KERA's The Talk Show Podcasts

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Trumix.com listings available of KERA\'s The Talk Show Podcasts Build your own playlists with this podcast. Back to School School starts Monday for students in most area districts. What's new this year for the Dallas district? We'll talk this evening with DISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa, Ph.D. Denton Yockey, President & Executive Producer at Fort Worth's Casa Manana will join us during the Scene segment to discuss the theater's 50th Anniversary celebrations. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Exploring the U.S.-Mexican Divide Political posturing aside, what's the situation really like along our country's southern border? Journalist and former Marine Corps officer David J. Danelo investigated the situation first hand along both sides of the 1952-mile line for his new book "The Border: Exploring the U.S.-Mexican Divide" (Stackpole Books, 2008). He joins us this hour. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Moral Relativism Does "tolerance" really stand for concealed enmity? Is there a shared human concept of right and wrong? Should there be? Our guest this hour, New York University Professor Steven Lukes, tackles it all in his new book "Moral Relativism" (Picador, Paperback, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Verbal Blunders and What they Mean Uh ... this hour ... we'll ... ahh ... explore why it's often so tough to get that ... uh ... sentence out and what that difficulty says about the speaker with Michael Erard. His book, "Um ...: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean" (Anchor, 2008), is now out in ... uh ... paperback. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website What Does China Want? We've all seen extensive coverage of the Beijing Olympics this month. But what is the takeaway for China and its government? We'll spend this hour with Ross Terrill, fellow at the Fairbanks Center for East Asian Research at Harvard University. He'll speak to the World Affairs Council of Dallas Fort Worth this evening. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Words and Politics What are the candidates saying and does the language they select influence what you hear? We'll talk this hour with political consultant and pollster Frank Luntz, Ph.D., whose 2007 book "Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear" (Hyperion, 2007) has been updated for the recent paperback edition. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Composing for the Culture What is the role of music in everyday life, in films, and culture? In April, we were joined by someone who knows. Golden Globe winner Philip Glass is one of the most highly acclaimed musical artists of the twentieth century. Glass was in town for a Nasher Salon Series event. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The New Psychology of Time What is your personal relationship with time? We'll explore the psychological importance of time this hour with Stanford Professor Emeritus Philip Zimbardo. He's the co-author of "The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life" (Free Press, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days that Inspired America Description Can a politician really bring people together? Many believe Robert F. Kennedy was a politician who did. We'll look back this hour with Thurston Clarke, author of the new book "The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days that Inspired America" (Henry Holt, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Energy Policy & Politics How are the McCain and Obama campaigns addressing energy policy? What does it mean for Texas? We'll talk this evening with W. Bruce Bullock, Director of SMU's Maguire Energy Institute and Elizabeth Souder, energy reporter for The Dallas Morning News. Malcolm Warner, acting director of the Kimbell Art Museum, will join us during the Scene segment to discuss the current exhibit, "The Impressionists: Master Paintings from the Art Institute of Chicago," which runs until November 2, 2008. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website How Pakistan's deterioration harms Afghanistan How does Pakistan's instability affect its neighbor Afghanistan? We'll examine the situation this hour with Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. His Daily Standard piece, "A Dangerous Neighbor: How Pakistan's deterioration harms Afghanistan," is available on-line. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website War, Politics, Tribalism, and the End Game in Iraq What's next for the war fronts in Iraq and Afghanistan? We'll spend this hour with war correspondent and former Assistant Secretary of Defense Bing West. His new book is "The Strongest Tribe: War, Politics and the End Game in Iraq" (Random House, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Dallas Myth What defines a city like Dallas? Scholar Harvey Graff scrutinizes the town known throughout the world for its big business, big thinking, and even bigger self image in his new book "The Dallas Myth: The Making and Unmaking of an American City" (Minnesota, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website A 5-Foot-8, 170-Pound, 43-Year-Old Sportswriter Plays in the NFL If you had the chance, would you play in the NFL? Sportswriter and NPR contributor Stefan Fatsis got his shot with the Denver Broncos. We'll talk with him about "A Few Seconds of Panic: A 5-Foot-8, 170-Pound, 43-Year-Old Sportswriter Plays in the NFL" (The Penguin Press, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website "Man On Wire" Why would someone string a high-wire between the World Trade Center Towers, risking arrest and certain death to walk between them over 1,300 feet in the air? We'll talk with director James Marsh, whose film "Man On Wire" profiles the man who actually did it in 1974. