KERA's Think KERA

Scientists are using the secrets of biology to unlock living well past current human life spans. Venki Ramakrishnan shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for uncovering the structure of the ribosome. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, Venki runs a research group at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the quest to live forever, if that’s even ethical, and what it looks like to alter our physiology. His book is “Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality.”

As the 2024 election approaches, plenty of voters are asking why isn’t there a third option? Jeffrey Engle, Director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the history of third-party candidates, from Teddy Roosevelt to Ross Perot, and how they’ve impacted – or not – presidential elections.

Vincent Schiraldi, founder of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice and the Justice Policy Institute, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss parole and probation, which he calls a “recidivism trap,” and make the case that these practices should be abolished.

In our quest to head off childhood mental illness at its source, are the means outweighing the good? Author and journalist Abigail Shrier joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why, even as more adolescents are receiving mental health care than ever before, the numbers for those suffering continues to rise, and why our contemporary parenting styles and approaches to therapy might be part of the problem. Her book is “Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up.”

Modern medicine has a problem: the idea that men have bigger, and therefore better, bodies persists, even today. Dr. Elizabeth Comen is a medical oncologist specializing in breast cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the history of sexism in medicine and why lingering stereotypes still affect women’s medical care – even as women make up the majority of medical students. Her book is “All in Her Head: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women’s Bodies and Why It Matters Today.”

After a childhood of homelessness and foster care, a vision for how to advocate for those in poverty emerged. David Ambroz, Head of Community Engagement (West) for Amazon, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the challenges of his upbringing from hunger to abuse, and why he’s made it his life’s work to fight for child welfare. His book is “A Place Called Home: A Memoir.”