Think from KERA

At times, it feels as if we’re constantly bombarded with advertising. Yet with DVR’s, ad-blocking software and other tools, we’ve never had more ways to avoid being marketed to. Former advertising executive Andrew Essex joins us to talk about how advertisers are rethinking how they reach consumers, which he writes about in “The End of Advertising: Why It Had to Die, and the Creative Resurrection to Come” (Spiegel & Grau).

Following the Revolutionary War, George Washington and Alexander Hamilton favored the creation of a standing army. Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and others did not. Historian William Hogeland joins us to talk about how Washington and Hamilton won out to create the Legion of the United States, the topic of his book, “Autumn of the Black Snake: The Creation of the U.S. Army and the Invasion That Opened the West” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). He’s in town to speak tonight and Thursday to the World Affairs Council of Dallas-Fort Worth.

Jonathan Safran Foer is known for his novels “Everything is Illuminated” and “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.” He joins us to talk about his latest effort, “Here I Am” (Picador), which focuses on a family in crisis living in Washington. He speaks tonight as part of DMA Arts and Letters Live!

Venezuela was once known as the country with the world’s largest oil reserves. Today, though, the nation is in a financial crisis that’s forced it to borrow money at astronomical rates. Kejal Vyas is a foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal who’s been covering the country’s downward spiral. He joins us to talk about what went wrong and how every day Venezuelans are struggling to survive.

As a health policy adviser to President Obama, Ezekiel Emanuel helped to craft what would become the Affordable Care Act. He joins us to talk about ways to deliver higher quality healthcare at a lower cost, the subject of his new book, “Prescription for the Future: The Twelve Transformational Practices of Highly Effective Medical Organizations” (Public Affairs).

One of the ideas that’s frequently floated as a solution to poverty is a universal basic income. Jesse Walker joins us to talk about how the concept could work – and about how some thinkers from across the political spectrum are intrigued by the idea. His story “The Indestructible Idea of the Basic Income” appears in the July issue of Reason magazine.

Before the late 19th Century, scientists actually understood very little about human reproduction. Edward Dolnick joins us to talk about the often-times hilarious lengths early researchers went to in their search for the origins of life. His book is called “The Seeds of Life: From Aristotle to da Vinci, from Shark’s Teeth to Frogs’ Pants, the Long and Strange Quest to Discover Where Babies Come From” (Basic Books).

This morning, former FBI Director James Comey will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee about his interactions with President Trump concerning the bureau’s investigation into links between the Trump campaign and Russia. We’ll talk about what we learned and where we go from here with Rebecca Deen, chair of the political science department at UT-Arlington and Dale Carpenter, chair of constitutional law at the SMU Dedman School of Law. KERA will provide live NPR coverage of the testimony beginning at 9 a.m.

Last summer, Dallas Police Chief David Brown was thrust into the national spotlight as he teamed with Mayor Mike Rawlings to lead the city through the aftermath of a shooting spree that left five officers dead. The now retired chief joins us to talk about helping to heal the department he once lead – and about his lifelong commitment to his hometown – which he writes about in his new memoir, “Called to Rise: A Life in Faithful Service to the Community That Made Me” (Ballentine Books).

During our high school years, most of us had a pretty good sense of where we stood in the social pecking order. University of North Carolina psychology professor Mitch Prinstein joins us to talk about how childhood popularity influences happiness and success as adults. He writes about the topic in “Popular: The Power of Likability in a Status-Obsessed World” (Viking).