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Many Lives of Frederic Bourdin - "The Chameleon" Could someone fool your parents into believing that they were you? We'll talk with The New Yorker's David Grann this hour. His current piece, "The Chameleon," profiles a French con man who serially impersonates teenagers - not for money, but for - love and a family." Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website How Pakistan's deterioration harms Afghanistan How does Pakistan's instability affect its neighbor Afghanistan? We'll examine the situation this hour with Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. His Daily Standard piece, "A Dangerous Neighbor: How Pakistan's deterioration harms Afghanistan," is available on-line. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website What Your Stuff Says About You What can you learn about someone from the items they collect, own, and purchase? We'll discuss the psychology of things this hour with Sam Gosling, UT associate professor and author of the new book "Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You" (Basic Books, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Rise of Disaster Capitalism Is there a dark side to capitalism? We'll explore the economic history of the global free market this hour with Naomi Klein, author of the New York Times bestseller "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism" (Picador, Paperback, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Turning Enemies Into Friends: Economics, Security, and Peace Can new economic relationships heal conflicts between nations? Professor Lloyd J. Dumas of the University of Texas at Dallas will join us this evening to discuss the paper "Turning Enemies into Friends: The Role of Economic Relationship in Building Security and Sustaining Peace" which he recently presented at Seoul National University. Lara Kohl, Public Involvement Manager at the North Central Texas Council of Governments, will join us during the Scene segment to discuss the new Air North ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Is "The Long Emergency" already underway or just a big barrel of hype? Is James Howard Kunstler's "Long Emergency" of post-peak oil societal stress already underway, or is it just a big barrel of hype? We'll get views from both sides of the issue this hour with participants in the Dallas Morning News' Points Summer Book Club - Tod Robberson, Trey Garrison, and Jeffrey Brown. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too Is the free market dead? Out guest this hour believes that conservatives in power, who have traditionally supported free market ideals, have in fact largely abandoned those philosophies in practice. We'll talk with James K. Galbraith, the Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. Chair in Govt. / Business Relations at UT's LBJ School of Public Affairs. His new book is "The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too" (Free Press, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website A Healthy Life on a Healthy Planet Can you improve your health and help the environment at the same time? We'll explore the connections between climate change and global health issues this hour with Dr. Erica Frank, president of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Physicians for Social Responsibility. She'll speak to the Dallas Peace Center this evening. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website True Tales of Dating with My Dad When's the last time you went on a double date with your dad? New York Times writer and NPR contributor Bob Morris will join us this hour to discuss the single life - of his elderly father. Bob's new book is "Assisted Loving: True Tales of Dating with My Dad" (Harper, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The True Crimes and Passions of the World's Greatest Reptile Smugglers Love snakes? Then you'd be in good company with Bryan Christy. The attorney-turned-author is a self described "reptile fanatic". He'll join us this hour to discuss his new book "The Lizard King: The True Crimes and Passions of the World's Greatest Reptile Smugglers" (Twelve, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Has the War on Terror Become a War on American Ideals? Do the United States' counter-terrorism efforts - both at home and abroad - actually pose a greater threat to our own country than to the terrorists at which they're aimed? Our guest this hour is New Yorker staff writer Jane Mayer. Her new book is "The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals" (Doubleday, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website How Life's Core Element has Become Civilization's Greatest Threat Could the building block of life hold the key to our destruction? We'll spend this hour with Eric Roston, author of the new book "The Carbon Age: How Life's Core Element has Become Civilization's Greatest Threat" (Walker, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Dallas Citizens Council What is the current role of the Dallas Citizens Council and what place does it have in the city's history? We'll talk with historian Darwin Payne and past Council president Tom Dunning this hour. