Think from KERA

There’s got to be a happy medium between free-range parenting and helicoptering. Simon Lewsen writes for Maclean’s, Toronto Life and Report on Business, and he teaches at the University of Toronto. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the courage parents must drum up to allow children to have age-appropriate autonomy – when they learn independence and problem-solving skills – and also where to draw the line on that freedom. His article “Is It Dangerous to Let Kids Be Free?” was published by The Walrus. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Constitutional law is a different animal than civil or criminal law — and a president can subvert it. Duncan Hosie is a fellow at Stanford Law School, and he joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why the judicial branch shouldn’t be the end game for dealing with a president’s executive orders, why the legislative branch needs to get more involved, and why hoping that the Supreme Court will definitively decide hot-button issues is a mistake. His article in The New York Times is “The Courts Cannot Save Us from Trump.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Screen time and junk food offer dopamine hits — and our kids are not immune. Michaeleen Doucleff reports on children’s health for NPR’s science desk, and she joins guest host Courtney Collins to discuss misconceptions about dopamine, why it’s making kids lonely and anxious, and ways to introduce healthier habits into your family’s lifestyle. Her book is “Dopamine Kids: A Science-Based Plan to Rewire Your Child’s Brain and Take Back Your Family in the Age of Screens and Ultraprocessed Foods.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Social security benefits help children and spouses survive after a death — but accessing them is a Sisyphean task. Chabeli Carrazana, The 19th’s economy and childcare reporter, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how DOGE gutted the Social Security Administration so there’s not enough staff to process claims, the hours on hold families must wait and how women and children are impacted disproportionately by these failures. Her article is “Widows are waiting months for the benefits meant to help them after loss.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Dutch teens with mental illness can choose to end their lives though euthanasia. Charles Lane, nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how the Netherlands came to the decision to grant assisted suicide to teenagers with parental approval, what makes a mental illness diagnosis so controversial for this method of dying and to discuss a doctor who says granting these requests is the moral option. His article “When Mentally Ill Teenagers Ask to Be Put to Death” was published in The Atlantic. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The U.S. has conducted military operations in Venezuela and Iran – will Cuba be next on the list? Jon Lee Anderson, staff writer at The New Yorker, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why Cuba was declared a threat to U.S. national security, the dire situation of its citizens now that the island nation has been cut off from supplies, and how this all compares to 1962’s Cuban Missile Crisis. His article is “Is Cuba Next?” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Life-saving advancements have come a long way, but engineering artificial blood has been a challenge. Nicola Twilley is a New Yorker contributor and co-host of the podcast Gastropod. She talks to Krys Boyd about the breakthroughs — and setbacks — in the quest for artificial blood, why it’s needed more than ever, and why eyes are on Big Pharma to finance it. Her article is “The Long Quest for Artificial Blood.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The narrative is that private companies are buying up single-family homes and driving up prices — but the data doesn’t really back that idea up. Eric Levitz is a senior correspondent at Vox, and he joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how only about a half of 1 percent of homes are owned by institutional investors, why private equity might actually keep rents down and neighborhoods more diverse, and why he feels like a new housing bill in Congress could do more harm than good. His article is “The ‘populist’ crusade to make the suburbs more segregated and expensive.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Leaders of the Right say they want to re-balance higher education — but even within the ranks the movement is divided as to what that really means. Len Gutkin, editor of The Chronicle Review, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why some feel a return to the classics is a strategy to even out Left-leaning college campuses, why red-state legislatures don’t feel that goes far enough, and what this argument is doing to academic freedom. His article is “The Right's Academic Civil War” was published by The Chronicle of Higher Education. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

DEI is being dismantled, what comes next for those interested in working toward equality? Kenji Yoshino is Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at the NYU School of Law and the faculty director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why, though counterintuitive, opening programs up to all people does help minority groups, how the language of DEI backfired and how to build a “multicultural meritocracy.” His book, written with David Glasgow, is “How Equality Wins: A New Vision for an Inclusive America.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

