Buzzzzzzzz, buzzzzzz, buzzzzzzzzzzzz…… Insects can be annoying, we won’t deny it. But on this week’s episode we’ll attempt to challenge your beliefs on the morality of the common pest, and delight you with fly facts you never knew you needed to know. Don't swat this episode away; you might be surprised by what you find out.

There was a time when “I want my MTV” meant music videos, not reality stars. Amanda Ann Klein, associate professor of film studies at East Carolina University, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why the original music channel moved away from rock stars and shifted to ordinary people living wild lives. Her book is “Millennials Killed the Video Star: MTV’s Transition to Reality Programming.”

Our five senses are actually not static but can, in fact, grow. Dr. Susan R. Barry, professor emeritus of biology and neuroscience at Mount Holyoke College, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss three case histories, including her own, of people gaining a new way of seeing or hearing at an older age – and what these experiences tell us about the brain. Her book is “Coming to Our Senses: A Boy Who Learned to See, a Girl Who Learned to Hear, and How We All Discover the World.”

In fights over social issues, the political left and right have wielded an unlikely weapon: history. Princeton University historian Matthew Karp joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how both sides of the political spectrum have used history lessons for wildly divergent purposes, and what that means for the truth. His article, “History As End,” was published in Harper’s Magazine.

When the world went on lockdown to stop the spread of coronavirus, it was following a playbook used for centuries. Journalist Nicola Twilley joins host Krys Boyd to talk about how and why quarantines have been used throughout history – and about how the technique has been updated to fight modern threats. Her book, written with Geoff Manaugh, is called “Until Proven Safe: The History and Future of Quarantine.”

What if, instead of adding more highway lanes to accommodate more cars, we did the opposite? Texas Observer executive editor Megan Kimble joins host Krys Boyd to talk about alternatives to building more roads to suit the state’s ever-growing population. Her article is headlined “The Road Home.”

When it comes to getting things done, some people thrive up against a clock. Christopher Cox, a visiting scholar at NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, joins host Krys Boyd to talk about why deadlines have a way of motivating us to finish tasks – and how we can harness that motivation throughout the process. His book is called “The Deadline Effect: How To Work Like It’s the Last Minute — Before the Last Minute.”

Some psychologists have shifted their work from analyzing anxieties to offering ways to make people happier – including members of the military. Jesse Singal is a contributing writer at New York magazine, and he joins host Krys Boyd to talk about a U.S. military move to adopt new methods for addressing PTSD and resiliency without the science to back it up. His article, published in The Chronicle of Higher Education, is headlined “Positive Psychology Goes to War.”

(For a response by Martin Seligman, director of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania., click here.)

Honeybees are cute, but flies are just as effective as pollinators. Jonathan Balcombe is a biologist and an associate editor for the journal Animal Sentience, and he joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the misunderstood insects that make up what we know as flies. His new book is called “Super Fly: The Unexpected Lives of the World’s Most Successful Insects.”

As a teenager she tried to pray being gay away; as an adult, she prays for more inclusion. Julie Rodgers joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how religion has shaped her life, from coming out in a conservative evangelical household, to now, as she works to bridge LGBTQ communities with the church. Her book is called “Outlove: A Queer Christian Survival Story.”