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Video Art The Dallas Video Association is doing something different this summer. We'll discuss the on-going video art series, "The Program," this evening with curators Carolyn Sortor and Charles Dee Mitchell. Dallas and New York-based artist Tony Bones, will join us during the Scene segment to preview his upcoming solo show at The Public Trust. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Helping Veterans Live a Normal Life What are the best ways to help veterans overcome the stigma of mental health issues and return to a normal life? We'll spend this hour with Dr. Kathryn J. Kotrla, Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Texas A&M's Health Science Center. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Role of Wall Street in the Mortgage and Credit Crisis How will the economy recover from a mortgage and credit crisis that seems to only continue to deepen? We'll discuss the situation this hour with Paul Muolo, Executive Editor of "National Mortgage News" and co-author of the new book "Chain of Blame: How Wall Street Caused the Mortgage and Credit Crisis" (Wiley, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Arab Center Who controls the future of the Middle East? Jordanian diplomat and politician Marwan Muasher, believes that the future lies not on the political extremes, but in the middle ground. His new book is "The Arab Center: The promise of Moderation" (Yale, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website From the Archives - Empires and Influence in the New Global Order We often hear of the divide between the superpowers and the developing world, but what about the countries that occupy that divide - countries like Brazil, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Kazakhstan - and the power they wield? We'll talk this hour with Parag Khanna, author of the new book "The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order" (Random House, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website How Competitiveness Shapes the Fate of Nations Who has the competitive advantage in today's global business climate? Our guest this hour would argue that Asia currently has the technological upper hand and is gaining the accompanying political prominence as well. We'll talk this hour with Richard J. Elkus, author of "Winner Take All: How Competitiveness Shapes the Fate of Nations" (Basic Books, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website "The Recruiter" How is the U.S. Army filling its recruitment quota? Filmmaker Edet Belzberg will join us to discuss the hard work of Sergeant Clay Usie and the experiences of several of his recruits. She profiles them in her new film "THE RECRUITER" which premieres on HBO this evening. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Where Have All the Predators Gone? Where have all the predators gone and why were they important in the first place? We'll spend this hour with nature writer William Stolzenburg whose new book is "Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators" (Bloomsbury, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website A Lost Generation Love Story Who were the Murphys and why were they so influential in the 20the Century Art World? We'll revisit the 1920s Paris scene this hour with Amanda Vail author of "Everybody Was So Young: Gerald and Sarah Murphy, a Lost Generation Love Story" (Broadway Paperback, 1999). She'll speak at the Dallas Museum of Art this evening. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website D Magazine's Best of Big D What's big in Big D this year? We'll find out this hour with D Magazine editors Eric Celeste, Nancy Nichols, and Sarah Eveans who put together the current "Best of Big D" issue. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Taking on the Media Bullies and Other Reflections Who gets to decide how African Americans should be portrayed in the media and in popular culture? Author and poet Ishmael Reed tackles the issue in his new collection "Mixing It Up: Taking on the Media Bullies and Other Reflections" (Da Capo, 2008). We'll talk with him this hour. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website War, Peace, and Diplomacy What does war do to a society? What has it done to ours? We'll talk this hour with Colonel Ann Wright, the senior-most U.S. official to publicly resign in protest of the Iraq War. She'll speak to the Dallas peace Center this evening. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website In Support of Off-Shore Drilling Last week, President Bush lifted the off-shore drilling moratorium. Will this have an impact on energy prices? We'll talk this hour with Max Schulz - senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute's Center for Energy Policy and the Environment - who supports Bush's action. