When the world turns green again, it makes us all a little giddy! In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we’ll pull on our gum boots and get out into the garden with novelist Jamaica Kincaid, who’s grown a map of the Carribean at her Vermont home. Sharon Lovejoy, author of Roots, Shoots...Read more
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Episode Archives
In Japan’s ancient Edo period, the math geek was born – but it’s not who you think! Samurai, women, children and farmers were among the original creators of the sangaku - Japanese temple geometry. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, math for the gods. Also, can numbers unlock the...Read more
A car accident at twenty-one left John Callahan paralyzed. He’s become a very successful cartoonist -- poking fun at disabilities and the idiosyncrasies of life. His work has been described as “rude, shocking, tasteless, and depraved” – by his fans. Next time on To...Read more
Who really rules the internet? Cats, of course. We can't take the cuteness anymore so here it is -- our first and only show about cats. Cat videos, superstar cats, cat music, cat history, endangered cats... and a little, tiny bit about dogs.Read more
Americans change their dining room tables about as often as they change their spouses, about one and a half times in their lives. IKEA isn’t concerned about your marriage, but it does want to change the way you look at your furniture, and yourself. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge...Read more
It’s Oscar season and Hollywood is once again celebrating the best films of the year. It would seem that we're a nation obsessed with movies. As a country, we spend billions of dollars to watch them every year, and celebrate them with a variety of awards ceremonies. But what separates a...Read more
These days, we're becoming more and more like corporations. We outsource our individual needs for everything from dating to weight loss. We brand ourselves. We behave like individuals in competition with each other rather than people with an opportunity to collaborate. But it doesn't have to be...Read more
Betsy Lerner was a chubby kid. Then an overweight teenager. Then, a compulsive eater with a secret food life. Binging and dieting consumed her life – until the day she tried to kill herself. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge the story of Betsy Lerner’s struggle with weight. And,...Read more
The idea of creative collaboration is a relatively new one. For centuries, science and culture focused on the self self-expression, self-realization. But two is the magic number. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll explore creative partnerships. Joshua Wolf Shenk talks about...Read more
Your mother always told you money can’t buy happiness. Well, she was wrong. And economists have calculated the price. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the high cost of happiness. Also, why we cry: from crocodile tears to the three-hankie movie. Writer Andrew Solomon’s struggles...Read more
What's the best piece of reporting you read or saw or heard this year? Today, we share stories that made us see the world in a new way. National Book Award winner Katherine Boo reports from the slums of Mumbai. Photojournalist Brendan Bannon documents the tenacity and vitality of Africa. ...Read more
From Soup to Nuts
Part Five
Whether black from a bottomless cup or as a Frappuccino mocha skim latte, it's our culture's elixir: coffee. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Java, Joe or a cup of mud . . . Most of us drink it...Read more
America's gone craft crazy. Everyone's knitting, or keeping scrapbooks; throwing pots or wood-working. And naturally, there are new chains of stores that carry all the supplies these crafters need, or think they do. To the Best of Our Knowledge considers what we mean by the word "craft." Does it...Read more
A restaurant wasn't always a place to eat. It used to be a thing to eat - a cup of medicinal broth to restore your health. These days Americans eat almost half their meals out, so how did the modern restaurant evolve? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the rise of the restaurant. ...Read more
Every day you pick up the paper and there's another report about something you either should be eating or shouldn't. Omega 3-fatty acids, soy milk, broccoli - good. Trans fats, soda, fast food - bad. What if instead we just ate what made us happy? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge,...Read more
Do you remember the first time you saw a piece of art or heard a piece of music that shocked you? Something you immediately knew your parents would hate? Remember how good it felt, to like something bad? In this show, we're talking about shock value — the virtues of transgressive, subversive...Read more
Trayvon Martin’s death and George Zimmerman’s acquittal has sparked a debate over race this country hasn’t seen in many years. So, whose America is it? The young black teen in a hoodie? The illegal immigrant who’s been living here for twenty years? Muslims? Native Americans? You?Read more
We may think it’s pretty clear what is – and isn’t – science, but history is littered with cases where the line wasn’t so obvious. For instance, Isaac Newton studied alchemy, and Galileo was a practicing astrologer. This hour explores the edges of science, and we hear about the...Read more
Sometimes, a single word speaks volumes about its era. Sputnik conjures up both the heady excitement of the early Space Race and the whole scary history of the Cold War. In this hour, To the Best of Our Knowledge touches on a few of these cultural touchstones....from Sputnik to Snoopy. We'll...Read more
Pop culture writer Chuck Klosterman has interviewed some of the biggest names in the celebrity constellation. But getting a celebrity to talk is no easy task. In fact, Klosterman says it's not in the celebrity's best interest to do any interviews at all. In this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more
A collection of all of Barbara Ehrenreich's interviews on "To The Best Of Our Knowledge" over the years. Read more
Future Perfect: Dreamers, Schemers & Visionaries
Part Two
It's not hard to see why economics is called "the dismal science" – after we were blind-sided by the worst financial meltdown in decades. But economics does have its...Read more
The Meaning of Life
Part Three
In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we consider the good stuff. Love. Poetry. Pleasure. Chocolate. Art. Beauty. New York Times Art Critic Michael Kimmelman says the beauty of beauty is that...Read more