Think from KERA

On the campaign trail, candidate Donald Trump promised to toughen up our trade relationship with China. And now, after an exchange of import tariffs, many economists fear we may be on the way to a trade war. Princeton economics professor Alan S. Blinder joins us to talk about how politicians often fail to fully consider the economic impact of their decisions, which he writes about in “Advice and Dissent: Why America Suffers When Economics and Politics Collide” (Basic Books). 

Imagine living in the 19th Century, in a time when many Americans only ate the foods they produced themselves. Oklahoma State University researcher Anna Zeide joins us to talk about the development of prepackaged food – and how the industry earned the public’s trust. Her new book is called “Canned: The Rise and Fall of Consumer Confidence in the American Food Industry” (University of California Press).

For the last 17 years, we’ve asked our service members to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet the question “What are we fighting for?” is becoming increasingly difficult to answer.Phil Klay served in Iraq as a Marine, and he joins us to talk about how unclear missions are leading to a crisis of morale in our military. He writes about the topic for The Atlantic.

Advice columnists are often no more qualified to dispense wisdom than your friend or neighbor. What they do offer, though, is the chance to ask our tricky questions anonymously. Jessica Weisberg joins us to talk about the role Ann Landers, Dan Savage, Cheryl Strayed and many others play in American life. Weisberg’s new book is called “Asking for a Friend: Three Centuries of Advice on Life, Love, Money, & Other Burning Questions from a Nation Obsessed” (Nation Books).

When scientific journals publish new research, an opportunity is created for independent researchers to reproduce a study’s results. David Randall, director of research for the National Association of Scholars, joins us to talk about why many studies are filled with flaws – making them unable to be repeated – and about how that bad science is making its way into government policy. His op-ed “How Bad is the Government’s Science?” appears in The Wall Street Journal.

Texas looks like a state that could’ve been designed by Donald Trump with its low taxes and minimal regulations. And it’s been more than 20 years since a Democrat has been elected to statewide office. On the other hand, its urban centers are reliably blue and its population has already hit minority-majority status. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Lawrence Wright joins us to talk about how contradictions that play out here reflect the nation as a whole, which he writes about in “God Save Texas: A Journey into the Soul of the Lone Star State” (Knopf). He’s in town Thursday to speak to the World Affairs Council of Dallas-Fort Worth.

Change can be hard for even the most adventurous among us. Our brain’s ability to do things differently, though, is one of the traits that separates us from other creatures. Leonard Mlodinow joins us to talk about how we can train our brains to embrace change – and how we can nurture creativity. His new book is called “Elastic: Flexible Thinking in a Time of Change” (Pantheon).

When Ibram X. Kendi was growing up in Queens, he witnessed the brutal initiation process gangs put new members through. And when he got to college, he saw that process play out again in fraternities. Kendi, director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University, joins us to talk about the troubling connection between these two systems. His essay “What’s the Difference Between a Frat and a Gang?” appears in The Atlantic.

Much of the conversation around climate change centers on how governments can address the problem. Carl Pope, former head of the Sierra Club, joins us to talk about why environmentalists should look beyond elected officials for action. His book, written with Michael Bloomberg, is called “Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet” (St. Martin’s Press).

Tim Samaras’ fascination with tornados began as a kid watching “The Wizard of Oz.” And that obsession drove him to become one of America’s greatest storm chasers. Brantley Hargrove joins us to talk about how Samaras risked his life to learn all he could, the subject of Hargrove’s book “The Man Who Caught the Storm: The Life of Legendary Tornado Chaser Tim Samaras” (Simon & Schuster).