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

Chabeli Carrazana, an economy and child-care reporter at The 19th who investigates Social Security survivor benefits. She discusses long phone waits and months-long field office delays. She covers how staffing cuts from DOGE gutted frontline service. She highlights paperwork confusion, who misses benefits, regional disparities, and whether tech or rehiring can fix the backlog.

Charles Lane, non-resident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and journalist, examines Dutch psychiatric euthanasia, including cases involving teens. He explains Dutch cultural support for euthanasia, legal criteria that allow physician-administered death, and the controversies around consent, adolescent brain development, rising psychiatric cases, and professional and societal consequences.

Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker staff writer and longtime foreign correspondent focused on Latin America, discusses Cuba's designation as a U.S. national security threat and the humanitarian impact of supply cuts. He contrasts Trump’s reversal of Obama-era detente with historical crises. Conversation covers Cuba’s power structures, economic collapse, migration pressures, and who might lead next.

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

Kyle Manley, a postdoctoral researcher at CU Boulder's Earth Lab who studies public lands and policy. He discusses why proposals to sell federal land are driven by long-term political pushes. He explains how most federal land is unsuitable for housing, the risks of wildfire and lost ecosystem services, and why privatization would permanently remove public benefits.

 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