Think from KERA

The body positive movement might be trending, but so is the lean body physique achieved by clean eating and CrossFit. Which one do we, collectively, ascribe to? University of Kansas professor Christopher E. Forth joins host Krys Boyd to talk about the persistent, centuries-long stereotypes about a much-maligned body type, which he writes about in “Fat: A Cultural History of the Stuff of Life.”

The U.S. and China have a sometimes fortuitous, sometimes fraught trade history; now the situation is even more precarious and the next step is anyone’s guess. Jake Sullivan is a former national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, and he joins host Krys Boyd to talk about U.S. strategy when it comes to dealing with China, which he writes about for Foreign Affairs magazine.

Molly Ivins was a spitfire columnist, political commentator and overall provocateur. Her words put fire to the feet of politicians and she loved it. She wrote in Mother Jones, “Keep fightin’ for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don’t you forget to have fun doin’ it.” Now her life is the subject of a new documentary, and director Janice Engel joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the film, “Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins.”

Some of the most amazing objects in the natural world can be found in some of the most remote places on Earth. Edward Posnett joins host Krys Boyd to talk about journeys to harvest eiderdown, vicuña fiber and other coveted rare objects – and to talk about if humans even have a right to these treasures. His new book is called “Strange Harvests: The Hidden Histories of Seven Natural Objects.”

The most important drug discovery for treating bipolar disorder came about when a brilliant doctor experimented in an abandoned kitchen. Walter A. Brown, clinical professor emeritus at Brown University, joins host Krys Boyd to tell the story of John Cade, whose pioneering work with lithium has helped an untold number of people – though it took decades for his research to finally be put to use. Brown’s new book is called “Lithium: A Doctor, a Drug, and a Breakthrough.”

From the first wave of European immigrants, newcomers to America are told that fitting into the established social structure is their responsibility. Stanford University associate professor Tomás Jiménez joins host Krys Boyd to take on the idea of assimilation, the history behind it, and what’s lost when immigrants are encouraged to change who they are.

In the Greek mythology, a spurned Madea kills her children to spite her cheating husband. Today, if you turn on the Lifetime channel, thefemale villains aren’t much better. Feminist author Sady Doyle joins host Krys Boyd to talk about how the violent woman trope affects the conversation about equality, which she writes about in, “Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers: Monstrosity, Patriarchy, and the Fear of Female Power.”

Student loan debt in America hit $1.47 trillion in 2018. Within that enormous number, four out of 10 students are saddled with college debt without ever having earned a degree. University of California, Berkeley professor David Kirp joins host Krys Boyd to talk about this source of economic hardship, which he writes about in “The College Dropout Scandal.”

Modern psychology has studied numerous social and racial groups. So it’s curious that a field mostly made up of white practitioners has yet to take a serious look at what it means to be white. Psychologist Natasha Stovall joins host Krys Boyd to talk about why it’s taboo to study how white patients worry, reckon, or rage about their place in the social system; her recent essay on the topic appears on the website Longreads.

There are 1 billion websites – but how many of those are safe for us to visit? This hour, host Krys Boyd takes a look at the dark corners of the web and the content moderators who make sure we never see the worst images. Also this hour, we explore the history and problems of site 8chan – and a former diplomat talks about what regulating the internet might look like.