If you were given thousands of dollars in free money to gamble, would you find yourself a little — or a lot — addicted to the games? McKay Coppins, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how his magazine gave him $10,000 to use as seed money as he explored the rise of online sports gambling, why he was surprised at how much the gambling interfered with his family life and sleep and how he received special dispensation from his church to take part in the experiment. His article is “My Year as a Degenerate Gambler.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Taxing billionaires to make up budget shortfalls is a popular idea — but maybe non-billionaires should think again? Megan McArdle is a Washington Post columnist, and she joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why the idea of a billionaire wealth tax is generating buzz around Capitol Hill, why she feels it’s a short-sided idea, and to explain just how much cash these policies would potentially generate. Her recent piece on the topic is “The myth of the billionaire wealth tax.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Plenty of crime dramas and horror films feature a psychopath on a rampage. That diagnosis, however, might be the real fiction. Rasmus Rosenberg Larsenis is assistant professor of forensic epistemology and philosophy of science at the University of Toronto Mississauga in Canada and an affiliated scientist at the National Center for Ontological Research in the U.S. He is also the author of “Psychopathy Unmasked: The Rise and Fall of a Dangerous Diagnosis.” He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why psychopathy isn’t real, how that diagnosis came about, and why even serial killers don’t have all the traits we assume they do. His companion piece to his book, “There are no psychopaths,” was published in Aeon. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The arguments for selling off public lands range from generating money from drilling to building housing – but it actually might be more cost effective to leave these spaces alone. Kyle Manley is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Earth Lab. He joins host Krys Boyd to make the case for leaving public lands as-is, why plans for affordable housing are unrealistic and how we can put a dollar value on ecological impact. His article “The true worth of America’s public lands” was published in Scientific American. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

If your kid has a meltdown over the shape of chicken nuggets, just know kids at the turn of the last century devoured organ meat. Helen Zoe Veit is a historian and associate professor of history at Michigan State University, where she is the director of the What America Ate and the America in the Kitchen projects. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why kids used to have a much more varied diet, the industries that created “kid food” that we now think of as standard fare and why carting around an endless supply of snacks is killing adventurous palates. Her book is called “Picky: How American Children Became the Fussiest Eaters in History.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Friendliness is a Canadian hallmark, so perhaps it’s surprising that our neighbors to the north are drawing the Trump administration’s ire. Drew Fagan, professor in the Monk School at the University of Toronto and a visiting professor at Yale University, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why one of our largest trading partners has found itself in the crosshairs of President Trump, what tariffs and trade deals have done to shape the relationship through the years and how Canada is responding. His article in Policy is “The Big Split: How Canada and the United States Pulled Together, Then Apart.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Unraveling the history of the Jim Crow South, personal stories are interwoven with humor and heartbreak. Tayari Jones is an author and C.H. Candler Professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory University. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss her new novel, which follows two young Black women – both motherless and as close as sisters – navigating the era with different trajectories. The book is called “Kin.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

There is a species of elephant that looks and behaves differently than the ones we’re most familiar with — and explorers are trying to find them. Steve Boyes is a National Geographic Explorer and conservationist. He joins guest host Courtney Collins to discuss his trek into Angola to find these elusive “ghost elephants,” which are even bigger than their elephant cousins. His documentary is called “Ghost Elephants.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Gentle parenting indulges a child’s biggest emotions – and it’s wearing parents out. Monica Corcoran Harel is a journalist and screenwriter who covers culture and relationships. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss her own path of gentle parenting — what she got right and what she says she realizes she did wrong — and why she feels it’s difficult to set boundaries for this method of parenting, which discourages old-fashioned authoritarian rule. Her article in The Cut is “‘Because I Said So … Please?’ My greatest fear is pushing my daughter away. Maybe I went too far to keep her close.” Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

As the U.S. and Israel continue to bombard Iran, concerns are rising that Iran could respond with a terrorist attack. Bruce Hoffman is Shelby Cullom and Kathryn W. Davis senior fellow for counterterrorism and homeland security at the Council on Foreign Relations. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss potential dangers the U.S. must now face in retaliation for the war in Iran, what the potential for both lone-wolf and coordinated attacks might be, and efforts at the Department of Homeland Security to identify and stop them. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices