Skip Navigation
  • Fixing the Impossible

    Hour 2: 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: […]

  • The Future for Mexico

    Hour 1: 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). http://podcastdownload.npr.org/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/77/510036/137068062/KERA_137068062.mp3[Download MP3]

  • A Tragedy of the Gilded Age

    Hour 2: 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 […]

  • The Real King of Rock and Roll

    Hour 1: 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 […]

  • How an Actor Prepares

    Hour 2: 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). http://podcastdownload.npr.org/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/77/510036/137061774/KERA_137061774.mp3[Download MP3]

  • Improving the World

    Hour 1: 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 […]

  • A Sinister Internet?

    Hour 2: What are we giving away with each click of the mouse and how might the personalization of our web searches, news browsing and other on-line activities influence our democracy? We’ll talk this hour with Eli Pariser, board president of MoveOn.org and author of the new book “The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is […]

  • Bugs, Bugs & More Bugs

    Hour 1: Which insects are your favorites and which ones just give you the creeps? We’ll talk this hour with science writer Amy Stewart who covers the vast world of insects in her latest book “Wicked Bugs: The Louse That Conquered Napoleon’s Army & Other Diabolical Insects” (Algonquin Books, 2011). http://podcastdownload.npr.org/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/77/510036/136896132/KERA_136896132.mp3[Download MP3]

  • Being Texas

    Hour 2: What does it mean to be Texan? We’ll discuss the controversies and the contrarians who stir them up this hour with documentarian and historian Glen Sample Ely, author of “Where the West Begins: Debating Texas Identity” (Texas Tech University Press, 2011). Glen Sample Ely will sign copies of Where the West Begins this […]

  • Climate & Health

    Hour 1: How are environmental degradation and climate change affecting our physical well-being? We’ll talk this hour with Dr. Paul Epstein, Associate Director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School and co-author of the new book “Changing Planet, Changing Health: How the Climate Crisis Threatens Our Health and What […]