Think from KERA

For people with depression, there’s not a one-size-fits-all treatment. Instead, it can be a lengthy, frustrating process to find the right combination of therapy and medication. Anna Mehler Paperny has experienced that search firsthand, and she joins host Krys Boyd to talk about investigating the complex world of depression treatment in order to save herself. Her new memoir is called “Hello I Want to Die Please Fix Me: Depression in the First Person.”

Every object that’s part of our lives – everything we eat, buy and use – had to be thought of by somebody. And some of those ideas required quite a bit of vision. Science writer Cody Cassidy joins host Krys Boyd to tell the stories of people who changed how we live in ways big and small. Her new book is called “Who Ate the First Oyster?: The Extraordinary People Behind the Greatest Firsts in History.”

Unprecedented world events have shaken us. So how do we confront our fears and move on to richer, more optimistic lives? Eva Holland, correspondent for Outside magazine, joins host Krys Boyd to talk about her own battle with fear and the methods she employed to overcome it. Her book is called “Nerve: Adventures in the Science of Fear.”

Rosie the Riveter is the most famous example of women pitching in behind-the-scenes during World War II. And while she was keeping factories operational on the ground, more than a thousand women took to the air to help win the war from the sky. Katherine Sharp Landdeck, associate professor of history at Texas Woman’s University and a Guggenheim Fellow at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, joins host Krys Boyd to talk about these trailblazing female aviators. Her book is“The Women with Silver Wings: The Inspiring True Story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II.”

Resilience is about facing setbacks head-on and setting new goals after failure. But how do you bounce back when the future is so uncertain? Noam Shpancer, a professor of psychology at Otterbein University, joins host Krys Boyd to talk specifically about the roadblocks that stand in the way of developing resilience in anxious children – and how to overcome them. His Psychology Today essay is “Lessons from Coronavirus: We Are More Resilient Than We Feel.”

American manufacturing is in the midst of a decades-long decline, prompting President Trump and others to find ways to get back to labeling products “Made in America.” ProPublica reporter Lydia DePillis joins host Krys Boyd to talk about how we’ve been shut-out of the production of one of the most important components of our modern world — and how that’s currently impacting healthcare. Her article is “To Understand the Medical Supply Shortage, It Helps to Know How the U.S. Lost the Lithium-Ion Battery to China.”

On social media, pics of families crowded around elaborate jigsaw puzzles are on the rise. Not as picturesque: individuals pouring over their daily crossword puzzles. Still, thousands and thousands of them are definitely out there. Adrienne Raphel joins host Krys Boyd to talk about how these newspaper throw-ins became a fixture of daily life. Her book is “Thinking Inside the Box: Adventures with Crosswords and the Puzzling People Who Can’t Live Without Them.”

Susan Choi’s “Trust Exercise: A Novel” was a runaway hit last year, delighting readers and critics all the way to a National Book Award. She joins host Krys Boyd to talk about her story of how power shifts back and forth between students and teachers at a performing arts high school. The book is also known for a rather big twist – no spoilers here!

The narrative for the Civil Rights movement is that one leader preached non-violence and another encouraged upending the entire system. The reality is that Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X inspired one another and had a lot in common. Peniel E. Joseph, founding director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the University of Texas at Austin, joins host Krys Boyd to talk about the relationship between the most recognized leaders of the Civil Rights era. His book is “The Sword and the Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.”

Many parents who are with their kids 24-7 are starting to wonder how to make this extra family time work. KJ Dell’Antonia, former lead editor of The New York Times Motherlode blog, joins host Krys Boyd to provide strategies for moms and dads who must now be both parent and teacher. Her book is “How to Be a Happier Parent: Raising a Family, Having a Life and Loving (Almost) Every Minute.”