Think from KERA

Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush set the standard of how former presidents can work together when they took the lead on global disaster relief.  Journalist Kate Andersen Brower joins host Krys Boyd to talk about the post White House lives of recent presidents and how their experiences have created a bond among them. Her book is “Team of Five: The Presidents Club in the Age of Trump.”

Once, there were only four elements: fire, air, water and earth. When suggested otherwise, the new ideas were met with disbelief. Mario Livio, astrophysicist and author, joins host Krys Boyd to talk about Galileo Galilei, who revolutionized science and, because of it, endured condemnation and accusations of heresy. Livio’s new book is “Galileo: And the Science Deniers.”

To chart the seasons, look to tree leaves. To understand the past, look inside to the tree’s rings. Valerie Trouet, associate professor in the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona, joins host Krys Boyd to talk about what we can learn by looking inside tree trunks – everything from the science of climate change to momentous occasions in human history. Her book is called “Tree Story: The History of the World Written in Rings.”

When parts of Italy were put on lockdown, the Western world was still waking up to a coming pandemic. Filmmaker Sasha Achilli joins host Krys Boyd to tell the story of one ER doctor there and her battle to save a daily swarm of incoming patients inside a besieged hospital. Her Frontline documentary “Inside Italy’s COVID War” airs Tuesday night on PBS stations.

A church welcomes the community to worship inside its halls. So how does it willingly open its doors again after violence shattered lives inside? Houston Chronicle columnist Joe Holley joins host Krys Boyd to tell the story of a small Texas town learning to trust again after experiencing the worst mass shooting inside an American place of worship. His new book is called “Sutherland Springs: God, Guns, and Hope in a Texas Town.”

Patients feel reassured when they have a doctor with a good “bed side manner.” Is that a teachable skill? Dr. Saul J. Weiner, professor of medicine, pediatrics and medical education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, joins host Krys Boyd, to talk about practicing medicine that goes beyond medical charts. His book is “On Becoming a Healer: The Journey from Patient Care to Caring About Your Patients.”

When the coronavirus began to spread, it was common for grocery stores to limit toilet paper to one package per customer. Now some stores are placing caps on packages of beef, pork, and chicken. Yossi Sheffi, director of the M.I.T. Center for Transportation and Logistics, talks to host Krys Boyd about how COVID-19 is impacting the U.S. food supply chain and what that means for your family’s shopping list.

The internet certainly has made our world more interconnected. But to trace the first instances of people connecting the dots worldwide, you’ve got to go back a millennium. Yale historian Valerie Hansen joins host Krys Boyd to talk about the long, winding path to this modern life. Her book is “The Year 1000: When Explorers Connected the World—and Globalization Began.”

Shops and restaurants are part of what make cities vibrant places. And with many of them closed, urban spaces don’t feel the same. Atlantic staff writer Derek Thompson joins host Krys Boyd to talk about how COVID-19 is changing our relationship with the businesses in which we spend our disposable income – and about how that shift affects the places we live. His recent article for The Atlantic is headlined “The Pandemic Will Change American Retail Forever.”

Most of us can trace our family history with paper trails and create intricate family trees. But when your family relies on oral stories passed down through generations, lineage can be hazy. Bettye Kearse joins host Krys Boyd to talk about tracing her own heredity, which lead her to an enslaved woman and a head of state. Her book is “The Other Madisons: The Lost History of A President’s Black Family.”