Think from KERA

In 1953, a botched lobotomy left 27-year-old Henry Molaison unable to create new long-term memories. This hour, we’ll talk about how scientists seized on the opportunity to study his brain – and how that research has provided vital information about how human’s store information. We’ll be joined by Luke Dittrich, author of “Patient H.M.: A Story of Memory, Madness, and Family Secrets” (Random House).

When President Obama leaves office in January, every day of his presidency will have been spent with military personnel deployed. This hour, we’ll talk about how our modern concept of war has changed from a temporary to never-ending state with Rosa Brooks, author of “How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything: Tales from the Pentagon” (Simon & Schuster).

When stress builds up – or you find yourself in a sticky situation – the idea of faking your own death might sound appealing. That’s until you think about the logistics. This hour, we’ll talk about what it would take to actually disappear – and we’ll hear the stories of people who’ve tried – with Elizabeth Greenwood, author of“Playing Dead: A Journey Through the World of Death Fraud” (Simon & Schuster).

Frank Shorter won the gold medal in the marathon at the 1972 Olympics in Munich and followed it up four years later with a silver in Montreal. This hour, we’ll talk with one of the fathers of American distance running about how a tough childhood propelled him to athletic greatness, the subject of his memoir “My Marathon: Reflections on a Gold Medal Life” (Rodale).

As African Americans have gained rights, a segment of white America has consistently worked to curb those rights. This hour, we’ll talk about how the Thirteenth Amendment led to Jim Crow laws, how Brown v. Board of Education led to shutting down public schools and other instances of Civil Rights backlash with Carol Anderson, chair of the African American Studies department at Emory University. Her new book is called “White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide” (Bloomsbury).

As astrophysicists gain insight into dark matter, black holes and other cosmological wonders, those discoveries inevitably lead to more questions. This hour, we’ll talk about current scientific thinking about our ever-expanding universe with Yale University professor of astronomy and physics Priyamvada Nataraja. Her new book is called “Mapping the Heavens: The Radical Scientific Ideas that Reveal the Cosmos” (Yale University Press).

As technological advances spell the end for more and more jobs, economists are wondering what will happen to those workers going forward. This hour, we’ll talk about an idea for preserving the middle class that on the surface sounds anathema to our capitalist society – a universal basic income. We’ll be joined by Andy Stern, author of “Raising the Floor: How a Universal Basic Income Can Renew Our Economy and Rebuild the American Dream” (Public Affairs).

When you cast a vote for the winning presidential candidate, it’s easy to understand why you might be optimistic about the future. So why do some presidents deliver on those high hopes when others don’t? This hour, we’ll talk about the idea with Elaine C. Kamarck, senior Brookings fellow and founding director of the Center for Effective Public Management. Her new book is called “Why Presidents Fail: And How They Can Succeed” (Brookings).

Climate change is, in large part, the result of ever-increasing global industry and consumption. And while big business may be the problem, it can also be the solution. This hour, we’ll talk about developing a market-based approach to fighting global warming with former U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis (R-SC), executive director of republicEn, an organization dedicated to free-enterprise solutions to climate change.

More than 75 percent of infectious diseases originate in wildlife. This hour, we’ll talk about how keeping these diseases at bay requires a rethinking of our relationship to the animal kingdom. We’ll be joined by University of California-Davis epidemiology professor Jonna Mazet, who’s featured in the PBS documentary “Spillover: Zika, Ebola & Beyond.” It airs Wednesday night at 9 on KERA-TV.