KERA's Think

Iran was filled with hope during the 1979 revolution; that was soon dashed. Yeganeh Torbati is a correspondent for The New York Times covering Iran, and she joins host Krys Boyd to discuss Iran's recent history from the promise of democracy to oppressive rule and further corruption and why the killing of leader Ali Khamenei signals more bad news for the country. Plus, we'll hear about the people still there fighting for democracy. Her book, written with Bozorgmehr Sharafedin, is “Stolen Revolution: Betrayal and Hope in Modern Iran.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

There's a movement to rebuff the gains of feminism called masculinism, and it's gaining ground. Helen Lewis, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the movement that decries empathy and female achievement in the workforce and academia as feminizing the country, why adherents point to ancient civilizations to make their arguments, and why this form of masculinity is more about aggression than protection. Her article is “The men who want women to be quiet.”  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The country is run by senior citizens, and their control is transforming the nation. Samuel Moyn is Kent Professor of Law and History at Yale University and author of “Gerontocracy in America: How the Old Are Hoarding Power and Wealth and What to Do About It.” He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why the nation's elders hold vast amounts of wealth and political influence, why that isn't transferring to younger generations and how we might rebalance power among generations. His companion article “The Old Guard” was published in Harper's. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

There are lots of experts who claim to know when it's time to potty train a child, but their advice is rarely based in science. Saabira Chaudhuri joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how big diaper companies push the idea that parents should wait for certain signs to train their child to use the toilet, how this can be devastating for the environment and how this issue affects the elderly as well. Her article “The Wait-Until-Ready Approach to Potty Training Is Under Fire” was published by Bloomberg.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Supreme Court has already ruled on monumental issues this term, and more are to come. Ian Millhiser is a senior correspondent at Vox, and he joins host Krys Boyd to discuss hotly anticipated decisions on birthright citizenship, transgender students in sports and gun rights and how the use of the “shadow docket” has changed the landscape of rulings. His article is “What the Supreme Court still has left to decide this term.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Gen Zer's have lived their lives online, and they're burned out. Freya India is the author of the Substack GIRLS, where she writes about the challenges girls and young women face in the modern world, and a staff writer for Jonathan Haidt's newsletter, After Babel. She joins guest host Courtney Collins to discuss the pressure to build personal “brands,” how even childhood has been commodified and the many ways mental health is suffering. Her book is “GIRLS®: Generation Z and the Commodification of Everything.”  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Kevin Warsh has been confirmed as the next Federal Reserve Chair will the central bank remain independent? Frontline correspondent and filmmaker James Jacoby joins host Krys Boyd to discuss Trump's efforts to control the Fed, his push to indict current Chair Jerome Powell, and the far-reaching consequences of these sustained attacks. The documentary is called “The President and the Fed.“  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The most reluctant politician we've ever had just happens to have been our first president. H.W. Brands is Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin, and he joins host Krys Boyd to discuss George Washington who saw himself as a solider and not a politician why he felt it was paramount for a president to defer to Congress, and the grievances he had against the crown before the Revolution. His book is “American Patriarch: The Life of George Washington.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

 The 1980s brought us the young upstarts known as the Yuppies and you may be living their lifestyle today. Dylan Gottlieb is historian at Bentley University and co-host of Who Makes Cents: A History of Capitalism Podcast and author of “Yuppies: The Bankers, Lawyers, Joggers, and Gourmands Who Conquered New York.” He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the social and political changes Yuppies brought to not just urban settings, but throughout the country, why “self-optimization” is just a byproduct of their high-wage, long-hours lifestyles, and why their success came at the cost of equality. His companion article in The New York Times is “How Yuppies Changed America. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In the debate of nature vs. nurture, the animal world does a lot more nurturing than you might think. Science journalist Elizabeth Preston joins host Krys Boyd to discuss parenting styles of animals – like otters that teach their offspring to swim – the role dads play in caring for their young, and what science knows about love in non-human creatures. Her book “The Creatures' Guide to Caring: How Animal Parents Teach Us That Humans Were Born to Care. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

If you could choose your future baby's hair color, height, even I.Q. should you? Christopher Cox is an editor at New York Magazine, and he joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the $50,000 tests that promise to help prospective parents choose the most desirable traits, if this new practice is a form of modern eugenics, and if these tests even work. His article is “Can You Really Choose Your ‘Best Baby'?” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

 The first college students to have access to A.I. are graduating, and employers are wary. Amanda Hoover is a senior correspondent at Business Insider covering the tech industry. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how companies are trying to discern if A.I. is being used to cheat through interviews, why no one quite knows what these graduates are capable of, and what these types of intellectual shortcuts are doing to higher ed. Her article is “Meet the graduating class of CollegeGPT.”  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

People are injecting themselves with unregulated compounds bought from the internet — so how safe is this health trend? Dhruv Khullar is a physician and contributing writer at The New Yorker. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the realities of injectable peptides — what they promise and what are falsehoods, what the FDA has to say about these substances, and why some people are willing to take huge risks in hopes of better health. His article “Why Are People Injecting Themselves with Peptides?” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

 To answer the age-old question “why do we exist?” it might be helpful to add a little science into out existential pondering. we need to employ quantum physics for the answer. Hakeem Oluseyi is an astrophysicist, inventor, educator and CEO of the Astro Society, and he joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the space-time continuum of life as we know it, the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe, and how our imagination shapes our existence. His book is “Why Do We Exist?: The Nine Realms of Universe that Make You Possible.”  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

There's power in speaking truth to power — you just need the courage of your convictions. Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw is Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles, the Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, and the cofounder and executive director of the African American Policy Forum. She joins host Krys Boyd to talk about her upbringing, which taught her to speak out when things weren't fair, how that helped shape her work in critical race theory and intersectionality, and why she feels all people have the power to push for change. Her book is “Backtalker: An American Memoir.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

 Whether you notice it or not, you speak with an accent. Valerie Fridland, professor of linguistics in the English Department at the University of Nevada, Reno, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how accents from the Southern drawl to the California Valley Girl came to be, why accents are key to culture, and why, in our mass media world, some are fading away. Her book is “Why We Talk Funny: The Real Story Behind Our Accents.”  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Our lives are ruled by markets, but you don't have to be an economist to understand these forces. Alex Mayyasi, host of the new podcast “Gastronomics” and a longtime contributor to “Planet Money,” joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the nuts and bolts of the economy – from how zoning codes create jobs to the cross purposes of dating apps – and breaks it down for the Average Joe to understand. His book is “Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

 Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth believes America's wars around the world are part of a holy Christian mission. Peter Wehner, contributing writer at The Atlantic and a senior fellow at the Trinity Forum, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the Psalms he quotes about smiting enemies, how he is taking inspiration from the Bible for military conquests and why he wants his entire chaplain corps to think this way. His article is “Hegseth's Unholy War Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

 The average new car in America costs $50,000, but how many people can actually afford one? Clifford Winston is an economist who specializes in transportation and microeconomic policy. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss where the low-priced cars have gone, how all the new bells and whistles are squeezing those on a budget, and why even repair bills are now sky high. His article for The New York Times is “The Death of the Basic American Car.”    Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The U.S. military attack on Venezuela was fast and surgical — so how is the country doing now? Missy Ryan, staff writer for The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss what Venezuelans on the ground think of the regime change, how the new government is faring and whether legitimate democracy now has a foothold there. Her article is called “Venezuela Seems to Be Going … Well?” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

 For children who felt responsible for their parents' happiness: There's a way to turn that into joy. Anna Konkle is co-creator and co-star of the Hulu series “Pen15,” and she joins host Krys Boyd to discuss her childhood – when her parents fought all the time and she felt like the peacemaker – her complicated relationship with her father and how she turned that experience into comedy for her critically acclaimed series. Her book is called “The Sane One.”  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

President Trump's threats to attack drug cartels inside Mexico have put the bilateral relationship on edge. Arturo Sarukhan served as Mexican Ambassador to the United States from 2007 to 2013, and he joins guest host John McCay to discuss why he believes the U.S.-Mexico relationship hasn't been this fractured since the 1980s, how the previous Mexican president known as AMLO played into this, and how nations across the world are watching and reacting to this new rhetoric. His article “Can Mexico Avoid a Confrontation With the United States?” was published in Foreign Affairs.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The super rich are wildly different than the rest of us, in part by the way they've designed their lives. New York Magazine features writer Lane Brown joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the frictionless world of the extremely wealthy – where access to just about anything is automatic – the differences between old and new money and the everyday stressors that they feel that those with less don't. His article is “What Does Extreme Wealth Do to the Brain?”  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Many of us offload heavy thinking to A.I., and our brains are going soft in the process. Cal Newport, professor of computer science at Georgetown University, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how employing computers to do our deepest thinking dulls our ability to concentrate and the things we can do right now to keep us sharp and alert. His recent essay published in The New York Times is “There's a Good Reason You Can't Concentrate.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Recent graduates take heart: There is meaningful work out there for you.  Jodi Kantor, Pulitzer-prize winning New York Times investigative reporter, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how to find passion in your work, what it takes to find out what we're good at and how to choose work that the world needs. Her book is “How to Start: Discovering Your Life's Work.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

If you know someone who falls in love at first sight over and over again, there's a word for that: emophilia. Daniel N. Jones is professor of management in the College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno and core faculty within the Interdisciplinary Social Psychology Program. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the red flags for people in love with falling in love, why they might be missing huge pitfalls of potential partners and ways to build healthy partnerships beyond the initial butterflies. His book is “Falling Fast: The Perils and Possibilities of Emophilia.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

 Putting your cute family on social media is clickbait gold — but what does it do to the kids? Journalist Fortesa Latifi joins guest host Courtney Collins to discuss family reality content and the perks, money and fame that come with it, the dangers of celebrity, and why, as viewers, we're so hooked on the every move of total strangers. Her book is “Like, Follow, Subscribe: Influencer Kids and the Cost of a Childhood Online.”    Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Schools around the country are shuttering their Black studies departments—often without regulatory prompting. Jafari S. Allen is a professor of African American and African diaspora studies at Columbia University. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why schools, now admitting less Black students than before DEI crackdowns, are blaming low enrollment for shutting down these departments, and why these cuts are often preemptive, before any penalties are incurred. His article “The Erasure of Black Studies” was published in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

We've heard a lot about the loneliness epidemic in this country, but it might be worth asking: Do we even like spending time with people anymore? Derek Thompson, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the phenomenon where we're on our phones but digitally surrounded by people, and how this isolation is rewiring us to be more anti-social – including in both our personal relationships and political lives. His article is “The Anti-Social Century.”This episode originally aired February, 6th 2025. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The manosphere is an undeniable force right now, and there are people who will teach you how to join it. Charles Bethea, staff writer at The New Yorker, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss immersive camps that teach men how to become alpha males, what that actually means, and the surprisingly emotional reaction men have once they dive into the grueling physical activities asked of them. His article is “How to Become an Alpha Male.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In dating, finding “the one” might be easier if you stop assuming “the one” will be a perfect match. Paul Eastwick is professor of psychology at UC Davis, where he serves as the head of the Social-Personality Psychology program and the director of the Attraction and Relationships Research Laboratory. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why we need to look past imperfections when choosing a mate, why what we know about evolutionary biology has been exaggerated, and the pros and cons of dating apps. His book is “Bonded by Evolution: The New Science of Love and Connection.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

