Think from KERA

Danielle Allen became a dean at the University of Chicago at 32 before accepting a professorship at Harvard. And during her meteoric rise, her cousin Michael was falling just as swiftly into a life of gangs, drugs and prison. Allen talks with host Krys Boyd about trying, and ultimately failing, to save him – and about what her cousin’s tumultuous life says about the experience of young black men. Her family memoir is called “Cuz: The Life and Times of Michael A.” (Liveright).

During the 2016 presidential campaign, NBC News correspondent Katy Tur felt the wrath of Donald Trump, who often disparaged her from the stage. She joins us to talk about what it was like to visit 40 states with the future president, which she writes about in “Unbelievable: My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History” (Dey Street Books). She’ll take part in the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin this weekend.

It’s been more than 40 years since the end of the Vietnam War, and people on both sides of the conflict are still trying to make sense of it. The 10-part PBS documentary “The Vietnam War” debuts on Sunday, and filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick talk with host Krys Boyd about the scope of the film.

In 2011, Jesmyn Ward won a National Book Award for her novel “Salvage the Bones.” She joins host Krys Boyd to talk about her follow-up work of fiction, “Sing, Unburied, Sing,” which has drawn comparisons to Toni Morrison and William Faulkner. She’ll sign copies of the book tonight at Barnes & Noble in Dallas. You can study up for the interview by reading this recent Dallas Morning News piece.

Along the campaign trail, candidate Donald Trump promised to donate money out of his own pocket to local charities. Washington Post reporter David A. Fahrenthold followed up on the pledges and learned a lot about the future president in the process. Fahrenthold talks to host Krys Boyd about his Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation, which is collected in his book “Uncovering Trump: The Truth Behind Donald Trump’s Charitable Giving.”

Technological innovation is a source of hope and wonder. And for many, that awe includes a healthy dose of existential angst. Wired senior editor Richard Dorment joins us to talk about whether or not we should fear everything from a robot apocalypse to internet trolls. He oversaw the magazine’s special report “The Great Tech Panic of 2017.”

Thousands of people die each year from the flu – yet most people fear it far less than relatively rare viruses such as Ebola. Sasha Abramsky joins host Krys Boyd to explain why we often let our anxieties override sound reasoning, which he writes about in “Jumping at Shadows: The Triumph of Fear and the End of the American Dream.”

Supporters of affirmative action in college admissions argue the practice is a step toward racial equality. Detractors, however, say it’s wrong to help some students at the expense of others. Texas A&M associate professor Michael S. Collins talks with host Krys Boyd about the current thinking around the issue, which he writes about for Harper’s.

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, only one U.S. bank faced prosecution. Steve James joins host Krys Boyd to tell the story of the bank’s fight to clear its name, the subject of his Frontline documentary “Abacus: Small Enough to Jail,” which airs Tuesday night on PBS stations.

In recent weeks, North Korea has appeared to ramp up its nuclear weapons program, prompting President Trump to suggest military action in the region might be an option. Jonathan Pollack, senior fellow in the John L. Thornton China Center and Center for East Asia Policy at the Brookings Institution, joins host Krys Boyd to talk about U.S. options for dealing with the threat – and about what North Korea really wants.