Think from KERA

With rising global temperatures come rising seas – and island nations are the ones taking the brunt of the damage. Justin Worland joins host Krys Boyd to talk about how Fiji, the Marshall Islands and other tiny countries are leading the charge to address climate change. His story “This Island is Sinking” appears in Time magazine.

At its core, a democracy should be a form of government in which everyone has an equal say. But with rampant racial and economic inequality, it’s hard to argue that our democracy treats everyone the same. Astra Taylor joins host Krys Boyd to talk about why creating a true democracy is so hard – and about steps we might take to get closer to that goal. Her new book is called “Democracy May Not Exist, But We’ll Miss It When It’s Gone” (Metropolitan Book).

As the editor of The New York Times op-ed page, Trish Hall guided writers through how to sway their readers’ opinions on important topics. She joins host Krys Boyd to explain the core principles of persuasive writing, including how to cultivate empathy and how to prune away all but the most essential sentences. Her new book is called “Writing to Persuade”(Liveright).

This summer, millions of Americans will pack up their cars and head to the beach, the mountains or somewhere in between. Auto writer Dan Albert joins host Krys Boyd to talk about the many ways car culture has rooted itself in American culture – and about how our lives might shift when we’re no longer behind the wheel. His new book is called“Are We There Yet? The American Automobile Past, Present, and Driverless”(W.W. Norton and Co.).

Some people may naturally be more empathetic than others, but the question is: Can empathy be developed and nurtured? Stanford psychology professor Jamil Zaki joins host Krys Boyd to answer that question with a resounding “yes,” which he details in his new book,“The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World” (Crown).

Millennial workers came of age in a business environment that values temporary workers over steady, long-term employment. S. Craig Watkins, Ernest S. Sharpe Centennial Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, joins host Krys Boyd to talk about how the reality of the gig economy has turned this generation into a resourceful, creative workforce. His new book is called“Don’t Knock the Hustle: Young Creatives, Tech Ingenuity, and the Making of a New Innovation Economy”(Beacon Press).

Google is well-known in Silicon Valley for its “don’t be evil” mantra. Beth Kowitt joins host Krys Boyd to talk about how some of the tech giant’s workers are beginning to wonder if the company’s business practices still align with that motto. Her story “Inside Google’s Civil War” appears in Fortune magazine.

If you want to learn about a new place, hop in a cab and the driver will often tell you everything you need to know. That was Frank Langfitt’s idea when he moved to China – to the degree that he began driving a taxi himself. The NPR correspondent joins host Krys Boyd to talk about how the experience informed his understanding of everyday life in the world’s most populous country. His new book is called“The Shanghai Free Taxi: Journeys with the Hustlers and Rebels of the New China”(PublicAffairs).

The standard approach to thought says that language is the basis for what happens in the mind. Psychologist Barbara Tversky joins host Krys Boyd to make the case that our brains are actually filled with pictures and ideas that revolve around spatial cognition – thoughts that circumvent language. Her new book is called“Mind in Motion: How Action Shapes Thought”(Basic Books).

The standard approach to thought says that language is the basis for what happens in the mind. Psychologist Barbara Tversky joins host Krys Boyd to make the case that our brains are actually filled with pictures and ideas that revolve around spatial cognition – thoughts that circumvent language. Her new book is called “Mind in Motion: How Action Shapes Thought” (Basic Books).