Program Alert: June 3, 2011

Think airs Monday to Thursday from 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. on KERA FM. Podcasts and streamed video are available online at www.kera.org/think.

Monday, 6/06

Noon:  In spite of almost continuous bad news, is life actually improving for people around the world? We’ll explore global advances in healthcare, education and more this hour with Charles Kenny, senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and Schwartz Fellow at the New America Foundation. His new book is “Getting Better: Why Global Development Is Succeeding–And How We Can Improve the World Even More” (Basic Books, 2011).

1pm:  How does an actor prepare to become a character on the stage or screen and how does the art of improvisation contribute to their success? We’ll discuss the craft this hour with Academy Award winner Alan Arkin whose new memoir is “An Improvised Life” (Da Capo, 2011).

Tuesday, 6/07

Noon:  Who was the real originator of rock and roll and why have his many contributions gone largely unnoticed until now? We’ll talk this hour with Texas Monthly Senior Editor Michael Hall, who looks back at the life of rock pioneer Bill Haley in his piece “Falling Comet” which appears in the current issue of the magazine.

1pm:  Why was a notorious Gilded Age financier murdered in the lobby of the Grand Central Hotel in 1872?  We’ll find out this hour with H.W. Brands, the Dickson Allen Anderson Professor of History at the University of Texas in Austin and author of the new book “The Murder of Jim Fisk for the Love of Josie Mansfield: A Tragedy of the Gilded Age” (Anchor, 2011).

Wednesday, 6/08

Noon:  How and when will Mexico overcome its challenges and become the great nation it could be? We’ll examine those challenges and future possibilities this hour with former Mexican foreign minister Jorge Castañeda. His new book is “Mañana Forever?: Mexico and the Mexicans” (Knopf, 2011).

1pm:  Is there a way to resolve those disagreements – from the personal to the geopolitical – that just never seem to work out? We’ll talk this hour with Peter T. Coleman, director of the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution at Columbia University and author of the new book “The Five Percent: Finding Solutions to Seemingly Impossible Conflicts” (PublicAffairs, 2011).

Thursday, 6/09

Noon:  Why did many Americans choose to travel to Paris between 1830 and 1900 and how did their experiences there influence life back home in the States? We’ll spend this hour with two-time Pulitzer Prize and two-time National Book Award winner David McCullough whose new book is “The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris” (Simon & Schuster, 2011).

1pm:  Where do art and activism meet and how can seeing a threatened landscape change the way people feel about resource management and ecological preservation? We’ll spend the hour with artist Subhankar Banerjee, whose show “Where I Live I Hope to Know” will be on exhibit through August 28 at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth.

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. Podcasts and streamed video are available online at www.kera.org/think.

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