Are fears over America’s economic policy being exaggerated? We’ll talk with author Marc Chandler, whose new book is “Making Sense of the Dollar: Exposing Dangerous Myths about Trade and Foreign Exchange” (Bloomberg Press, 2009).
Were you fascinated by last week’s meteor shower? Who are the maverick scientists and starry-eyed profiteers who chased meteorites into a legitimate science and a romantic myth? We’ll spend this hour with Christopher Cokinos, author of “The Fallen Sky: An Intimate History of Shooting Stars” (Tarcher/Penguin, 2009).
Can the design controversies surrounding the Trinity toll road project be solved by good engineering, or is the conflict simply unsolvable? We’ll debate the issue with Wick Allison, Editor in Chief of D Magazine, and Geoffrey Orsak, Dean of SMU’s Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering.
Will politics threaten the existence of Russia’s healthy salmon population and the communities that depend on it for survival? We’ll explore the plight of the remote Kamchatka Peninsula with writer David Quammen, whose article “Where the Salmon Rule,” appears in the current issue of National Geographic.
Can a brand new park and recreation system revive the city’s public spaces? We’ll talk this hour with Willis Winters, Assistant Director for Planning Design and Construction at the Dallas Park Department. His piece, “A Renaissance Plan for Dallas Parks,” appears in the summer issue of Columns Magazine.
What do your driving habits reveal about human nature in general, and you in particular? We’ll find out this hour with Tom Vanderbilt, author of the book “Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)” (Vintage, Paperback, 2009).
Is Einstein’s theory of relativity too complex for the average Joe to comprehend, or just waiting for the right teacher? We’ll discuss common misconceptions about relativity this hour with Brian Cox, particle physicist and co-author of the new book “Why Does E=MC2 And Why Should We Care?” (DaCapo, 2009).
How does the American obsession with winning affect children playing little-league sports? We’ll talk this hour with Tom Farrey, author of the new book “Game On: How the Pressure to Win At All Costs Endangers Youth Sports and What Parents Can Do About It” (ESPN Books Trade Paperback, 2009).
Do lower and lower prices tempt you into overspending and greater debt? We’ll explore the personal, political and economic consequences of price slashing with Ellen Ruppel Shell, author of “Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture” (The Penguin Press, 2009).
What is the value of marriage to society? Does that value change in places where gay marriage is legal? We’ll spend this hour with M. V. Lee Badgett, author of “When Gay People Get Married: What Happens When Societies Legalize Same-Sex Marriage” (NYU Press, 2009).
