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, 4/30

Hour 1:  How did human beings start telling stories and why do fantasy and make believe play such a large role in our lives? We’ll talk this hour with Jonathan Gottschall whose new book is “The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012).

Hour 2:  What does “being healthy” actually mean in a day and age when there are countless diets, exercise regimens, and philosophies that offer perfect health? We’ll talk this hour with A.J. Jacobs who set out to find the answer for his latest book “Drop Dead Healthy: One Man’s Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection” (Simon & Schuster, 2012).

Tuesday, 5/01

Hour 1:  How do new innovations, projects, and ideas survive the development process and live to have an impact on our lives? We’ll spend this hour with Tom Kelley, general manager of IDEO and author of “The Ten Faces of Innovation: IDEO’s Strategies for Defeating the Devil’s Advocate and Driving Creativity Throughout Your Organization” (Currency/Doubleday, 2005).

Hour 2:  What was Dallas like in the early days of its history and what has been lost to progress and the wrecking ball? We’ll spend this hour with Mark Doty, the Historic Preservation Officer for the City of Dallas and author of the new book “Lost Dallas” (Arcadia Publishing, 2012).

Wednesday, 5/02

Hour 1:  What happens to our war veterans and how is their idea of home changed forever when they return from battle? We’ll spend this hour with award-winning author Ben Fountain. His new and highly anticipated work is “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk: A Novel” (Ecco, 2012).

Hour 2:  How have trees shaped our country’s history and what do we owe to the once vast forests of North America? We’ll find out this hour with Eric Rutkow, author of “American Canopy: Trees, Forests, and the Making of a Nation” (Scribner, 2012).

Thursday, 5/03

Hour 1:  As change and unrest continue to sweep across the Middle East from Libya to Syria and beyond, what will be the ultimate outcome of the revolutions that began in December, 2010? We’ll examine the on-going “Arab Spring” this hour with Mark Lynch, director of the Institute for Middle East Studies and the Project on Middle East Political Science at George Washington University and author of “The Arab Uprising: The Unfinished Revolutions of the New Middle East ” (PublicAffairs, 2012). Mark Lynch will address the World Affairs Council of Dallas Fort Worth on Monday, May 7^th.

Hour 2:  What led to the current political and diplomatic situation with North Korea and what should the world expect from the country’s new leader Kim Jong Un? We’ll talk this hour with former National Security Council Director for Asian Affairs Victor Cha. His new book is “The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future” (Ecco, 2012).

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