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Role of Identity in Democracy Does a nation's collective identity have an influence on its governance? We'll discuss the issue this hour with former Israeli deputy prime minister and Soviet dissident and political prisoner Natan Sharansky. His latest book is "Defending Identity: Its Indispensible Role in Protecting Democracy" (Public Affairs, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Election 2008 - First in a Series How are the presidential candidates positioning themselves? How are they shaping the message and the campaign to get your vote? As we enter the election season in earnest, we'll hold our first of three planned discussions with Bob Ray Sanders of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Bill McKenzie of the Dallas Morning News. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website A Proposed League of Democracies Has the United Nations outlived its purpose? Thomas Carothers writes about the proposed new League of Democracies in his current Foreign Policy Magazine piece "A League of Their Own." Carothers will join us this hour. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Global Power Elite Who really runs the world? We talked in May with David Rothkopf, visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and author of the new book "Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2008). Dallas (by way of New York) musician and journalist Josh Alan Friedman joined us during the Scene segment to discuss the true pioneers of rock as profiled in his new book "Tell the Truth Until They Bleed: Coming Clean in the Dirty Worl ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Summer Movies What were your favorite movies this summer? We'll talk picks and pans this hour with Chris Vognar of the Dallas Morning News and Christopher Kelly of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Making of a Successful Screenplay What goes into a successful screenplay? What does it take to create award-winning fiction that holds a readers attention and sells millions of books? We'll talk this hour with Pulitzer Prize-Winning writer Larry McMurtry and his long-time collaborator Diana Ossana. They won an Academy Award for their "Brokeback Mountain" screenplay and will speak to the sold out NasherSalon this evening. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website How Where to Live is the Most Important Decision of Your Life Why do you live where you live? Which city is right for you? We'll talk this hour with Richard Florida, author of "Who's Your City? How the Creative Economy is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life" (Basic Books, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Struggle for the Soul of a New China Chinese citizens will have the world stage during next month's Olympic Games. But how are they coping with a rapidly-changing capitalist society that is still strictly controlled by a Communist government? We'll explore a changing China this hour with Philip P. Pan, former Washington Post Beijing bureau chief and author of the new book "OUT OF MAO'S SHADOW: The Struggle for the Soul of a New China" (Simon & Schuster, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Guantanamo Stories What is it like inside Guantanamo Bay's U.S. detention center? We'll spend this hour with Mahvish Rukhsana Khan who writes about the prison and the people inside in her new book "My Guantanamo Diary: The Detainees and the Stories They Told Me" (Public Affairs, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website El Paso's Controversial Monument to "The Last Conquistador" Can public art still be controversial? We'll discuss the impact of John Houser's monumental El Paso sculpture of Juan de Onate this hour with filmmaker John Valadez. His film "The Last Conquistador" screens at the KERA studios on Thursday July 10th and airs on KERA 13 on Tuesday, July 15th. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Inside America's Prison System Is there a problem with America's prisons? According to our guest this hour, Jennifer Gonnerman, U.S. prisons hold "1 in 100 American adults" and it's a money-losing business. She'll join us to discuss her feature story "SLAMMED: Inside America's Broken - and Broke - Prison System" which appears in the July + August issue of Mother Jones Magazine. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Inside the Bush White House Where is the line between a government's need for secrecy and the public's right to know? Our guest this hour stood on that line for three years. Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan will join us to discuss his book "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception" (Public Affairs, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website What We Buy and Who We Are Does the stuff we buy really define who we are? We'll talk this hour with New York Times Magazine "Consumed" columnist Rob Walker. His new book is "Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are" (Random House, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Working to Create a Sustainable World What will it take to re-cast human society in a more sustainable model? We'll spend this hour with Peter Senge, MIT senior lecturer and co-author of the new book "The Necessary Revolution: How Individuals and Organizations Are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World" (Doubleday, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website "Standard Operating Procedure" What is the most enduring photographic image of the conflict in Iraq? Is it an