Episode Archives

Filter episodes by the year they originally aired.
To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

a fence

In this age of globalization, why would anyone want borders, an army, currency?  Isn’t that kind of … old school?   Read more

a brightly lit bible

Buried scrolls, clay tablets, priceless artifacts and expensive forgeries – this week, we bring you stories from the strange and amazing world of biblical archeology.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

What if our lives were like DVDs?  What if we had alternative endings to look forward to, instead of death?  We explore our lust for immortality.  And we look at the many alternative endings that Ernest Hemingway wrote for his classic novel, "A Farewell to Arms."

 Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

Japanese street

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

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

With the emergence of barefoot running, the sport suddenly is red hot again.  But barefoot or not, are human bodies really born to run?  We'll check in on the science or runner's high this hour, and try to unlock the secrets of the Kenyans - the fastest people on earth. Also, Olympic medalist...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Jacques Derrida and the philosophical movement known as deconstruction were once the rage on college campuses. Those days have passed, but deconstruction's influence is everywhere. We talk with Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, who first translated Derrida's landmark book "Of Grammatology" into...Read more

art

Magic is an art, a philosophy, and a way of seeing the world.  In this hour, we learn magic tricks from a stage magician, travel to India's last magician's colony, explore shamanic magic, and talk with magical novelists Erin Morgenstern (Night Circus) and Deborah Harkness (...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

How far would you go for something to eat?  Paris?  Mom’s house?  The drive-through at Mickey D’s?  I bet you wouldn’t swim thousands of miles, from Mexico to the Arctic, just to scarf up mud from the bottom of the ocean.  Whales do, and they’ve been doing it every year for eons.  In this hour...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Many Americans think the story of Cuba begins and ends with Fidel Castro. But the soul of the Cuban Revolution belonged to the charismatic, Romantic guerilla hero Ernesto “Che” Guevara. To the Best of Our Knowledge revisits the Sixties and counts the private costs of that era’s social gains. ...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Start telling love stories and chances are, you’ll find yourself telling tales of transgression.   In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Joyce Carol Oates talks about the harm done by family secrets.  P.D. James muses on why women are so good at crime fiction.  A...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Are you a knave? Scalawag?  A varlet? Are you a scoundrel?  Maybe you’re not but secretly you want to be. Being a scoundrel kind of has a ring to it. It’s romantic. Rebellious.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Have you ever wished you cared less or been told to develop a thicker skin? For the polite and anxious among us, suddenly being immune to criticism and embarrassment might seem to be a superpower. In this hour, we’re exploring...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

It’s been described as the Nobel Prize of motion pictures: the coveted Academy Award.  One billion people around the world watch the Oscars on TV every year.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the history and politics of the Academy Awards.  Is Oscar a white man’s award?  Also, Don...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

In the mid-80's the metal band Winger topped the charts with hits like "Seventeen." Then Grunge came along and left bands like Winger in the dust.  Now, Kip Winger is back on top with a new CD that debuted at #1 on the music charts.  Only this time, he's rocking the classical charts....Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The world of plants can be a dangerous place. Gorgeous monkshood, with stalks of purple blooms can cause delusions and death. A plump cashew can make you miserable if it isn't steamed properly. And aconite, almost indistinguishable from parsley can cause paralysis and stop your beating heart...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The atom bomb's ability to kill people makes it a literal dangerous idea.  But there are other kinds of dangerous ideas -- ideas that are contrary, counterintutive and just plain unconventional.  It's that kind of dangerous idea that we explore in this hour.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Ronald Reagan had it.  Jonathan Swift, Iris Murdoch, and, most likely, Ralph Waldo Emerson had it too.  Alzheimer’s disease is on the rise, and scientists predict that up to one hundred million people will develop it in the next fifty years.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Future Perfect: Dreamers, Schemers & Visionaries

Part Four

 

The happiness industry is booming. And with good reason - everyone wants to be happy. Today, science can light the way. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge,...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

It's hard to wrap your head around the future of the human brrain.  Augmented intelligence, memory playback, downloadable skills - it's all coming.  We explore the future of the mind, and hear how a brain injury can transform your life.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Is the NSA wiretapping story really new? Sure, whistle blower Edward Snowden is all over the news. But people were talking about federal surveillance ten years before leaked documents about “Prism.” In this hour, we take a look at what we know about government surveillance and when we knew it...Read more

Pages