Think from KERA

When a newspaper has a scoop that could ruffle some feathers, it’s a safe bet that the paper’s lawyer will want to take a look. David E. McCraw is deputy general counsel for The New York Times, and he joins host Krys Boyd to talk about the delicate line between protecting the paper’s voice while also guarding it from legal trouble. His new book is called “Truth in Our Times: Inside the Fight for Press Freedom in the Age of Alternative Facts” (All Points Books).

In such a polarized world, it’s easy to see how people have grown so far apart. Nicholas A. Christakis, director of the Human Nature Lab at Yale University, joins Krys Boyd to explain how for thousands of years we’ve actually evolved to co-exist in greater harmony. His new book is called “Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society” (Little, Brown Spark).

Black protests can take many forms – from art, to organized marches to sermons at the pulpit. We’ll talk about the many ways black Americans resist the forces working against them every day with Akiba Solomon and Kenrya Rankin, editors of the collection “How We Fight White Supremacy: A Field Guide to Black Resistance” (Bold Type Books).

With Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment, the Supreme Court now features a reliably conservative majority. And with liberals Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen Breyer also being its two oldest, it’s reasonable that the court could shift even further to the right if President Trump makes additional selections. New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg joins host Krys Boyd to talk about how this trend could lead to the overturn of Roe V. Wade – and about how state legislatures have worked to neutralize the law ever since the court’s 1973 decision.

Cherríe Moraga is an influential Chicana activist, artist and writer whose work focuses on rethinking our ideas of gender, race and sexuality. She joins host Krys Boyd to talk about how her life turned out much different than her mother’s – a farm worker turned glamorous cigarette girl in the 1920s. Moraga’s new book is called“Native Country of the Heart: A Memoir”(Farrar, Straus, Giroux).

To be successful in the business world, it helps to have a solid understanding of risk. Economist Allison Schrager joins host Krys Boyd to talk about real-life examples of when a gamble is worth taking – and when it’s better to stay away. Her new book is called “An Economist Walks Into a Brothel: And Other Unexpected Places to Understand Risk” (Portfolio).

The rate of diabetic amputations for people living in the Rio Grande Valley is about 50 percent higher than the rest of Texas and more than four times the national average. Sophie Novack joins host Krys Boyd to talk about how diabetes hits poor communities in Texas and elsewhere particularly hard, whichshe writes aboutfor the Texas Observer.

Researchers at Apple, Google and Amazon are in a race to develop computers that can speak and think like humans. Tech journalist James Vlahos joins host Krys Boyd to talk about the many ways these chatbots will affect business, privacy and even our understanding of consciousness. His new book is called “Talk to Me: How Voice Computing Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Think” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).

Qualities that land people leadership roles – overconfidence, narcissism – are often the same qualities that stand in the way of leadership. And it’s worth pointing out that the majority of our leaders are men. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, professor of business psychology at University College, London, joins host Krys Boyd to talk about the psychological miscalculations at play with these bad hiring decisions. His new book is called“Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders? (And How to Fix It)”(Harvard Business Review Press).

Unconscious bias affects everything from education to employment to the criminal justice system. Stanford psychology professor Jennifer Eberhardt joins host Krys Boyd to talk about the consequences of bias and how it infiltrates all levels of society. Her new book is called“Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do”(Viking).