KERA's Think KERA

A running joke in the tech world is that flying cars are perpetually three to five years away. So when will they ever be a reality? New Yorker staff writer Gideon Lewis-Kraus joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the industry trying to create “electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles”—a.k.a. flying cars—and what it was like for him to actually fly one of the prototypes. His article is “Flight of Fancy.” 

We bandy about the phrase “gaslighting” a lot these days, maybe it’s time for a refresher on what it really means. Kate Abramson, associate professor of philosophy at Indiana University Bloomington, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss what defines gaslighting, what motivates perpetrators, and why the idea intrigues us so. Her book is “On Gaslighting.”

The Writers Guild of America strike was settled – so why is selling screenplays in Hollywood harder than ever? Daniel Bessner is a contributor to Harper’s Magazine and an associate professor at the University of Washington’s Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how investors are changing the business landscape for television and movie writers – and the ways writers hustle for any work. His article is “The Life and Death of Hollywood.”

 

The animal rights movement of today traces its roots to just after the Civil War. Bill Wasik, editorial director of The New York Times Magazine, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss a late 19th century wave of activism that moved our culture away from seeing animals as just property to a new way of viewing their lives with compassion. His book, written with co-author Monica Murphy, is “Our Kindred Creatures: How Americans Came to Feel the Way They Do About Animals.”

For many parents, policing a child’s online activity is a challenge. Devorah Heitner, an expert in young people’s relationship with digital media and technology, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how to balance protecting kids with allowing them to have some level of autonomy, what to do when mistakes are made, and how to support them as they build identities online. Her book is “Growing Up in Public: Coming of Age in a Digital World.”

Police officers use a variety of means to subdue agitated and sometimes violent suspects, all of which involve risk. Serginho Roosblad, video producer for the Associated Press’ Global Investigations team, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss an investigation into why “nonlethal” techniques still led to more than a thousand deaths over a 10-year period. His Frontline documentary “Documenting Police Use of Force” debuts tonight on PBS stations.