Uncategorized - Think

Crisis in the Gulf

July 9, 2010 Uncategorized

Has British Petroleum made a good faith effort to protect the coastline and marine environments affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill? We’ll discuss the economics, engineering, and bureaucracy of restoring the Gulf with Bruce Bullock, director of the Maguire Energy Institute at the SMU Cox School of Business, and Al Armendariz, Regional Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region VI. Sculptor and landscape artist Brad Goldberg, whose work can be seen at public spaces in Scotland, China, Miami, and the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, will join us for the Art&Seek segment. His project at Fair Park Station was just named one of the 40 best public artworks in the U.S. and Canada by Americans for the Arts 2010 Year in Review.

Why Experts Keep Failing Us

July 8, 2010 Uncategorized

Can the expert advice offered by scientists, economists and others be trusted? Our guest this hour, science and business journalist David H. Freedman, isn’t so sure. His new book is “Wrong: Why experts keep failing us – and how to know when not to trust them” (Little, Brown and Company, 2010).

A Memoir of Gambling

July 8, 2010 Uncategorized

What does it take to survive the high-stakes world of Las Vegas sports betting? We’ll find out this hour with Beth Raymer who worked for four years in the industry. She tells the colorful tale in her new book “Lay the Favorite: A Memoir of Gambling” (Spiegel & Grau, 2010).

The Inner Lives of Animals

July 7, 2010 Uncategorized

What do animals think? What do they feel? We’ll find out this hour with animal behavior research scientist Jonathan Balcombe. His new book is “Second Nature: The Inner Lives of Animals” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010).

Lightnin' Hopkins: His Life and Blues

July 7, 2010 Uncategorized

How did Texas blues shape the rock and roll of the late 20th Century and who was most responsible? We’ll spend this hour with writer, photographer and filmmaker Alan Govenar, His latest book is “Lightnin’ Hopkins: His Life and Blues” (Chicago Review Press, 2010).

The New Science of Why We Like What We Like

July 6, 2010 Uncategorized

What makes you happy and why? We’ll explore the complexities of desire this hour with Yale University psychologist, Paul Bloom whose new book is “How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like” (W. W. Norton & Company, 2010).

How a Con Man & a Forger Rewrote Modern Art History

July 6, 2010 Uncategorized

Is the artwork in your local museum or personal collection genuine? Can you be sure? We’ll talk this hour with investigative journalist Laney Salisbury, co author of “Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art” (Penguin Paperback, 2010).

From the Archive: The Founding Fathers Reconsidered

July 5, 2010 Uncategorized

From the archives – What kind of nation did the founders truly intend America to be? We discussed the ongoing debate and the diverse group of lawyers, merchants, soldiers, politicians and others who framed the Constitution in April with R.B. Bernstein, Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law at New York Law School and author of “The Founding Fathers Reconsidered” (Oxford, 2009).

From the Archive: The Good Soldiers

July 5, 2010 Uncategorized

From the archives – Was “the surge” an effective tactic in Iraq? We got a boots-on-the-ground perspective last March with Pulitzer Prize winner David Finkel who wrote about his almost 15 months with U.S. Army Battalion 2-16 in the book “The Good Soldiers” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009).

The Best of Think TV: Healthcare Reform & Public Hospitals

July 2, 2010 Uncategorized

Will President Obama’s new public policy for healthcare cure the flaws in the previous system? And what adaptations must current healthcare providers implement under the reform plan? In May we talked with Ron Anderson, President and CEO of Parkland Health & Hospital System, about quality, accountability, out of control costs, and putting the patient first. In the Art&Seek segment, we talked to Nada Shabout, Director of the Contemporary Arab and Muslim Cultural Studies Institute at UNT, about her efforts to track missing artwork in Iraq and a recent photo exhibition on the lives of Iraqi women.

One Man's Search for the World's Tastiest Piece of Beef

July 1, 2010 Uncategorized

What’s your favorite cut of beef to throw on the grill? What delivers the perfect taste – corn or grass – and how should you cook it? We’ll find out this hour with Mark Schatzker, author of the new book “Steak: One Man’s Search for the World’s Tastiest Piece of Beef” (Viking, 2010). Stephen Becker will guest host.

From the Archive: A Radical New Vision for Life in an Imperfect Universe

July 1, 2010 Uncategorized

The Best of Think – Is the fabled unified theory of nature just a fable? We talked last spring with Dartmouth professor of physics and astronomy, Marcelo Gleiser. His new book is “A Tear at the Edge of Creation: A Radical New Vision for Life in an Imperfect Universe” (Free Press, 2010).