Think from KERA

With a smartphone and WiFi, there’s really no need to ever be bored again. All that time we fill with stimulation, though, eats into the empty hours when creativity flourishes. Manoush Zomorodi – host of the podcast “Note to Self” – joins us to talk about the benefits of reserving time for our minds to wander. Her new book is called “Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive and Creative Self” (St. Martin’s Press).

Anyone who’s ever owned pets has looked into their eyes and thought, “I wonder what they’re thinking?” Emory University psychology professor Dr. Gregory Berns was also curious about the inner-lives of animals, and he joins host us to talk about what he learned from giving a dog an MRI. His book is called “What It’s Like to Be a Dog: And Other Adventures in Animal Neuroscience” (Basic Books).

As an American mother in Shanghai, Lenora Chu viewed her kids’ classmates as model citizens. Once she began talking to their parents and teachers, though, she discovered that the country’s militaristic approach to education comes with a price. Chu talks with us about the crushing pressure on Chinese students to succeed, which she writes about in “Little Soldiers: An American Boy, a Chinese School, and the Global Race to Achieve” (HarperCollins).

Over the last eight years, Al Franken has emerged as one of the leading voices of the Democrats’ congressional minority. On Friday, the junior senator from Minnesota delivered the keynote address at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin. And before he took the stage, he joined us for a wide-ranging conversation about issues facing the federal government, his relationship with colleagues on both sides of the aisle – and about his transformation from comedian to senator, which he details in his book “Al Franken: Giant of the Senate” (Twelve).

Journalists covering the White House have lobbed questions at three different press secretaries so far this year. And that’s when they’re not scrolling Twitter for the real news. As we broadcast live from the University Union Theater on the UT Campus in Austin, we talk about the new reality for political reporters with Abby Livingston of the Texas Tribune, Charles Pierce of Esquire magazine and UT political scientist Eric McDaniel.

Now that President Trump has fully settled into the Oval Office, historians are beginning to draw comparisons to previous inhabitants. As we broadcast live from KUT in Austin, H.W. Brands – chair of the UT history department – joins us for a conversation about how Trump resembles Andrew Johnson, Andrew Jackson and other former presidents.

Colleges and universities are supposed to be places that welcome the free exchange of ideas. So where should we draw the line when it comes to ideas that most people disagree with? As we broadcast from KUT in Austin, Shetal Vohra-Gupta and Naomi Reed of UT’s Institute of Urban Policy Research and Analysis join us to talk about the need for schools to develop anti-hate speech guidelines.

In 2013, Jeff Bauman dutifully found a place near the finish line of the Boston Marathon to cheer on his girlfriend. And by the end of a day dedicated to running, he was no longer able to walk. Bauman’s story of survival is captured in the film “Stronger,” and he talks with us about living through one of the worst days in Boston history. We’ll also be joined by Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays Bauman in the film.

As a foreign correspondent covering war in Syria, Deborah Campbell relied on a local fixer named Ahlam to connect her with sources. And when Ahlam was arrested and dragged out of her home, Deborah was filled with guilt. She joins us to tell the story of her quest to reunite with Ahlam, which she writes about in “A Disappearance in Damascus: Friendship and Survival in the Shadow of War”(Picador).

With deforestation, pollution and climate change, humans have profoundly changed the natural world. And while many plants and animals have been harmed, some have actually been helped by our presence. That’s according to Chris Thomas, a professor of conservation biology at the University of York, who joins us to explain why humans aren’t all bad. His new book is called “Inheritors of the Earth: How Nature is Thriving in an Age of Extinction” (PublicAffairs).