Program Alert: March 25, 2011

Think airs Monday to Thursday from 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. on KERA-FM and at 7:00 p.m. every Friday except the last Friday of the month on KERA-TV. Podcasts and streamed video are available online at www.kera.org/think.

KERA Think Rundown – Week of 3/28/11

Monday, 3/28

Noon: Will computers one day do our thinking for us? We’ll talk this hour with Brian Christian whose new book is “The Most Human Human: What Talking with Computers Teaches Us About What It Means to Be Alive” (Doubleday, 2011). Christian will take us behind the scenes at the annual Turing test

1pm: What do culture, food and wine tell us about a specific place and time? We’ll spend this hour with journalist and travel writer Robert V. Camuto who explores the rugged island of Sicily in his new book “Palmento: A Sicilian Wine Odyssey” (Nebraska, 2010).

Tuesday, 3/29

Noon: Why do politicians, movie stars and even ordinary folks like us do stupid things and how can we avoid such self-destructive mistakes? We’ll talk this hour with City University of New York Sociologist William Helmreich, Ph.D. His new book is “What Was I Thinking?: The Dumb Things We Do and How to Avoid Them” (Taylor Trade, 2011).

1pm: How did an advertisement for real estate become the symbol of fame, fortune and everything that goes with it? We’ll talk this hour with Leo Braudy, University Professor and Leo S. Bing Chair in English and American Literature at the University of Southern California. He explores the history of one of the most famous signs in the world in his new book “The Hollywood Sign: Fantasy and Reality of an American Icon” (Yale, 2011).

Wednesday, 3/30

Noon: How might the inclusion of women in Afghanistan’s economic future improve the country’s stability? This hour, we’ll preview this week’s George W. Bush Presidential Center conference “Building Afghanistan’s Future: Promoting Women’s Freedom and Advancing their Economic Opportunity.” Our guests will include Jim Glassman, Executive Director of the Bush Institute and former Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Melanne Verveer, Ambassador of Global Women’s Affairs at the US Department of State.

1pm: Where do we get our image of the Wild West and just how accurate are the stories of cold-blooded outlaws and the lawmen sworn to bring them to justice? We’ll spend this hour with writer and Southwest Studies expert Mark Lee Gardner, author of “To Hell on a Fast Horse: The Untold Story of Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett” (Harper Paperbacks, 2011).

Thursday, 3/31

Noon:  What can be learned from a year in the Danbury, Connecticut Federal Correctional Institution for Women? We’ll find out this hour with communications executive Piper Kerman, who writes about her experience in the new memoir “Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison” (Spiegel & Grau, Paperback, 2011).

1pm:  Who was Joe DiMaggio when he wasn’t playing his incredible and mesmerizing game of baseball? Who did he become after retirement? We’ll talk this hour with writer and cultural critic Jerome Charyn. His new book on the baseball icon is “Joe DiMaggio: The Long Vigil” (Yale, 2011).

Friday, 4/01

Television

7pm:  How much are newspaper readers willing to pay for access to online content?  We’ll discuss the growing trend of digital subscriptions with Texas Christian University’s John Lumpkin, Director of the Schieffer School of Journalism, and Andrew Chavez, the Schieffer School’s New Media Specialist.

In the Art&Seek segment, we’ll talk with Peter Doroshenko, the new director of the Dallas Contemporary, about the upcoming Dallas Art Fair and the Contemporary’s new exhibitions.

ABOUT Think

Think is a topic-driven interview program hosted by Krys Boyd covering a wide variety of subjects ranging from history, politics, current events, science, technology and trends to food and wine, travel, adventure, and entertainment. Think airs Monday to Thursday from 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. on KERA-FM and at 7:30 p.m. every Friday except the last Friday of the month on KERA-TV. Podcasts and streamed video are available online at www.kera.org/think.

ABOUT KERA

KERA is a not-for-profit public media organization that serves the people of North Texas. The station broadcasts to the fourth-largest population area in the United States. KERA produces original multimedia content, carries the best in national and international public television and radio programs, and provides online resources at www.kera.org. The station’s extensive coverage of the arts can be found at www.artandseek.org. KERA-TV broadcasts on Channel 13.1. KERA WORLD broadcasts on 13.2. KERA-FM broadcasts on 90.1 in Dallas/Fort Worth/Denton, 88.3 in Wichita Falls, 100.1 in Tyler and 99.3 in Sherman. KXT 91.7 FM, KERA’s new music station, KXT 91.7, is streamed online at www.kxt.org.

###

CONTACT:

Christopher Wagley

Director, Marketing & Communications

KERA, KXT and Art&Seek

cwagley@kera.org

214-740-9377