The Buena Vista Social Club made history as the top-selling record in world music. It also put Cuban music on center stage, and sparked a brisk tourist trade to Cuba. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we’ll talk with Ry Cooder, the mastermind behind Buena Vista Records. Also, why...Read more
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We’re off to the scene of the crime. Need a lawyer? Maybe you should find an evidence broker. He’s the guy you go to see when you’ve been accused of a crime and you need witnesses to prove you didn’t do it. At least that’s how it worked in the 18th century. Novelist David Liss talks about...Read more
East Meets West
Part Five
Tariq Ramadan is a controversial philosopher who believes Muslims can thrive in secular, Western society. Ayaan Hirsi Ali disagrees. She's an equally controversial figure who's living under a death threat...Read more
How many ways can you imagine the end of the world? To celebrate the end of 2012, we've gathered some of our favorite apocalyptic fiction. Doomsday scenarios from award-winning novelists and short story writers, featuring zombie invasions, mutant plagues, fire and...Read more
General Patton wrote in 1943 that, "War is very simple, direct, and ruthless. It takes simple direct, and ruthless men to wage it." In this hour of To The Best Of Our Knowledge, simple and direct conversations with the ruthless men who wage war. We'll talk with a machine gunner stationed in Iraq...Read more
The physics world has a darling - it's called string theory. The idea that the universe is composed of infinitesimal vibrating strings. String theory has been the subject of bestselling books, popular TV series and countless articles. But is it a dead end street? In this hour of on To the...Read more
In this hour, we find ourselves surrounded by sound. The sounds of nature, cosmic horror, capitalism, and experimental electronics.
If you want to give our theme remix a whirl, you can download files here and ...Read more
Couples know the frightening statistic: 50 percent of today’s marriages will fail. And the real victims are the children. As they grow up they are more likely to be aggressive or depressed, end up in mental health hospitals, or get divorced themselves. In this hour of To the...Read more
George Orwell wrote "1984" in response to two of the reigning ideologies of his day - fascism and communism. Does his dystopian story of Big Brother and Doublethink still matter today? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we'll talk with actor Tim Robbins, who recently staged a...Read more
In the wake of a number of high profile shootings over the past year, people are talking about policing, racism, and injustice. But there's one issue we don't really talk all that much about: fear.This hour, we take a closer look at negative stereotypes about African American men, how those...Read more
"Shhh… I have a secret… Now, I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you." Classic spy joke – but not so funny when it's true. In this hour of To The Best of Our Knowledge, we'll go the dark side of secrecy - warrantless wiretapping, secret CIA prisons, "extraordinary rendition,"...Read more
Have you ever thought about disappearing... wiping out your old identity and starting fresh, with a new name, a new life, a new self? In this hour we try to find out how to disappear completely. You too can vanish without a trace! Read more
For decades, men have written about their first sexual experiences, but there’s almost no literature like that for women. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, memoirist Mary Karr reflects on her first kiss and other rites of passage for girls. Also, Jonathan Kozol describes...Read more
Have you ever heard of Bibleman, the Caped Christian? This evangelical superhero quotes scripture while fighting villains. There's a Bibleman video series, as well as a live show, toys, and a computer game. Bibleman is just part of the seven-billion-dollar Christian pop culture industry. In...Read more
James Hood had a dream. He wanted to go to college and get an education. But there was a problem. Hood was a black man in segregated Alabama in 1963. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, a variety of views and opinions from Black Americans on their expectations of freedom. We’ll...Read more
Electrons to Enlightenment
Part Five
In the real world where we take out the garbage, we sometimes brush up against wonder and awe. We all look for it in different places. Some of us find it in God, like the great mystic poet...Read more
June 22nd, 1977. Two college women are camping. A man runs over their tent in a pickup truck. Then he attacks the women with an axe. Fifteen years later, one of the women returns to central Oregon to try to solve the crime. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Terri Jentz shares...Read more
Posters at Starbucks ask customers to focus on the world water crisis. Church congregations ask the faithful to go on a "carbon diet." Slate magazine asks readers to take a "green challenge." We've got green cars, green clothing, green politics and even green weddings. In this hour of To the...Read more
In India he’s known as the giggling guru. In America Dr. Maden Kataria is famous in certain circles as the man who founded Laughter Yoga. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge the man who’s changing the world with chuckles, chortles and belly laughs. And, why more and more people...Read more
Neuroscientists have made remarkable discoveries about the brain, but so far, no one's come close to cracking the biggest mystery of all - the connection between the...Read more
Kashmir has been called the most beautiful place on earth. Today, it’s the melting point for a bitter dispute between India and Pakistan. It’s a situation that’s been called more dangerous than the Cuban missile crisis. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, an Indian writer mourns the...Read more
After one of the ugliest and most divisive presidential races in history -- can America heal? Weeks of vitriolic campaign rhetoric have taken a toll on friends and families. A majority of voters are disgusted with politics and don’t believe the next president will be able to unite the...Read more
Who's calling your shots? Who's in charge of your thinking, your perceptions? Maybe it's simple. Your mind is the boss, then your brain runs your body. Everything's fine. Until it's not and you find yourself confronting depression or autism or a head injury that leaves you with brain damage....Read more