heal Body and Soul.”

This episode originally aired Aug. 5, 2021.