KERA's Think KERA

Comedian and musician Reggie Watts has embraced his weirdness and made a career of it. Watts starred as the bandleader on CBS’s The Late Late Show with James Corden and IFC’s Comedy Bang Bang! He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss his memoir about growing up mixed race in a small town, and how he embraced his differences to find what’s cool. His book is “Great Falls, MT: Fast Times, Post-Punk Weirdos, and a Tale of Coming Home Again.”

David Brooks is on a mission to open hearts and minds. The New York Times columnist joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the skills we can learn to improve engagement and connection and develop character. His book is “How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen.”

Children who live in war zones face untold horrors that strip them of innocence. Zarlasht Halaimzai, writer and founder of Amna, which specializes in supporting the psychosocial well-being of refugees and other displaced communities. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss her life growing up amid the bombs and guns of the war in Afghanistan, and her work to help heal the trauma of children living through conflict worldwide. Her article, published in The Guardian, is “‘I remember the silence between the falling shells’: the terror of living under siege as a child.”

The end of Reconstruction can be chronicled by listening to the music of the era. Vann Newkirk, senior editor at The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the Fisk Jubilee Singers, who sang songs that evoked passion and heartbreak, and in doing so, saved an American art form. His article is “How the Negro Spiritual Changed American Popular Music– and America Itself.”

The demographic charts are clear: childlessness started to rise as soon as Millennials hit childbearing age. Andrew Van Dam writes the Department of Data column each week for The Washington Post. He joins host Krys Boyd to talk about why Millennials are not having children – from finances to lack of partners – even though they still want them. His article is “Millennials aren’t having kids. Here are the reasons why.”

Visiting Mars one day is the ultimate trip from some tourists, but is that a good idea? Kelly Weinersmith, adjunct faculty member in the BioSciences department at Rice University, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the impracticalities of space colonization and the conflicts it could create back on Earth. Her book, co-written with husband Zach Weinersmith, is “A City on Mars: Can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through?”