KERA's Think

After decades of use, hormonal birth control is suddenly under the microscope. Emma Goldberg, business features writer for The New York Times, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why birth control has become a political issue, why a growing number of women are pushing back on taking it, and how social media influencers are driving the conversation. Her article is “‘Who Am I Without Birth Control?’” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It’s hard out there for singles trying to date, especially now that A.I. has entered the chat. Patricia Marx, staff writer for The New Yorker, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss her experiment into “dating” A.I. models that promised companionship, whether they could actually make the perfect partner, and if we need flesh and blood to make our hearts sing. Her article is “Playing the Field with My A.I. Boyfriends.”  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It’s common knowledge, say, that every driver stops for a stop sign – and we shouldn’t take that shared understanding for granted. Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the rules of society we all know and follow and the ways our world would fall apart if people disregarded this social contract. His book is “When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows . . .: Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Inflation in the U.S. has been rising since the spring, and the job market is softening. Will these trends extend beyond our borders? Mohamed A. El-Erian is president of Queens’ College, University of Cambridge and Renee Kerns Professor of Practice at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how American economic trends spread globally, why even a devalued dollar is still the currency preferred internationally and if Federal Reserve President Jerome Powell should resign. His article “Is America Breaking the Global Economy?” was published by Foreign Affairs. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

An overarching desire to seek revenge can be just as potent as a drug addiction. James Kimmel Jr. is a lecturer in psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, a lawyer and the founder and co-director of the Yale Collaborative for Motive Control Studies. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss parts of the brain that light up when a revenge scenario is talked about, why Americans equate justice with revenge, and what happens when we focus on forgiveness instead. His book is “The Science of Revenge: Understanding the World’s Deadliest Addiction – and How to Overcome It.”  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

One in 20 children is allergic to peanuts — but a cure may be on the horizon. Maryn McKenna is a journalist specializing in public health, global health and food policy and is a contributing editor at Scientific American. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why peanut allergies jumped astronomically since the 1990s, what makes the allergy so deadly, and how researchers are zeroing in on cures for a hypervigilant population of allergy sufferers. Her article is “Can Peanut Allergies Be Cured?” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

When bad journalism and moneyed interests collide, science suffers. Peter J. Hotez is dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and professor of pediatrics and molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine – and he played a key role in developing the Covid-19 vaccine. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how anti-science factions have hijacked the conversation and his many failed attempts to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. onboard with vaccines. His book, written with Michael E. Mann, is “Science Under Siege: How to Fight the Five Most Powerful Forces that Threaten Our World.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Maggots may be unappetizing, but they may play a key role in the future of what ends up on your plate. Nicolás Rivero, climate solutions reporter at The Washington Post, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss an operation in France using billions of maggots to process food waste and feed cattle, and what this novel approach to industrial farm waste says about the future of the industry. His article is “At the world’s biggest bug farm, 10 billion maggots recycle food waste.”   Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

President Trump’s request that Texas redraw its congressional districts has created a domino effect around the country. Robert T. Garrett is the former Austin bureau chief for The Dallas Morning News, and he joins host Krys Boyd to discuss redistricting and other challenges to the status quo Trump hopes start in Texas and spread from there. His article for ProPublica and The Texas Tribune is “The Texas Redistricting Fight Has Been the Testing Ground for the Trump Administration’s Latest Legal Strategy.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

To set some world records, you need buy-in from a lot of people – and it’s harder than you might think to get thousands together just to play a kazoo. Lauren Larson, senior staff writer at Texas Monthly magazine, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the difficulty of setting wacky world records today, when lackadaisical participants prefer to stay at home post-lockdown and Guiness Book of World Records rules are stringent. Her article is “They Want You to Get Off Your Couch, and Go Set a World Record” was published in The New York Times Magazine.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices