Think from KERA

The federal indictments this week of dozens of parents, coaches and an admissions consultant laid bare the shady lengths some will go to in order to place students in prestigious schools. Kevin Carey, vice president of education policy and knowledge management at New America, joins host Krys Boyd to talk through the many ways that wealthy parents use their money to get around the admissions process – and about the effect that has on other students.

A lot of the artificial intelligence we use in everyday life is controlled by Amazon, Google, Facebook and other tech giants. Amy Webb, professor of strategic foresight at the NYU Stern School of Business and founder of the Future Today Institute, joins host Krys Boyd to talk about how these algorithmic decision-makers first and foremost serve the corporations that created them – and about how we can steal back some of that control. Her new book is called“The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans & Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity”(PublicAffairs).

For the majority of American history, the feeling that this was an exceptional nation became part of our identity and fueled manifest destiny. Yale historian Greg Grandin joins host Krys Boyd to talk about why it’s time to rethink these notions now that there’s nowhere else to expand. His new book is called“The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America”(Metropolitan Books).

Nationalism has been a buzz word the last few years. Kwame Anthony Appiah joins host Krys Boyd to make the case that patriotism and cosmopolitanism are not mutually exclusive ideas. His essay “The Importance of Elsewhere” appears in the current issue of Foreign Affairs.

For all of recorded history, people have migrated around the world searching for a better place to live. Paul Morland, associate research fellow at the University of London, joins host Krys Boyd to talk about how shifting populations have brought on political movements and led to the rise and fall of nations. His new book is called “The Human Tide: How Population Shaped the Modern World” (PublicAffairs).

As the nation grapples with the issue of income inequality, that economic gap is increasing regionally. Jay Shambaugh, director of the Hamilton Project and senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution, joins host Krys Boyd to talk about why some counties are surging ahead – and about what struggling countries can do to catch up.

For many of us, our jobs are more than just a paycheck. They’ve become a part of who we are. Derek Thompson joins host Krys Boyd to talk about how work often fills the voids left by relationships, religion and other forms of human connection – and about the dangers of allowing work to be all things. His story“Workism Is Making Americans Miserable”appears in The Atlantic.

Humans have always had a certain fascination with bones – from archeologists studying the remains of our ancestors to religious pilgrims praying before relics. Brian Switek joins host Krys Boyd to talk about the many ways bones have assumed identities outside our bodies, which he writes about in“Skeleton Keys: The Secret Life of Bone”(Riverhead Books).

Ever wonder how avocados from Mexico, apples from Washington and cheese from Italy can all arrive at your local grocery store just as they are ready to be consumed? UT-Austin food scholar Robyn Metcalfe joins host Krys Boyd for an around-the-world tour of the global food supply chain, which she writes about in“Food Routes: Growing Bananas in Iceland and Other Tales from the Logistics of Eating”(MIT Press).

In May 2017, Robert Mueller was appointed head of the Department of Justice’s Special Counsel’s Office. And since then, the public has speculated just what his buttoned-down investigation of the president might uncover. University of Arizona law professor Andrew Coan joins host Krys Boyd to talk about what we know about the process so far – and about the work of other special prosecutors from history, including Ken Starr and Archibald Cox. Coan’s new book is called “Prosecuting the President: How Special Prosecutors Hold Presidents Accountable and Protect the Rule of Law” (Oxford University Press).