Think airs Monday to Thursday from 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. on KERA FM. Encore airings of Think can be heard Monday to Thursday nights on KERA FM beginning at 9:00 p.m. Podcasts and streamed video are available online at www.kera.org/think.

Monday, 12/12

Hour 1:  What can we learn by listening to the stories and heeding the advice from the older generations of Americans? We’ll find out this hour with gerontologist Karl Pillemer, Ph.D., founder of the Cornell Institute for Translational Research on Aging and author of the new book “30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans” (Hudson Street Press, 2011).

Hour 2:  What are you thankful for this holiday season and how do you express your gratitude to family and friends? You can share your stories as we talk this hour with writer and journalist Nora Firestone, founder of Thanking of You.com.

Tuesday, 12/13

Hour 1:  What are the big stories that we haven’t been hearing in the news this year? We’ll talk this hour with Joshua E. Keating, associate editor at Foreign Policy. His piece “The Stories You Missed in 2011: 10 events and trends that were overlooked this year, but may be leading the headlines in 2012” is out now on Foreign Policy.com.

Hour 2:  Where do riveting characters come from and what goes on in the minds of the authors who create them? We’ll spend this hour with bestselling author Patricia Cornwell, whose nineteenth novel featuring Dr. Kay Scarpetta, “Red Mist” (Putnam Adult, 2011), has just been published.

Wednesday, 12/14

Hour 1:  Is health care one of the final frontiers for equality in America? We’ll talk this hour with Dr. Augustus A. White III, Professor of Medical Education and Orthopedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School and author of the new book “Seeing Patients: Unconscious Bias in Health Care” (Harvard University Press, 2011).

Hour 2:  How does Haute couture influence everyday fashion trends and when does the influence move in reverse? We’ll examine the career and work of designer Jean Paul Gaultier this hour with Kevin Tucker, the Margot B. Perot Curator of Decorative Arts and Design at the Dallas Museum of Art and organizer of the DMA’s presentation of The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk.

Thursday, 12/15

Hour 1:  Is there any practical way to mitigate the influence of money on American politics? We’ll talk this hour with Lawrence Lessig, director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University and author of the new book “Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress–and a Plan to Stop It” (Twelve, 2011).

Hour 2:  What’s funny these days? We’ll spend this hour with two professionals who know. Paul Varghese and Aaron Aryanpur will join us to discuss the current state of comedy, make us laugh and preview their upcoming News Year’s Eve show at Dallas’ Back Door Comedy Club.