KERA Think

Think, hosted by Krys Boyd, features in-depth interviews from politics to the arts. Mon-Thu from noon to 2pm and Fridays from 1-2pm CT from KERA FM in Dallas. This Tumblr is offline. Find the latest Think episodes, podcasts and more at think.kera.org, and connect with us on Twitter @kerathink or on Facebook at /kerathink.

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Reactions to #ThinkRefugees

[View the story "Reactions To #ThinkRefugees" on Storify]

On Feb. 4, Krys Boyd sat down with Ryan Crocker, former U.S. ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan; State Senator Don Huffines; and Jennifer Sime, senior vice president of U.S. programs for the International Rescue Committee to discuss the effects of refugees in North Texas. Listeners and members of our live audience joined the conversation by tweeting questions and comments to #ThinkRefugees.

Listen to the conversation here.

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How To Get Your Friends To Care About Politics

Arthur Lupia believes he knows why people don’t take the time to learn all they can about who’s running for local and national office - and how those reluctant to vote might be encouraged to get involved and let their voice be heard. Listen to his talk with Krys Boyd. 

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“Our Trip To Holland, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland, France and England 1938 -- David Kurtz -- home movies”

In 1938, the grandparents of Glenn Kurtz took a 3-minute video of their trip to the Jewish town of Nasielsk, Poland, one year before the Nazi takeover. In 1939, only 80 of the 3,000 citizen survived the war. The film is currently archived at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. (Film via United States Holocaust Memorial Museum).

After discovering the film, Glenn went a transcontinental mission to find the survivors from Nasielsk. Read about his journey in his book, “Three Minutes in Poland: Discovering a Lost World in a 1938 Family Film,” or listen to the podcast here.

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I was actually thinking of books about other Americans abroad as “like mine.” Most people don’t seem to see the book as part of that tradition. It’s kind of fascinating. We need more books where people of color do things white Americans have done in fiction for ages.

Korean-American author Matthew Salesses, interviewed by Write to Read Stories

Salesses talked with Krys Boyd about his debut novel, The Hundred Year Flood, and told the adoption story that inspired the book.

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Breastfeeding is big business. The PSAs sell it with “Breast is best!” and all the apparent benefits of breastfeeding: higher IQs, fewer ear infections, lower rates of obesity, the list goes on. 

Author Courtney Jung believes that this “lactivist” culture is alienating to families who do not or cannot breastfeed their children -- and even creates institutionalized bias against their choices. (Like how nonbreastfeeding women have seen their federal nutritional benefits reduced in programs such as WIC.)

“Breastfeeding is never just breastfeeding. The truth is that in the United States,” Jung writes, “breastfeeding has become much more than simply a way to feed a baby. It is a way of showing the world who you are and what you believe in.”

Krys Boyd talked with Jung about her book, Lactivism: How Feminists and Fundamentalists, Hippies and Yuppies, and Physicians and Politicians Made Breastfeeding Big Business and Bad Policy. Listen to the podcast.

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Online scams are far subtler now than they were in the days of “Nigerian Prince” solicitations. Adam Levin told Krys Boyd how we can protect ourselves from scamming, phishing and identity theft in the digital age. Find the podcast here. 

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You’re more microbe than human.

Bacteria. Viruses. Fungi. They’re in your body, more of them than there are stars in the Milky Way. In fact, your body contains more microbes-- organisms too small to be seen with the naked eye-- than it does human cells. 

But rather than being the dangerous agents of disease that many think, most microbes keep your body working properly, from your digestive system to your mental health. 

Listen to Krys' chat with Rob DeSalle, author of “Welcome to the Microbiome” and co-curator of the American Museum of Natural History’s exhibit The Secret World Inside You.

(Image via TED-Ed)

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The Kissing Bug... and Other Agents of Tropical Disease

(Photo: Gabriel L. Hamer)

With a name like the Kissing Bug, you’d think that these little guys would be harmless -- albeit gross. Actually, they’re responsible for bringing dangerous tropical diseases like Chagas and Dengue to North Texas-- making their other pseudonym, Assassin Bug, a little more appropriate. Check out Dr. Seema Yasmin’s tropical disease investigation and listen to her chat with Krys Boyd. 

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Long-Acting Contraception Makes Teen Pregnancy Rates Plummet. So Why Are Some Women Still Skeptical?

Long-acting reversible contraceptives, known as LARCs, are revolutionizing American birth control. Pilot programs in St. Louis, Missouri, and in Colorado, where healthcare providers and researchers have made the IUD and hormonal implants available at low or no cost and educated potential users about...

Doctors agree IUDs are the most effective method of birth control. But as they become more accessible, a history of racist coercion still keeps some patients from considering the option. Dani McClain writes about why women of color sometimes don’t trust doctors’ prescriptions for contraception in this piece for The Nation. She joined Krys Boyd to talk about her research for the story. 

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Do As He Says; Dress As He Dresses

Bruce Boyer’s written a lot about what men should wear. The author’s own choices say quite a bit. 

“This is me at my wildest,” Boyer told Permanent Style UK: 

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From Lady Bird Taylor’s letter to Lyndon B. Johnson on this day in 1934. Find the transcript, and other pained/sweet/uncertain letters from the pair’s courtship, in the LBJ Library archives.  

Listen to Krys Boyd’s talk with Betty Caroli, author of ‘Lady Bird And Lyndon.’

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At Texas Book Festival, Design And Preservation Give Print A Future

"Think" just wrapped a week of broadcasting in Austin with two Texas Book Festival authors who relish the hard copy's preciousness. Author Zachary Dodson

The intersection of sci-fi, historical fiction and design; and how 200 years of cookbooks illuminate the black experience in America: two special episodes of “Think” featuring Texas Book Festival authors Zachary Dodson and Toni Tipton-Martin. 

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In 1686, the French ship La Belle sunk in Matagorda Bay, where it sat for more than 300 years. The Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin is now home to numerous artifacts recovered from the shipwreck, including the actual hull of the ship. ‘Think’ speaks with Peter Fix, one of the archaeologists who oversaw the ship’s reconstruction for the exhibit, today at 12 p.m. CT. 

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Construction Booming In Texas, But Many Workers Pay Dearly

Almost 1 million people are employed in construction in Texas, but many have a hard time making a living safely. The state's construction industry has the highest fatality rate in the nation, while large numbers of undocumented workers have suppressed wages and made it easy for contractors to exploit laborers.

This piece from NPR’s Wade Goodwyn back in 2013 explains the grave dangers and neglect undocumented workers face and why the situation in Texas is so much worse than other states. “Think” host Krys Boyd talks to Cristina Tzintzún of the Workers Defense Project at noon CT. Stream the show live and check out our archives.

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Jack Kerouac’s notebook, Robert De Niro’s makeup stills, and J.D. Salinger’s letters all reside at the Ransom Center, on the University of Texas campus in Austin. ‘Think’ thumbs through some treasures with Stephen Enniss today at 1 p.m. CT. 

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Enter the World of PostSecret

Frank Warren has been collecting secrets from strangers since 2005. They are sent to his P.O. Box with no return address. Every Sunday, Warren still updates the website with ten new secrets.

Senders express private thoughts about the minutiae of their days,

the heavy secrets others trust them to keep,

 little mischiefs of their lives, 

and evidence of the project’s effect on its readers. 

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Could you live on $2 a day?  About 1.5 million American households do.