Think from KERA

What if you could stay in shape without breaking a sweat? Nicola Twilley tells the story of researchers trying to better understand physical exertion – and how we can circumvent it while attaining the same results. Her story “A Pill to Make Exercise Obsolete” appears in The New Yorker.

At least 26 people are dead after a gunman opened fire at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, just outside San Antonio. During our national call-in special, host Krys Boyd will get the latest from reporters at the scene. We’ll also talk with a security expert about active shooter situations. And we’ll hear from Al Meredith, who was pastor at Fort Worth’s Wedgwood Baptist Church in 1999 when a gunman attacked his congregation.

Questions about how to handle refugees and immigration have been at the heart of political conversations taking place in the West. Sasha Polakow-Suransky talks about how the hate that accompanies the debate threatens to undermine the values of the United States and other world powers. His new book is called “Go Back to Where You Came From: The Backlash Against Immigration and the Fate of Western Democracy” (Nation Books).

Astronaut Scott Kelly holds the American record for most days spent in space. A veteran of four flights, Kelly commanded the International Space Station on three missions. He joins us to talk about navigating the challenges of long-term spaceflight, which he writes about in “Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery” (Knopf). He speaks Monday night as part of Authors Live! at Highland Park United Methodist Church.

The U.S. is just one of two countries in the world that has a for-profit bail bond system. Journalist Bryce Covert joins us to talk about how this multi-million dollar industry traps many defendants in jail even if they haven’t been convicted of a crime. Her article “The Injustice of Cash Bail” appears in The Nation magazine.

Jennifer Egan won a Pulitzer Prize in 2010 for her book, “A Visit from the Goon Squad.” She joins us to talk about her new WWII-era novel, “Manhattan Beach” (Scribner), which tells the intertwined stories of Anna Kerrigan, the first female diver at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, her father Eddie and Dexter Styles, a New York City club owner and organized crime boss.

Born in 1937 to a Czech diplomat father, Madeleine Albright has had an inside look at the world of diplomacy from the start. In 1997, she became the first female U.S. Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton. Last week, Albright visited Austin to talk about her career and life as a woman in leadership. We’ll listen to that conversation, conducted by Krys Boyd before a live audience.

Growing old is an experience that many of us will share and there are many elements to a successful strategy for aging – from housing, medical and financial planning to establishing a support network of friends and family. Joy Loverde discusses the importance of proactive planning and her new book “Who Will Take Care of Me When I’m Old?: Plan Now to Safeguard Your Health and Happiness in Old Age” (Hatchette).

If you think today’s health care system is flawed, imagine going in for surgery before anesthesia or antibiotics even existed. Lindsey Fitzharris joins host Krys Boyd to talk about the very beginnings of the modern era of medicine and the pioneers who transformed the practice. Her new book is “The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister’s Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine” (Farrar, Straus, Giroux).

Claims of sexual harassment and assault by movie producer Harvey Weinstein and Fox News executives have made the headlines for months. Former Fox host Gretchen Carlson joins us to talk about her experiences at Fox and about her new book, “Be Fierce: Stop Harassment and Take Your Power Back” (Hachette). Carlson will appear Friday, November 3 at Oral Fixation at the AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Hamon Hall at the Winspear Opera House in Dallas. On Saturday, November 4 she’ll appear at the Texas Book Festival in Austin.