image of a wounded soldier or an orphaned child, or is it the photo of a hooded Abu Ghraib detainee, balanced on a box with wires connected to his body? We talked in May with Academy Award-winning documentarian Errol Morris. His recent film about the Abu Ghraib prison controversy and its aftermath is "STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE" Austin musician Dav?d Garza joined us during the Scene segment of this episode to ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Life in a Rapidly Changing Beijing We'll see lots of ultra-modern Beijing on TV next month. What we probably won't see are the centuries-old hutong neighborhoods which are being destroyed at a record pace to make way for new development. We'll explore them this hour with Michael Meyer, author of "The Last Days of Old Beijing: Life in the Vanishing Backstreets of a City Transformed" (Walker & Company, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website "How to Watch TV News" Revisited Is the news getting you down? We'll find out what TV news is all about this hour with former New York news anchor and media scholar, Steve Powers. Powers has recently revised his classic, written along with Neil Postman, "How to Watch TV News" (Penguin, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Men Who Invented the Constitution 221 years ago, a group of men gathered in Philadelphia to frame our nation's government. What was the process like? We'll look back this hour with David O. Stewart, author of "The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution" (Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website "Obsessive Branding Disorder" Regardless of the product it represents, it's probably the brand that we'll identify with and remember to look for next time. Our guest this hour, Lucas Conley, writes about the phenomenon in his new book "OBD - Obsessive Branding Disorder: The Illusion of Business and the Business of Illusion" (Public Affairs, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Education in America What are the key challenges facing educators today and what can be done to improve our schools? We'll talk this hour with Rita Haecker, president-elect of the Texas State Teachers Association. She's in Washington, DC for the National Education Association's 146th Annual Meeting. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Who Murdered the Virunga Gorillas? Who killed seven endangered mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Virunga National Park last summer? Why? Those are the questions that journalist (and adventurer) Mark Jenkins and photographer Brent Stirton set out to answer for National Geographic. Their cover story appears in the May issue of National Geographic Magazine. We'll talk with Jenkins this hour. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website A Bestselling Antidepressant on Trial Can the drug-approval process be improved, or at least altered to better ensure the public's safety? Journalist Alison Bass might think so. Her new book is "Side Effects: A Prosecutor, a Whistleblower, and a Bestselling Antidepressant on Trial" (Algonquin of Chapel Hill, 2008). Bass will join us for the hour. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Years Between the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the War on Terror What is the influence of post-Cold War politics on the America of today? We'll spend this hour with Derek Chollet, senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and co-author of the new book "America Between the Wars: From 11/9 to 9/11 - The Misunderstood Years Between the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the Start of the War on Terror" (Public Affairs, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Fate of the Atlantic and Survival of Gloucester Globalization and over-consumption are endangering natural ecosystems and traditional human economic systems the world over. We'll explore one such example this hour with Mark Kurlansky, author of the new book "The Last Fish Tale: The Fate of the Atlantic and Survival of Gloucester, America's Oldest Fishing Port and Most Original Town" (Ballantine Books, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Education in America What are the key challenges facing educators today and what can be done to improve our schools? We'll talk this hour with Rita Haecker, president-elect of the Texas State Teachers Association. She's in Washington, DC for the National Education Association's 146th Annual Meeting. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Spies, Murder, and the Dark Heart of the New Russia There's no doubt that Russia is changing - growing more powerful and, as our guest this hour might say, more dangerous. What's driving the change and what can we expect from this "newly assertive" Russia? We'll talk this hour with BusinessWeek's Steve LeVine, author of the new book "PUTIN'S LABYRINTH: Spies, Murder, and the Dark Heart of the New Russia" (Random House, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Why Simple Things Become Complex (and How Complex Things Can Be Made Simple) Can our lives and the complicated systems that affect them be made simpler? We'll find out this hour with Time Magazine's Jeffrey Kluger, author of the new book "Simplexity: Why Simple Things Become Complex (and How Complex Things Can Be Made Simple)" (Hyperion, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website "The Unforeseen" Why is development such a hot-topic issue? We'll examine a recent conflict in Austin, Texas and how it reflects similar struggles all over the country with documentarian Laura Dunn. Her film, "The Unforeseen," is in theaters now. