KERA's Think

The rise of athleisure wear is a signal: fitness has become a luxury industry. Cat Zhang, culture writer at the Cut, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how the pandemic propelled Americans into “performing” fitness, why it’s become a symbol of the wealthy and privileged, and how we got so competitive in the first place. Her article is “We Are Thinking About Fitness All Wrong.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Only 2-percent of Black women are physicians, which leaves millions without doctors that look like them. Uché Blackstock MD is the founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss her family, her mother who was also a Harvard-trained doctor, as well as her sister, and how she’s devoted her career to understanding and addressing health inequities of different races. Her book is “Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Dr. Eric Topol, an expert in molecular medicine and author of 'Super Agers,' explores the secrets of aging well. He debunks the myth that genes solely determine our longevity. Discussing the concept of 'super agers', he reveals lifestyle choices that promote health into our 80s without chronic diseases. Nutrition plays a crucial role, with a plea against ultra-processed foods. Topol also emphasizes the benefits of regular exercise, quality sleep, and the importance of social connections in maintaining mental well-being.

Society expects a mother to be nurturing and attentive at all times. So what happens when mom just isn’t feeling particularly maternal? Margo Lowy, psychotherapist and contributor to Psychology Today, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the perfectly normal feelings of sometimes hating the work of motherhood, why it’s so hard to talk about it, and why more women need to open up about their unaddressed needs. Her book is “Maternal Ambivalence: The Loving Moments & Bitter Truths of Motherhood.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

 Content creation has exploded this decade, but how much of it is actually good? Spencer Kornhaber, staff writer for The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how the massive output of music, TV, movies, podcasts – even memes – constantly chips away at our attention spans. We’ll also talk about how derivative this content often is, how streaming might’ve killed creativity, and why innovation is so hard to notice. His article is “Is This the Worst-Ever Era of American Pop Culture?"  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Clay Shirky, vice provost for A.I. and technology in education at NYU and author of the thought-provoking article on A.I. in academia, dives into the complexities of using A.I. in classrooms. He explores the balance between leveraging technology as a teaching aid and its potential to stifle critical thinking. Shirky emphasizes the importance of 'desirable difficulty' in assignments and warns about students' reliance on A.I., which can detract from authentic learning experiences. He also shares faculty concerns regarding student engagement in this tech-driven landscape.

Mentally ill inmates are at risk of neglect, dehydration – even starvation. New Yorker staff writer Sarah Stillman joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the four-fold increase since the 1980s of people in jail awaiting trial, the increasingly outsized population of mentally unwell people lacking proper treatment, and the alarming rise in jail deaths that could’ve been prevented with better supervision. Her article is “Starved in Jail.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The dad who coaches the team and brings home the bacon is a modern invention. Augustine Sedgewick joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how fatherhood has evolved over millennia, how the patriarchy and fatherhood diverge, and how thinkers as far back as Aristotle thought about the role of dads. His book is “Fatherhood: A History of Love and Power.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Space is the final frontier — and not too long ago, to explore it you had to be a man. Cady Coleman is a former NASA astronaut, retired U.S. Air Force colonel, scientist, pilot and musician. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how hearing Sally Ride speak changed the trajectory of her life and what months on the International Space Station taught her about her career and motherhood. Her book is “Sharing Space: An Astronaut’s Guide to Mission, Wonder, and Making Change.” This episode originally aired July 25th, 2025. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Every relationship has a person who loads the dishwasher like an architect, and one who throws plates in like a tornado. Ellen Cushing, staff writer for The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why arguments over daily chores might signal deeper issues in a partnership, why some household appliances have such a hold on us, and, yes, we’ll get to scientific proof of how that dishwasher is really supposed to be loaded. (Be prepared to tell your significant other.) Her article is, “There Are Two Types of Dishwasher People.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices