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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Here’s the truth: the wild romance will probably end. Wedding vows, intimacy, heartache… they can have a long shelf-life. But those butterflies in your stomach? Wild libidinal longings? They tend to quiet over time.

So what happens after the romance ends? From passionate marriage, to ...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Who are you?

A man? A woman?

Are you a success? A failure?

A parent? An athlete? A wallflower?

A Christian? A Buddhist? A baker? 

If we are only a collection of stories about ourselves... what's the truth of who "we" are? 

Looking for UNCUT...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

With hundreds of millions of people moving into cities, we're wondering what shapes urban cultures. In this hour, Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk talks about how Istanbul shaped his writing. One historian argues that early liberal philosophies from Amsterdam shaped the United States. And we check in...Read more

a man with prosthetic limbs

A fashion model with prosthetic legs… a musician who can’t hear… a writer who can’t see. Instead of disabled, differently-abled, handicapped – why not better-abled?Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

These days it seems we just can’t get enough of it.  Over the past few years, luxury spending in the United States has been growing four times faster than overall spending.  We’re spending more money on more products and services that we don’t really need – like Evian bottled water and Prada...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Fifty Years ago James Watson and Francis Crick made history when they cracked the code for DNA. Watson was only 24 years old, and by no means the smartest scientist around. So why do some scientists make great discoveries? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, James Watson talks about...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Everyone in your Facebook feed is falling for fake news–sharing it even when there's no way it can be true. They keep falling for it. But not you, right? You’re smart, well-educated. You can tell the difference. Or can you?Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Everybody gets excited about whatever's new, but what about what's really, really old?  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we commemorate geologic time.  We'll meet the scientists who found the oldest object on Earth - a three point four billion year old zircon!  And the Jazz...Read more

tapes

Why do people embrace the experimental visual art of Mark Rothko but avoid the experimental music of Karlheinz Stockhausen?   That's the question that David Stubbs explores in his book, "Fear of Music."  We'll meet Stubbs in this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge.  Also,...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Everybody needs a little help, and some of us need a lot.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we’ll meet some helpers - and they’re not all human.  We’ll visit a stable where they do equine assisted therapy, and we’ll hear from a writer who’s a volunteer fireman in his small hometown...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

A rose is a rose is a rose... until it becomes perfume. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the power of the flower.  A science journalist introduces us to Luca Turin, the most amazing nose in the business, with a new theory about how we smell.  We’ll talk with photographer Joyce...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

When he was 10-years-old, Brian Raftery realized he couldn't sing. Despite his lack of vocal prowess, Raftery is obsessed with karaoke. He's traveled around the world to trace karaoke's evolution from a cult fad to a multimillion-dollar industry. In this hour, we'll explore the world of karaoke...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Two people, a house, a pitchfork, and a barn. It's hard to find a better-known American painting than Grant Wood's masterpiece "American Gothic." But just who are those grim people, and why do they have such a hold on the American psyche? Here's the history of an American classic. Also, a...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Kayfabe is an old carny term for fakery. Now it’s the code of honor for professional wrestling. Kayfabe means you never, EVER admit to ANYONE under ANY circumstances that pro wrestling’s fake. In this hour of To The Best Of Our Knowledge - the spectacle of professional wrestling. We’ll talk real...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

A rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but you still need a word to describe that glorious smell. We'll try out new words from the online world with a New York Times language blogger - words like YakkaWow and suicide cuisine. Also, the rise of a new world language called Globish....Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Scientists are discovering how plants secretly talk to each other.  How smart is your geranium, and what does a tree know?  Today, we're eavesdropping on the secret language of plants.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

We are connected -- probably connected in ways neither of us has dreamed of. Forget six degrees of separation; on Facebook we have only 3.74. And that's just today.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

It’s primitive and brutal and a lot of people want to see it banned.  But it’s a 500 million dollar a year industry that’s not about to throw in the towel.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, a hard look at boxing.  And how the sport influenced the English language.  Also, one woman’s...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

From Soup to Nuts

Part Six

Once upon a time, there was a chef who made the greatest cakes in the world. His name was Antonin Careme. But this is no fairy tale. It’s a true story of a man called the King of the Cooks. In this hour of To the Best...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Say you’re in Vegas playing high-stakes poker.  You haven’t slept in days.  To make matters worse, you’re being stared down by two of the best poker players in the world.  And...you’re bluffing.  So, you bet it all to bring the pot to well over a million dollars.  In this hour of To the Best of...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Pragmatic.Problem-solving. And non-partisan -- Mayors just might be the next best hope for democracy.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Future Perfect: Dreamers, Schemers & Visionaries

Part One

 

Imagine a poor child in Uruguay. Now imagine giving that young girl a hundred-dollar laptop computer. Imagine the educational opportunities that this laptop will provide...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

“Lets Make Our Own Movie!”  That was a wild idea back in the days of young Mickey Rooney, but today, anyone can do it.  Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge, how digital cameras make us all directors, and why movies may never be the same.  Also, screenwriter Andrew Davies...Read more

a lonely person in a meadow

If you've ever been alone on Valentine's Day, you probably know how isolating it can be to feel like the only single person in a world full of happy couples. But being alone doesn't have to be shameful. This hour, we're changing the script and making the case for the lovelorn, the loners, the...Read more

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