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website In Midlife, Still Dreaming an Olympic Dream What sacrifices would you make to achieve a life-long dream? Journalist W. Hodding Carter chronicles his personal catharsis in the new book "Off the Deep End: The Probably Insane Idea that I Could Swim My Way Through a Midlife Crisis - And Qualify for the Olympics" (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Why Men Matter Why Women Should Care Is the male gender worth your renewed respect? Nationally syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker thinks so. She'll join us this hour to discuss her new book "Save the Males: Why Men Matter Why Women Should Care" (Random House, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Mexico City, The Capital of the 21st Century Have you visited Mexico City? Journalist David Lida did 20 years ago and was mesmerized by the place and its residents. He moved back for good 5 years later. Lida's new book is "First Stop in the New World: Mexico City, The Capital of the 21st Century" (Riverhead Books, 2008). We'll talk with Lida this hour. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It Gasoline is expensive, but have you compared gas prices to what you're paying for bottled water? Here's a hint - a 20 ounce bottle of water at $1.99 is equivalent to $12.74 per gallon - for water. And we pay these prices every day. We'll spend this hour with journalist Elizabeth Royte, author of "Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It" (Bloomsbury, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website From the Archives - Earth Day and You: What You Can Do What will you do this year to reduce your impact on the environment? In honor of Earth Day, we discussed the options with Melinda Haggerty, Sustainability Communications Coordinator for the City of Plano's Live Green Initiative. Novelist Stefan Merrill Block joined us during the Scene segment to discuss his book "The Story of Forgetting" (Random House, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website From the Archives - An Epic Adventure in Local Living Could you live "off the grid" for a year - eat locally, use solar power, and erase your carbon footprint? Doug Fine tried it and learned more than he thought he would about himself and abut what "green" really means. He'll join us this hour to discuss his book "Farewell, My Subaru: An Epic Adventure in Local Living" (Villard, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website From the Archives - Generation X Today Remember back before there was ever talk of Generation Y or the Millennials? Remember that time before anyone had really heard of email let alone used it? Remember when Generation X was the problem generation? We'll look back this hour with Details editor-at-large Jeff Gordinier. His new book claims that Gen X has actually (and rather quietly) changed the world. It's called "X Saves the World: How Generation X Got the Shaft but Can Still Keep Everything from Sucking" (Viking, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website From the Archives - Collaborative Law & The Less-Messy Divorce Is there a better way to divorce? Collaborative law provides a new model for divorce dispute resolution - where the object is to settle the case without going to court. We'll explore the less-messy divorce and emerging trends in litigation this hour with North Texas attorneys S. Camille Milner and Kevin R. Fuller. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website From the Archives - Crisis in Darfur: What is Our Responsibility? What can we do about Darfur? While the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East occupy much of our attention, Ruth Messinger, Director of the American Jewish World Service, reminds us that we have a responsibility to act in other places in the world. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website From the Archives - The Future of Dance Where is dance headed? We'll find out this hour with award-winning choreographer, dancer and director Bill T. Jones. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website From the Archives - Body Image & Acceptance What factors influence a woman's image of her own body and how can women achieve body acceptance? We'll spend this hour with SMU's Psychology Professor Katherine Presnell and Journalism Professor Camille Kraeplin who are studying how the media influences body image and how cognitive dissonance exercises may help. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website From the Archives - The Dangerous Delusions of 'Energy Independence' Can the U.S. actually achieve energy independence? We'll explore the idea this hour with a confirmed doubter, journalist Robert Bryce. Bryce, who has reported extensively on energy for nearly 20 years, argues that the bi-partisan call for energy independence is essentially "meaningless rhetoric" in his recent book "Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of 'Energy Independence'" (Public Affairs, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website From the Archives - A Letter to America What does the future hold for the United States on the global stage? According to former governor and U.S. senator David Boren, the decisions we make now will secure our country's future. Boren, currently president of the University of Oklahoma, is the author of "A Letter to America" (University of Oklahoma Press, 2008). He'll join us this hour. