Think from KERA

[2016-06-09 12:00:00] In American public schools, children of color make up the majority of students. And this new minority-majority has educators thinking about how to create more inclusive classrooms. This hour, as part of KERA’s American Graduate Series, we’ll talk about this transformation – and about what our schools can tell us about the nation’s future – with Sarah Carr. She’s editor of the Teacher Project at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, and her multimedia project “Tomorrow’s Test” appears on Slate.

[2016-06-08 12:00:00] Power is typically thought of as something that people grab. The irony of power, though, is that it’s actually given to those who we want to have it. This hour, we’ll talk about how recognizing that transaction can keep powerful people from becoming corrupt with Dacher Keltner, faculty director of the UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center. His new book is called “The Power Paradox: How We Gain and Lose Influence” (Penguin Press).

[2016-06-08 13:00:00] More than 20 years ago, Anne Garrels began visiting central Russia – a thousand miles away from Moscow – to learn how everyday Russians live and think. This hour, we’ll talk with her about the nation’s silent majority and the role it plays in keeping its leadership in power. She writes about the topic in “Putin Country: A Journey into the Real Russia” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux).

[2016-06-07 12:00:00] President Obama has used executive orders to change policies on everything from immigration to school bathrooms. Critics argue that these actions circumvent Congress and the Constitution, even as Congress’ approval ratings hover below 20 percent. This hour, we’ll talk about if the Founding Fathers set the federal government up for stagnation – and about the idea of updating the Constitution – with University of Chicago professor William Howell. He’s a co-author of “Relic: How Our Constitution Undermines Effective Government – And Why We Need a More Powerful Presidency” (Basic Books).

[2016-06-07 13:00:00] Every few years, another diet trend emerges: Atkins, paleo, juicing and the like. And each promises a new, slimmer you. This hour, we’ll talk about the possibility that the practice of dieting itself might be keeping us from losing weight with neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt. Her new book is called “Why Diets Make Us Fat: The Unintended Consequences of Our Obsession With Weight Loss” (Current).

[2016-06-06 12:00:00] More than 200,000 refugees this year have fled their homes in the Middle East and Africa to resettle in Europe. And some 2,500 have already died in 2016 attempting to cross the Mediterranean. This hour, we’ll talk about the current state of the migrant crisis in Europe – and about how these asylum seekers can be better served – with James Hollifield, public policy fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center and director of the Tower Center for Political Studies at SMU.

[2016-06-06 13:00:00] For more than 30 years, a group of intellectually disabled men from Texas lived in a small Iowa farmhouse and worked in a turkey processing plant. For their efforts, they received $65 a week and lived in squalor. This hour, we’ll hear how a team of social workers, local journalists and a labor lawyer fought to free them – and about how their experience is improving the working conditions of people living with disabilities – with New York Times reporter Dan Barry. He tells their story in his new book, “The Boys in the Bunkhouse: Servitude and Salvation in the Heartland” (Harper).

[2016-06-02 13:00:00] In the age of social media, we’ve managed to turn the word “friend” into a verb. The truth, though, is that we’ve been friending each other since the beginning of time. This hour, we’ll talk about why we seek out friends and the purposes they serve in our lives with Princeton humanities professor Alexander Nehamas. He writes about the topic in “On Friendship” (Basic Books).

[2016-06-02 12:00:00] In spite of all the rhetoric, sometimes all you really need to diffuse a cultural misunderstanding is a good laugh. We’ll get lots of giggles this hour with Pakistani-Canadian sitcom writer Zarqa Nawaz who writes about life, Islam and the west in her new book “Laughing All the Way to the Mosque: The Misadventures of a Muslim Woman” (Virago).

[2016-06-01 13:00:00] The Second Amendment states that people have the right “to keep and bear arms.” This hour, we’ll talk about how many Americans have interpreted that right as a directive – and about how gun manufacturers have marketed their products throughout our nation’s history – with Pamela Haag. She’s the author of “The Gunning of America: Business and the Making of American Gun Culture” (Basic Books).