Tyler Austin Harper was on a tenure track at a college in Maine when he began to realize that the school’s DEI policies were actually burdening him as a Black man. “The inescapable conclusion I arrived at was that I had been hired to be visibly Black first and a scholar second, if at all,” he writes in an essay for The Atlantic headlined “Confessions of a Token Black Professor: Why I lost faith in academia.” He joins host Krys Boyd to talk about his experiences.

Even after a global pandemic, researchers are fairly free to study and enhance deadly viruses in labs that have fairly low biosafety standards. Alina Chan is a molecular biologist, and she joins host Krys Boyd to talk about precautions that can be put in place that allow for important research to be conducted while protecting the public. Her recent New York Times essay is “How to Stop a Lab Leak from Starting the Next Pandemic” and her book is “Viral: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19.”

Dolly Parton created and image that was glittery and bubbly, blonde wigs and rhinestone dresses – which belies the powerful brand of feminism that attracts her adoring fans. The mark her death, we’re revisiting our 2020 conversation with Sarah Smarsh, who joined host Krys Boyd to explore the creative genius of the iconic singer and actress — a prolific songwriter of more than 3,000 songs — and a pioneer for exploring class and gender issues in America. Smarsh’s book is called “She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs.”

Some cities across the U.S. enacted harm-reduction, drug-friendly policies to stop overdose deaths – but that approach hasn’t always benefitted the general population. Michael Powell, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss Burlington, Vt., Seattle and other places where needle exchanges have made public spaces unwelcoming, what happens when leaders stand behind unpopular laws, and the lessons other cities can learn from these experiments in drug policies. His article is “The Cities That Said Yes to Drugs.”

To understand why people go “no contact” with their families, it helps to define what a modern family is. Rin Reczek is professor of sociology and co-director of the Center for Aging Families at The Ohio State University. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss two distinct family units she calls “compulsory kinship” and “democratized kinship,” how they have changed over the years, and what people can lose — or gain — if they cut off contact. Her book is “Families We Lose: A New Explanation for Family Estrangement.”

From A.I. to E.V.s to pharmaceuticals and energy, China is outpacing the U.S. for global dominance. New Yorker staff writer Evan Osnos joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why, when America has pulled research funding, China is funneling billions of dollars to remake its economy, why scientists are flocking to Chinese labs, and why this should serve as a warning to isolationist government policies. His article is “The Future, Made in China.”

Across the country, millions of children take on the job of primary caregiver to ailing family members. Dr. Helen Ouyang is a physician and associate professor at Columbia University and a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the teens who take on changing bandages and managing medications for family members, the lack of support for this overlooked population, and how schools are trying to meet the needs of kids who must choose between education and family obligations. Her article is “The U.S. Relies on Family Caregivers. Millions of Them Are Kids.”

We’ve all heard of “imposter syndrome” and something similar is going on in your brain in regard to your intelligence. Dr. Josh Turknett, M.D. is a board-certified neurologist and the founder of the Institute for Performance Neurology, where he works at the intersection of neuroscience, learning and human potential. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why we all have the ability to unlock abilities, how intelligence is built over time and why we spend so much time telling ourselves we can’t succeed. His book is “The Genius and the Imposter: The Neuroscience of Unlocking Human Potential.”

For every exonerated individual in the criminal justice system, there is another forgotten victim: the original victim’s family who now has no closure. Barbara Bradley Hagerty, contributing writer to The Atlantic, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss a case involving a man, Ben Spencer, who was wrongfully convicted of a crime and the family member of the murder victim, Jay Young, who now faces a future without justice. Her article is “The Other Victims of a Wrongful Conviction.” 

If you need to call the IRS to answer a tax question, you could wait hours on the line thanks to funding cuts. Stephanie Mencimer, staff reporter in Mother Jones’ Washington bureau, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why 7 million people are waiting to hear back from the IRS about correspondence and amended returns up from 3.8 million last year how deep cuts to the budget mean taxpayers are losing out on money and help with tax fraud, and how this could affect daily household budgets. Her article is “The IRS Is Imploding.”

President Trump’s frequent tariff announcements have put global trade in a new, precarious position. Chad P. Bown is Reginald Jones Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and host of the Trade Talks podcast. He joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how tariffs push up prices, what lessons from history can teach us about this moment, and how countries should adapt to this rapidly changing landscape. His book, written with co-author Soumaya Keynes, is “How to Win a Trade War: An Optimistic Guide to an Anxious Global Economy.”