In the last few years, many Americans have had to square the idea of the American Dream with the realities they face that seem to offer little hope. Mychal Denzel Smith is a fellow at Type Media Center, and he joins host Krys Boyd to talk about his thoughts on how he wrestles to understand the current moment studied against the long lens of American history. His new book of essays is “Stakes Is High: Life After the American Dream.”

This show first aired in September 2020.

If you've ever wondered how Krys chooses who she talks to or what she wants to talk about, this is your chance to find out. Every weekend Krys will share highlights from the conversations she had that week and offer a behind the scenes look at the creation process of Think. On this week’s episode: making sense of the biggest news stories of the week.

The flora and fauna of the natural world have learned to adapt to their surroundings. Maybe they can offer humans some help in adapting to ours? Poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil joins host Krys Boyd to talk about finding solace and inspiration from the beautiful and odd creatures that stand out – or blend in – to their surroundings and what we can learn from them. Her book is “World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments.”

This conversation originally aired in November 2020.

One week after pro-Trump extremists stormed the U.S. Capitol, members of the House of Representatives returned to that very spot to impeach the president for a second time. Presidential historian Jeffrey Engel joins host Krys Boyd to talk about this unprecedented chapter in American history – and about whether it will unify the country or tear it further apart. Engel is a co-author of “Impeachment: An American History.”

When a tenant is evicted from a rental property, that negative mark stays on their record for years, even if the case was dismissed or filed illegally. Megan Kimble, executive editor of The Texas Observer, joins host Krys Boyd to talk about tenant background checks that operate without oversight and the lives upended by a confusing system focused on serving landlords. Her recent article is headlined “The Blacklist: How Evictions Haunt Tenants in Texas for Years.”

David Sedaris is known for his incisive wit and silliness, but also for his deep reflections on our humanity. The contributor to The New Yorker and BBC Radio 4, and member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss his essays on family, falling in love, relationships, aging, and the weird ways life’s struggles make us all the more rich. His latest essay collection is “The Best of Me.”

As transmissible as the coronavirus may be, the disinformation surrounding it for the past year has traveled just as quickly. Dr. Seema Yasmin, director of the Stanford Health Communication Initiative, joins host Krys Boyd to dispel common rumors and myths about science and medicine, and why facts still don’t tamp down lies. Her new book is “Viral BS: Medical Myths and Why We Fall for Them.”

America 200 years ago had only five presidents in its history, half the country was frontier, and, yet, a brand-new religion was founded on its soil: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. McKay Coppins, a staff writer for The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to talk about his own faith, the model of assimilation it tries to capture, and the changes it must wrestle with to fit into the modern era. His article is headlined “The Most American Religion.”

We often hear stories of dead loved ones appearing in dreams to comfort the living. So why isn’t this considered part of normal bereavement? Patricia Pearson joins host Krys Boyd to talk about why we dismiss these phenomena as nonsense and what we miss in the healing process when we do. Her article, published in The Walrus, is called “Why Do We See Dead People?”

“Wonder Woman 1984” has made more than $100 million at the box office worldwide — even amid a global pandemic and poor reviews. Surely there’s room in Hollywood for more woman superheroes? Journalist Soraya Roberts joins host Krys Boyd to talk about how that demand might be fed – and about some problems with the few woman superheroes we do have. Her article “Wonder Women” was published in Hazlitt.