Think from KERA

As a 19-year-old, Donna Hylton made a terrible mistake – one that landed her a 25-year prison sentence. She joins us to talk about how spending time with other inmates helped her to come to terms with her abusive upbringing, which she writes about in“A Little Piece of Light: A Memoir of Hope, Prison, and a Life Unbound”(Hachette Books).

Children as young as 2 years old can find themselves at odds with the gender assigned to them at birth. Sociologist Ann Travers joins us to talk about the experience of transgender kids – and about how parents can guide their discovery. Travers’ book is called “The Trans Generation: How Trans Kids (and Their Parents) are Creating a Gender Revolution” (NYU Press).

Aimen Dean was an early member of al-Qaeda, working alongside founder Osama bin Laden himself. He joins us to talk about his decision to switch allegiances and provide information to Britain’s intelligence services, which he writes about in “Nine Lives: My Time as the West’s Top Spy” (Oneworld Publications).

The First Days Project

invites United States immigrants to document their earliest memories of

their new home – what scared them, what surprised them and what they

found confusing. Samip Mallick runs the project, and he joins us to talk

about what can be learned about the immigrant experience by collecting

their stories.

Medical research can be nuanced, inconclusive or just plain tricky to

explain clearly. University of Pennsylvania professor Paul Offit joins

us to talk about how people with agendas often take scientific studies

and twist the information to suit their needs. His new book is called “Bad Advice: Or Why Celebrities, Politicians, and Activists Aren’t Your Best Source of Health Information” (Columbia University Press).

Animals serve humans as laborers, food sources and, in some cases,

companions. Michigan State law professor David Favre joins us to think

through our evolving relationship with our fellow inhabitants of Earth,

which he writes about in “Respecting Animals: A Balanced Approach to Our Relationship with Pets, Food, and Wildlife” (Prometheus Books).

As America becomes more and more diverse, white evangelical voters

showed in 2016 that candidates they back still win elections. University

of Maryland political scientist Janelle S. Wong joins us to talk about

the future of evangelical voting as immigrants increasingly join their

churches. Her new book is called “Immigrants, Evangelicals, and Politics in an Era of Demographic Change” (Russell Sage Foundation).

When parents are addicted to opioids, it’s often their children who pay

the biggest price. In West Virginia, 6,300 kids are in the foster care

system — nearly half because of their parents’ substance-abuse problems.

Zoë Carpenter visited the state to investigate the ripple effect the

opioid crisis is having on children, and she joins us to talk about what

she learned. Her story “Lessons from the Opioid Epidemic” appears in The Nation.

A few years back, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha felt perfectly comfortable

telling parents it was fine for their kids to drink the town’s water.

Flint, Michigan was a part of America, wasn’t it? She joins us to tell

the story of how she evolved from passive pediatrician to investigator

of the city’s water supply and activist for the public’s health. Her new

book is called “What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City” (One World).

When a spouse cheats, it often means the end of the relationship. Dr.

Kenneth Rosenberg joins us to talk about the three types of cheating,

why they’re so prevalent and how we can overcome them. His new book is

called “Infidelity: Why Men and Women Cheat” (DaCapo).