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, 3/12

Hour 1:  Is it possible to program ourselves to be happy? We’ll talk this hour with Shimon Edelman, Professor of Psychology at Cornell University. He explores the realm of this type of self-knowledge in his new book “The Happiness of Pursuit: What Neuroscience Can Teach Us About the Good Life” (Basic Books, 2012).

Hour 2:  Why do confidence scams work? Con men (and women) have been at it from the early 20^th Century (and before) to the Bernie Madoffs of today. We’ll hear the story of one victim and explore the swindler’s craft this hour with Amy Reading, author of “The Mark Inside: A Perfect Swindle, a Cunning Revenge, and a Small History of the Big Con” (Knopf, 2012).

Tuesday, 3/13

Hour 1:   Sure, shopping online is convenient and cost-effective, but what’s the work-day like for the people who process and ship our millions and millions of on-line orders? We’ll find out this hour with Mac McClelland, human rights reporter for Mother Jones. She went undercover for her latest piece “I Was a Warehouse Wage Slave.”

Hour 2:  Will there ever be a cure for Alzheimer’s and how is our understanding of the disease changing as research progresses? We’ll spend this hour with Dr. Roger Rosenberg, director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Center and Abe (Brunky), Morris and William Zale Distinguished Chair in Neurology at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Wednesday, 3/14

Hour 1:  What causes a behavior to become a habit? Why are good habits so hard to develop and how are marketers and corporations capitalizing on our habits? We’ll talk this hour with The New York Times investigative reporter Charles Duhigg. His new book is “The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business” (Random House, 2012).

Hour 2:  What are the greatest challenges for immigrants applying for asylum in North Texas and what are the options for indigent immigrant women and children trying to escape their abusers? We’ll spend this hour with Bill Holston, Executive Director of the Human Rights Initiative of North Texas (HRI), and Chris Mansour, Legal Director for HRI’s Asylum Program and the Women & Children’s Program.

Thursday, 3/15

Hour 1:  How did the post-World War II generation of gay writers influence, literature, culture, and society? We’ll find out this hour with Christopher Bram, author of the new book “Eminent Outlaws: The Gay Writers Who Changed America” (Twelve, 2012).

Hour 2:  Will there ever be a way forward in Israeli-Palestinian relations and how can acknowledgement and respect of the other side in any conflict lead to more positive change? We’ll spend this hour with Rabbi Michael Lerner, founder and publisher of Tikkun Magazine. Lerner will speak this evening to the Dallas Peace Center.