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Are Competitive Elections are Bad for America? Should elections be less competitive? In April we talked with UTD Associate Professor of Political Science, Thomas L. Brunell, Ph. D.. His recent book is "Redistricting and Representation: Why Competitive Elections are Bad for America" (Routledge, 2008). William Keyse Rudolph, Ph. D., The Pauline Gill Sullivan Associate Curator of American Art at the Dallas Museum of Art joined us during the Scene segment to discuss the current exhibition "Bluebonnets and Beyond: Julian Onderdonk, American ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Puzzles of the Brain What will actually help your brain perform better and what won't? In March we talked with neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt, co-author of the book "Welcome to Your Brain: Why You Lose Your Car Keys But Never Forget How to Drive and Other Puzzles of Everyday Life" (Bloomsbury, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website An Eyewitness Report from the Frontlines of Humanity What is the human rights situation in Darfur? How are people coping in Iraq? We talked in March with one of the world's premiere authorities on human rights - former United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Jan Egeland. Egeland's recent book is "A Billion Lives: An Eyewitness Report from the Frontlines of Humanity" (Simon & Schuster, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Life and Times of Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown Where is the country headed politically and how can regular Americans maintain their voice? Earlier this year we discussed the history and future of American politics with former two-term San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. He was in town to address the World Affairs Council of Dallas Fort Worth and promote his recently published memoir is "Basic Brown: My Life and Our Times" (Simon & Schuster, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website A Chat With Allan Sloan You hear him each week on the Marketplace Morning Report's Sloan Sessions. We talked about the economy, business, and journalism with Allan Sloan, Senior Editor-at-Large for Fortune Magazine when he was in town to speak at SMU in February. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Step Parenting and Communication How do stepfamilies differ from traditional families and how can communication styles influence these relationships? Earlier this year we spent an hour with Paul Schrodt, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at Texas Christian University who has studied stepfamily systems. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website America and Islam after Iraq Has America's foreign policy since the end of the Cold War actually made us more vulnerable to terrorist attack? Veteran CIA counterterrorism officer Michael Scheuer thinks so. We examined the security situation with Scheuer in February. His recent book is "Marching Toward Hell: America and Islam after Iraq" (Free Press, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Michael Reid What does the future hold for Latin America? According to Economist Americas Editor Michael Reid, a prosperous, fairer, and more democratic Latin America is just over the horizon. Reid's recent book on the subject is "Forgotten Continent: The Battle for Latin America's Soul" (Yale, 2008). We talked with him last February. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Finding Faith Without Fanaticism What is religious extremism and how can the faithful of different religions peacefully co-exist? We talked with Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, author of "You Don't Have to be Wrong For Me to be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism" (Harmony, 2007), when he was in town to speak to the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Dallas last January. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Rise of China If you haven't noticed, China is a big deal. They're hosting the Olympics, manufacturing almost everything, and building more power plants faster than any other country on earth. We took a closer look at China last March with journalist Ted Fishman, author of "China, Inc.: How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World" (Scribner, 2006), which is out in paperback. Dallas Morning News Business Columnist Cheryl Hall joined us during the scene segment to discuss her rece ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Culture of Hyper-Parenting How does our fast-paced, success-driven culture affect children? We'll find out this hour with journalist Carl Honor?. His new book is "Under Pressure: Rescuing Children from the Culture of Hyper-Parenting" (Harper One, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Future of the Middle East Can democracy and globalization help forge a solution to the historic problems in the Middle East? We'll spend this hour with Robin Wright, diplomatic correspondent