If the definition of “green” is yellow plus blue, how do you define “yellow” and “blue”? Kory Stamper is a lexicographer who has written dictionaries for nearly 30 years at Merriam-Webster, Cambridge Dictionaries and Dictionary.com. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the difficulty of defining colors, why they are nearly indescribable, and why it took the help of scientists to create descriptions of everything around us. Her book is “True Color: The Strange and Spectacular Quest to Define Color – from Azure to Zinc Pink.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Even in our darkest moments, we can build the skills to keep our spirits up. Deepika Chopra is a psychologist, visual imagery expert and founder of Things Are Looking Up, a consultancy devoted to the intersection of science and soul. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how to develop optimism, how it's a key to optimal health, and why this isn't about toxic positivity. Her book is “The Power of Real Optimism: A Practical, Science-Based Guide to Staying Resilient, Curious, and Open Even When Life Is Hard.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

 Nobody enjoys paying taxes, but how would our nation function without them? Vanessa S. Williamson is a senior fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings and a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the history of taxation in this country, why your hard-earned tax dollars are critical to a functioning democracy, and why low taxes might mean lower interest in getting your civic needs met. Her book is “The Price of Democracy: The Revolutionary Power of Taxation in American History.”  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

 There's got to be a happy medium between free-range parenting and helicoptering. Simon Lewsen writes for Maclean's, Toronto Life and Report on Business, and he teaches at the University of Toronto. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the courage parents must drum up to allow children to have age-appropriate autonomy – when they learn independence and problem-solving skills – and also where to draw the line on that freedom. His article “Is It Dangerous to Let Kids Be Free?” was published by The Walrus.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Constitutional law is a different animal than civil or criminal law — and a president can subvert it. Duncan Hosie is a fellow at Stanford Law School, and he joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why the judicial branch shouldn't be the end game for dealing with a president's executive orders, why the legislative branch needs to get more involved, and why hoping that the Supreme Court will definitively decide hot-button issues is a mistake. His article in The New York Times is “The Courts Cannot Save Us from Trump.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Screen time and junk food offer dopamine hits — and our kids are not immune. Michaeleen Doucleff reports on children's health for NPR's science desk, and she joins guest host Courtney Collins to discuss misconceptions about dopamine, why it's making kids lonely and anxious, and ways to introduce healthier habits into your family's lifestyle. Her book is “Dopamine Kids: A Science-Based Plan to Rewire Your Child's Brain and Take Back Your Family in the Age of Screens and Ultraprocessed Foods.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Social security benefits help children and spouses survive after a death — but accessing them is a Sisyphean task. Chabeli Carrazana, The 19th's economy and childcare reporter, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how DOGE gutted the Social Security Administration so there's not enough staff to process claims, the hours on hold families must wait and how women and children are impacted disproportionately by these failures. Her article is “Widows are waiting months for the benefits meant to help them after loss.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Dutch teens with mental illness can choose to end their lives though euthanasia. Charles Lane, nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how the Netherlands came to the decision to grant assisted suicide to teenagers with parental approval, what makes a mental illness diagnosis so controversial for this method of dying and to discuss a doctor who says granting these requests is the moral option. His article “When Mentally Ill Teenagers Ask to Be Put to Death” was published in The Atlantic. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The U.S. has conducted military operations in Venezuela and Iran – will Cuba be next on the list? Jon Lee Anderson, staff writer at The New Yorker, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why Cuba was declared a threat to U.S. national security, the dire situation of its citizens now that the island nation has been cut off from supplies, and how this all compares to 1962's Cuban Missile Crisis. His article is “Is Cuba Next?” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Life-saving advancements have come a long way, but engineering artificial blood has been a challenge. Nicola Twilley is a New Yorker contributor and co-host of the podcast Gastropod. She talks to Krys Boyd about the breakthroughs — and setbacks — in the quest for artificial blood, why it's needed more than ever, and why eyes are on Big Pharma to finance it. Her article is “The Long Quest for Artificial Blood.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

