Program Alert: April 15, 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.

Monday, 4/18

Noon:  How will the fields of medicine, computers, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, energy production and astronautics change our lives in the not-too-distant future? We’ll find out this hour with Michio Kaku, professor of theoretical physics at the City University of New York and author of the new book “Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100” (Doubleday, 2011).

1pm:  His influence on the written and spoken word is without question, but should Noah Webster get more credit for launching our uniquely American culture? We’ll talk this hour with Joshua Kendall, author of “The Forgotten Founding Father: Noah Webster’s Obsession and the Creation of an American Culture” (Putnam, 2011).

Tuesday, 4/19

Noon:  Who was Julia Child before she became America’s most famous and beloved television chef? We’ll revisit the intrigue of World War II espionage and more this hour with journalist Jennet Conant, whose new book is “A Covert Affair: Julia Child and Paul Child in the OSS” (Simon & Schuster, 2011).

1pm:  Could our human desire to fit in and identify with others lead to positive social changes around the world? According to our guest this hour, journalist, MacArthur Fellow and Pulitzer Prize winner Tina Rosenberg, it’s already happening. Her new book is “Join the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World” (W. W. Norton & Company, 2011).

Wednesday, 4/20

Noon:  He was undoubtedly one of the greatest leaders in history, but where did Ghandi’s achievements fall short of his own expectations and how did those disappointments inform his world view? We’ll talk this hour with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Joseph Lelyveld, whose highly-acclaimed new book is “Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India” (Knopf, 2011).

1pm:  How is the modern world treating the vulnerable Ursus Arctos Horribilis or Grizzly Bear? We’ll spend this hour with naturalist and National Geographic “Expedition Wild” host Casey Anderson. He’ll speak to the Brinker International Forum at the AT&T Performing Arts Center this evening.

Thursday, 4/21

Noon:  How did the mid-1960s Chicano Movement in Texas influence other Latino rights struggles around the country? We’ll talk this hour with U.C. Berkeley Professor of Ethnic Studies David Montejano, author of “Quixote’s Soldiers: A Local History of the Chicano Movement, 1966-1981” (University of Texas, 2010). Montejano will deliver the Center for Mexican American Studies Distinguished Lecture at the University of Texas at Arlington this evening.

1pm:  What should we each be doing to help preserve the environment and especially the oceans? We’ll talk this hour with adventurer and environmentalist David de Rothschild, who (along with his crew) crossed the Pacific Ocean last year on a boat made from 12,500 reclaimed plastic bottles and other fully recyclable materials. His recounts the experience in “Plastiki: Across the Pacific: An Adventure to Save Our Oceans” (Chronicle Books, 2011).

Friday, 4/22

TELEVISION

7pm:  How do the real lives of novelists empower their storytelling? We’ll talk with writer Anne Lamott about the hazy demarcation between the personal and the professional and what lessons parents might glean from some of the characters in her latest novel, “Imperfect Birds” (Riverhead Books, 2010).

And in the Art&Seek segment, Jerome Weeks talks with photographer Grant Meeks about his upcoming exhibit “The Citizen Soldier,” which features portraits of North Texas veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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.