for The Washington Post and author of "Dreams and Shadows: The Future of the Middle East" (Penguin Press, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Tales from the Treetops Are you drawn to the treetops? If so, you'll find a kindred spirit in Margaret D. Lowman. She's the director of environmental initiatives and professor of biology and environmental studies at New College of Florida. Lowman will join us this hour to discuss her family's adventures in remote parts of the world and her newest work "It's a Jungle Up There: More Tales from the Treetops" (Yale, paperback, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Lincolns Can a spouse influence the electability of a presidential candidate? What about the effectiveness of an administration? We'll look back this hour at an early American political marriage with biographer Daniel Mark Epstein, author of the new book "The Lincolns: Portrait of a Marriage" (Ballantine Books, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Cannibals, Killer Viruses, and Other Journeys to the Edge of Science What fears keep scientists awake at night? We'll find out with bestselling and highly acclaimed science writer Richard Preston. His new collection of true stories from the worlds of nature and scientific effort is "Panic in Level 4: Cannibals, Killer Viruses, and Other Journeys to the Edge of Science" (Random House, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Pornography of Power How have America's military-industrial complex and foreign policy adventures affected the security of the United States? We'll spend this hour with veteran journalist Robert Scheer, whose latest book, "The Pornography of Power: How Defense Hawks Hijacked 9/11 and Weakened America" (Twelve, 2008), will be published next week. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website "Of Mice and Men" - Fort Worth Opera's 2008 Festival It's opera time in Cowtown once again. We'll kick-off the final week of the Fort Worth Opera's 2008 Festival this hour with composer Carlisle Floyd and "Of Mice and Men" star Anthony Dean Griffey. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Adventures of an Iranian American, at Home and Abroad How tough is it to "fit in" in America, when your roots are firmly planted in another culture? Bestselling author Firoozeh Dumas does it all with a smile. She'll join us this hour to discuss her new book "Laughing Without an Accent: Adventures of an Iranian American, at Home and Abroad" (Villard, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ad??lie Penguins and the Warming of Antarctica How quickly is climate change progressing? We'll discuss the rapid changes in the Earth's coldest regions this hour with Meredith Hooper, author of "The Ferocious Summer: Ad?lie Penguins and the Warming of Antarctica" (Greystone Books, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Past, Present & Future of the CIA How much power does the Central Intelligence Agency really wield and what will be its role in the coming years? We'll explore the past, present and future of the CIA this hour with two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Tim Weiner, who's in town to discuss his book "Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA" (Anchor Books, Paperback, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website A Memoir of Fat Camp Can adolescent weight issues affect our lives as adults? We'll talk this hour with writer, photographer and blogger Stephanie Klein, whose new book is "Moose: A Memoir of Fat Camp" (William Morrow, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website How Lying, Secrecy, and Hypocrisy Collide with Truth in Law How important is honesty? We'll explore the issue this hour with Steven Lubet, the Williams Memorial Professor of Law at Northwestern University and author of the new book "The Importance of Being Honest: How Lying, Secrecy, and Hypocrisy Collide with Truth in Law" (NYU Press, 2008). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website A Life in Showbiz You know him, or at least you know the characters he's played. He's in town to appear in a one-man show at the Majestic Theatre tomorrow evening and to promote his new memoir of the same name - "My Trip Down the Pink Carpet" (Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2008). We'll talk to Emmy Award-winning actor Leslie Jordan this hour. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website "New Year Baby" How would you react if you learned that almost everything you knew about your family wasn't true - and that the truth had been a secret for 25 years? We'll spend this hour with Socheata Poeuv, who's film "New Year Baby" explores the true roots of her Cambodian-American family. The film airs on the PBS series INDEPENDENT LENS tonight at 10pm on KERA 13. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Presidential Campaigns of the Past What's funny about a presidential campaign? Charles Osgood, anchor of CBS Sunday Morning, will join us this evening to discuss his new collection of tales "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the White House: Humor, Blunders, and Other Oddities from the Presidential Campaign Trail" (Hyperion, 2008). Harry Lynch, director of "Recapturing Cuba," which airs Wednesday, May 28th on KERA 13, will join us for the Scene segment. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website