Think from KERA

As preparations ramp up for the 2020 presidential election, the intelligence community will be on hyper alert for signs of Russian tampering. Laura Rosenberger and Jamie Fly, co-directors of the German Marshall Fund’s Alliance for Securing Democracy, join host Krys Boyd to talk about what we learned from 2016 – and about the remaining vulnerabilities in our election system.

Biologists have long understood that dolphins and other large-brained animals are capable of sophisticated cognition. Ross Andersen joins host Krys Boyd to talk about how researchers are now operating from an assumption that all animals are conscious until proven otherwise, which he writes about for The Atlantic.

When Reyna Grande was 9, she was smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border to reunite with her parents in America. She told that story in her first memoir, “The Distance Between Us,” and she joins host Krys Boyd to talk about the rest of her journey from undocumented immigrant to celebrated writer. Her new memoir is called“A Dream Called Home”(Atria Books).

Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton each served as President of the United States. And each faced impeachment while in office. Host Krys Boyd hosts a panel discussion about the use of impeachment with the authors of“Impeachment: An American History”(Modern Library). Joining us are Jeffrey Engel, founding director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University; Peter Baker, chief White House correspondent for the New York Times; Timothy J. Naftali, former director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum; and historian Jon Meacham.

Defendants who see their cases go to trial know a lots at risk considering their fates will be decided by 12 people who would rather be anywhere else. Drury Sherrod is a social psychologist and jury consultant, and he joins host Krys Boyd to talk about strategies for improving jury trials to ensure fair decisions. His new book is called“The Jury Crisis: What’s Wrong with Jury Trials and How We Can Save Them”(Rowman & Littlefield).

Nigerian-American writer Nnedi Okorafor is best known for her novella “Binti” and novel “Who Fears Death,” which will be adapted into a television series for HBO. She joins host Krys Boyd to talk about writing black characters into popular culture – including her recent work on the Marvel “Black Panther” franchise.

With the#OscarsSoWhite campaign and increased calls for inclusion riders, Hollywood is beginning to more closely consider how people of color are represented in the industry. University of Georgia assistant professor of sociology and African American studies Maryann Erigha joins host Krys Boyd to talk about how decisions made behind the scenes affect what audiences see on the screen. Her new book is called“The Hollywood Jim Crow: The Racial Politics of the Movie Industry”(NYU Press).

Sterilize your kitchen counters all you want: You’ll never be rid of the thousands of tiny organisms who live alongside us. Biologist Rob Dunn joins us to introduce us to the creatures small and smaller who inhabit the same spaces we do. His new book is called“Never Home Alone: From Microbes to Millipedes, Camel Crickets, and Honeybees, the Natural History of Where We Live”(Basic Books).

For decades, Afghanistan has been one of the most war-torn places on Earth. Evolutionary biologist Alex Dehgan has dedicated his career to protecting the country’s unique environment and wildlife population from human destruction, and he joins host Krys Boyd to talk about the effect that war has on an area’s natural landscape. His new book is called “The Snow Leopard Project: And Other Adventures in Warzone Conservation” (PublicAffairs).

Democratic candidates are already positioning themselves as challengers to President Trump in 2020. And the field is led by a number of high-profile women, including senators Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand and Amy Klobuchar. Linda Hirshman joins host Krys Boyd to talk about the sexism surrounding our conversation about the electability of female candidates, which she writes about for the Washington Post.