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
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
It's the liberal's apocalypse. Consider empty big-box stories, deserted highways, worthless pieces of paper we used to call money. The economy collapses. There's widespread violence and social unrest. The only people with a fighting chance ride out the storm in life-boat communities with access...Read more
You might think that men’s anxiety over baldness is a relatively recent development in the history of civilization. But it’s not. The ancient Romans invented the comb-over and paint-on hair, which has since become spray-on hair. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we’...Read more
American children grow up playing Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh. As adults, they line up for the latest anime movies and hang out in karaoke bars. In other words -- Japanese culture is serious business. So serious that Japan's Prime Minister appointed a "Cool Japan" minister to oversee...Read more
In the history of near-fame experiences, one story stands out. Pete Best was the Beatles’ drummer just a few months before “Love Me Do” became a smash hit. His replacement, Ringo Starr, became a huge star. And Pete Best? He worked for decades as a civil servant in Liverpool. In this hour of...Read more
"History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies." -- Alexis de TocquevilleRead more
Do you believe in social progress and the power of networks to solve problems? Steven Johnson does. And he's coined a new term for himself and others like him -- the peer progressive movement. We'll learn all about it as we explore how digital networks are changing our lives.Read more
Patty Loveless is a coal miner’s daughter. And a country singer, just like her distant cousin Loretta Lynn. When Patty Loveless’ father contracted black lung disease the family had to move to Louisville, Kentucky – so Patty’s dad could receive medical attention. In this hour of To the Best of...Read more
Welcome to the next generation of African writers. They’re young, multi-lingual, and breaking out of all the old literary boxes. This hour, why Africa has one of the most exciting literary scenes on the planet.Read more
Some critics call V.S. Naipaul the world’s greatest living writer. But his harsh views on Islam and the Third World have sparked enormous controversy. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Naipaul talks about his life as a writer. Also, poetry for the ages: we’ll hear Yeats, Auden and...Read more
You watch two trench-coated boys walk into their high school and shoot everyone in sight. Then a demon drags them off to be tortured in Hell. No, it’s not the latest video game. It’s Hell House, a Halloween haunted house put on by a church in Texas. Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge,...Read more
Busloads of Senior Citizens roll onto the Reservation for high stakes bingo. Lottery tickets show up on people’s shopping lists in 47 states. Practically every office has a pool on the NFL or the Final Four or the outcome of the latest reality television series. In this hour of To the Best of...Read more
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
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
What's the centerpiece of the American Dream? Is it our belief that you can pull-yourself-up-by-your-boot-straps? Maybe it's our rugged individualism? Or maybe, just maybe, it's the lawn. In this hour of To The Best Of Our Knowledge the obsessive quest for the perfect lawn. Also, a little bunny...Read more
Scientists tell us optimistic people are happier, healthier and even live longer than pessimists. But it's hard to maintain an optimistic frame of mind in the face of daily reports of war, famine, disease and injustice. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, evidence that the world is...Read more
Rose O’Neal Greenhow was the Pamela Harriman of her day - the “hostess with the mostess” in Washington D.C. But Rose ran a Confederate spy ring out of her house. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we get close to some brazen women of American history and popular culture. And we’ll...Read more
Twenty-seven years after it originally aired,Twin Peaks returns for a third season on Showtime on Sunday, May 21st. “Twin Peaks” is considered one of the greatest TV dramas ever made. It has a huge cult following. Mark Frost created the show, along with film director David Lynch....Read more
Some people think they just can’t do math, but it turns out our brains are hard-wired for adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. We’re born with a numbers sense. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge celebrating our mathematical minds. Also, the natural history...Read more
Everything you know about running is wrong. At least, that's the view right now according to some of the latest science in fitness and exercise. Think running is bad for your knees, that prescriptive running shoes tailored to your feet help avoid injury? That stretching is good for you before...Read more
How do we know what's real? Can science tell us, or is there an unseen reality we'll never understand? We explore the borderlands of knowledge and reflect on some remarkable episodes in the history of science - Nobel laureates who investigated ghosts and a pioneer of quantum physics...Read more
John Cheever was sometimes called the "Chekov of the Suburbs." Cheever's characters often find themselves struggling with issues of conformity and class in American suburbia. Much like their creator himself. We'll explore the life and work of John Cheever with his biographer, Blake Bailey. Also...Read more
When and how did the universe begin? Why is there something rather than nothing? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll tackle the big questions about the universe. From Stephen Hawking's latest ideas about parallel universes and theories of everything to the quantum physics of...Read more