Is the ubiquity of technology affecting our brains? If so, what can we do about it? We’ll explore the topic this hour with Dr. Gary Small, Director of the UCLA Memory and Aging Research Center at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and author of the new book “iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind” (Collins Living, 2008).
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Five years ago this week, the Nasher Sculpture Center opened its doors for the first time. We’ll discuss some of the stories behind its collection this evening with Nancy A. Nasher and Jed Morse, Acting Chief Curator at the Center. In the Scene segment we’ll preview the forthcoming KERA documentary, “South Dallas Pop,” with Roger Boykin – band leader at Booker T. Washington Arts Magnet and long-time jazz radio host.
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Now that the debates are over, how will the presidential campaigns approach the final 19 days before Election Day? We’ll hold our last of three election-season discussions with Bob Ray Sanders of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Bill McKenzie of the Dallas Morning News.
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How do our favorite performers make us laugh? We’ll talk – and laugh – this hour with legendary comedian and actor Lily Tomlin. She’s in town for a special benefit show at the Addison Improv.
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What is the state of public health care in Dallas? In the midst of a $747 million bond campaign to build a new Parkland Hospital, we’ll talk with Dr. Ron Anderson, President and CEO of the Parkland Health and Hospital System.
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How does Dallas shape up compared to other cities? Do people have an equal opportunity to achieve financial success? Are they equally active in political and civic life? We’ll discuss the 2008 Dallas Wholeness Index this hour with Dr. Timothy Bray, director of the UT Dallas Institute for Urban Policy and Research.
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What happened to the mortgage market? Why is the economy suddenly so shaky? We’ll talk with Stan Liebowitz, Ashbel Smith Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for the Analysis of Property Rights and Innovation at UTD’s School of Management. His paper “Anatomy of a Train Wreck” Causes of the Mortgage Meltdown” was published October 3rd.
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Is the world’s food supply stable? Will humanity be able to produce enough to feed itself in the future? The answers may lie in the research of a Stalin-era Soviet botanist. We’ll spend this hour with Gary Paul Nabhan, whose new book is “Where Our Food Comes From: Retracing Nikolay Vavilov’s Quest to End Famine” (Island Press, 2008).
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How does music affect our brains? We’ll spend this hour with neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks, whose book “Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain” (Vintage, 2008) is now out in paperback.
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Is it ever appropriate to restrict access to works of art and literature? We’ll discuss one such case this hour with Rick Wartzman, author of “Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath” (Public Affairs, 2008).
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Who’s your favorite Public Television Chef? Jacques Pepin, whose new series “More Fast Food My Way” debuted this week on KERA, certainly tops our list. He’ll join us this evening to discuss his new series and the current trends in food and culture. To many Texas young people, the State Fair is more than midway rides, corny dogs and cotton candy. Daryl Real, Vice President of Agriculture/Livestock at the State Fair will join us during the Scene segment to discuss the Fair’s annual youth livestock competition and the opportunities it provides.
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What can still be learned from the Titanic – nearly a century after it sank in one of the most notorious disasters of the 20th Century? We’ll talk with Brad Matsen whose new book, “Titanic’s Last Secrets: The Further Adventures of Shadow Divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler” (Twelve, 2008), shines a bright new light on the subject.
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