Think from KERA

We have a picture in our minds of what a racist looks like: a hooded member of the KKK or a modern white nationalist. But racism isn’t always something we see outwardly. Ibram X. Kendi is director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University, and he joins host Krys Boyd to talk about the pressing need to look inward to combat racism in all its forms, which he writes about in “How to be an Anti-Racist.”

We’re warned about the perils of climate change in our futures. But for some American cities, climate change is already here. Journalist Steve Mufson joins host Krys Boyd to talk about the places already showing signs of permanent damage, which he writes about for the Washington Post.

There’s the place you call home: the physical four walls, the back porch, the garden…and then there’s the metaphor of home: the hearth and heart of your identity. Sarah M. Broom joins host Krys Boyd to talk about the New Orleans home where she and her 11 siblings grew up and the emotional toll of being displaced from the world she loved, which she writes about in her memoir, “The Yellow House.”

The movie scenes of chess are instantly recognizable: men quietly and intensely focused on besting their opponent over long, serious hours. For Sasha Chapin, his fascination with chess lived outside that old trope and became like a drug in his daily life. He joins host Krys Boyd to talk about his captivation with the game … and how it almost ruined his life, which he writes about in his memoir, “All the Wrong Moves.”

Collectively, Americans are holding their breath as consumers, investors, and policy makers take a wait-and-see approach on the American economy. Are we headed toward recession? And what are the factors that have lead economists to worry Ryan Nunn, policy director a tThe Hamilton Project and a fellow in economic studies at The Brookings Institution, joins host Krys Boyd to talk about which way the economic winds are blowing – and about if the Fed is in a position to act if a recession seems imminent.

The 12-step program approach to sobriety is a well-known model to get — and stay— sober. But kicking opioids is proving to be more complex than the current rehab models can tackle; almost 70,000 people overdosed and died in 2018 alone. Journalist Kate Knibbs joins host Krys Boyd to talk about a movement to allow medically-supervised drug use aiming at keeping addicts alive, which she writes about for The Ringer.

Success looks easy for Elaine Welteroth. She’s just 32 and has already a ledger of impressive accomplishments, like the youngest editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue and only the second African-American at Condé Nast to hold a title at that level. She joins host Krys Boyd to talk about how she won acclaim for retooling the magazine with a focus on empowerment of teens, which she writes about in “More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say).”

In 2018, the International Organization for Migration reported that one out of every 108 people in the world is displaced and forced to migrate. The reasons for immigration, though, are actually quite diverse. Suketu Mehta – an immigrant himself – joins host Krys Boyd to pick apart anti-immigration policies, which he writes about in “This Land is Our Land: An Immigrant’s Manifesto.”

After 9/11, the CIA sprang into action to thwart potential future attacks. One of the methods employed: secret and controversial “black site” prisons — interrogation facilities established without normal wartime conventions. Philip Mudd, former deputy director of the CIA’s Counterterrorist Center and the FBI’s National Security Branch, joins host Krys Boyd to talk about U.S. security strategy in the age of terrorism, which he writes about in,“Black Site: The CIA in the Post-9/11 World.”

Those who seek adventure often choose the most remote places on Earth: the tallest mountains, hottest deserts, and vast, empty stretches of ice. The last is the subject of Jon Gertner’s book, “Ice Age at the End of the World: An Epic Journey into Greenland’s Buried Past and Our Perilous Future.” He talks with host Krys Boyd about the grueling scientific searches there, even as the ice melts, and the explorers determined to conquer the ice island.