 The narrative is that private companies are buying up single-family homes and driving up prices — but the data doesn't really back that idea up. Eric Levitz is a senior correspondent at Vox, and he joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how only about a half of 1 percent of homes are owned by institutional investors, why private equity might actually keep rents down and neighborhoods more diverse, and why he feels like a new housing bill in Congress could do more harm than good. His article is “The ‘populist' crusade to make the suburbs more segregated and expensive.”  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

 Leaders of the Right say they want to re-balance higher education — but even within the ranks the movement is divided as to what that really means. Len Gutkin, editor of The Chronicle Review, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why some feel a return to the classics is a strategy to even out Left-leaning college campuses, why red-state legislatures don't feel that goes far enough, and what this argument is doing to academic freedom. His article is “The Right's Academic Civil War” was published by The Chronicle of Higher Education.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

DEI is being dismantled, what comes next for those interested in working toward equality? Kenji Yoshino is Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at the NYU School of Law and the faculty director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why, though counterintuitive, opening programs up to all people does help minority groups, how the language of DEI backfired and how to build a “multicultural meritocracy.” His book, written with David Glasgow, is “How Equality Wins: A New Vision for an Inclusive America.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

If you were given thousands of dollars in free money to gamble, would you find yourself a little — or a lot — addicted to the games? McKay Coppins, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how his magazine gave him $10,000 to use as seed money as he explored the rise of online sports gambling, why he was surprised at how much the gambling interfered with his family life and sleep and how he received special dispensation from his church to take part in the experiment. His article is “My Year as a Degenerate Gambler.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Taxing billionaires to make up budget shortfalls is a popular idea — but maybe non-billionaires should think again? Megan McArdle is a Washington Post columnist, and she joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why the idea of a billionaire wealth tax is generating buzz around Capitol Hill, why she feels it's a short-sided idea, and to explain just how much cash these policies would potentially generate. Her recent piece on the topic is “The myth of the billionaire wealth tax.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Plenty of crime dramas and horror films feature a psychopath on a rampage. That diagnosis, however, might be the real fiction. Rasmus Rosenberg Larsenis is assistant professor of forensic epistemology and philosophy of science at the University of Toronto Mississauga in Canada and an affiliated scientist at the National Center for Ontological Research in the U.S. He is also the author of “Psychopathy Unmasked: The Rise and Fall of a Dangerous Diagnosis.” He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why psychopathy isn't real, how that diagnosis came about, and why even serial killers don't have all the traits we assume they do. His companion piece to his book, “There are no psychopaths,” was published in Aeon. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The arguments for selling off public lands range from generating money from drilling to building housing – but it actually might be more cost effective to leave these spaces alone. Kyle Manley is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder's Earth Lab. He joins host Krys Boyd to make the case for leaving public lands as-is, why plans for affordable housing are unrealistic and how we can put a dollar value on ecological impact. His article “The true worth of America's public lands” was published in Scientific American. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

If your kid has a meltdown over the shape of chicken nuggets, just know kids at the turn of the last century devoured organ meat. Helen Zoe Veit is a historian and associate professor of history at Michigan State University, where she is the director of the What America Ate and the America in the Kitchen projects. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why kids used to have a much more varied diet, the industries that created “kid food” that we now think of as standard fare and why carting around an endless supply of snacks is killing adventurous palates. Her book is called “Picky: How American Children Became the Fussiest Eaters in History.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Friendliness is a Canadian hallmark, so perhaps it's surprising that our neighbors to the north are drawing the Trump administration's ire. Drew Fagan, professor in the Monk School at the University of Toronto and a visiting professor at Yale University, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why one of our largest trading partners has found itself in the crosshairs of President Trump, what tariffs and trade deals have done to shape the relationship through the years and how Canada is responding. His article in Policy is “The Big Split: How Canada and the United States Pulled Together, Then Apart.”   Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Unraveling the history of the Jim Crow South, personal stories are interwoven with humor and heartbreak. Tayari Jones is an author and C.H. Candler Professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory University. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss her new novel, which follows two young Black women – both motherless and as close as sisters – navigating the era with different trajectories. The book is called “Kin.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices