In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, choosing the life you want. Colette’s biographer talks about how the great French writer stayed saucy and sexually active into old age. Kay Redfield Jamison takes a look at the end of life - a view of the suicide epidemic. And...Read more
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Episode Archives
Electrons to Enlightenment
Part Four
Polls show that nearly half of all Americans believe the Biblical story of creation, while only a quarter accept evolution. The philosopher Daniel Dennett thinks we need to "break the spell" of...Read more
Science and the Search for Meaning: Five Questions, Part 3: Does the Soul Still Matter?
For centuries, we’ve been told the soul is what makes each of us unique. It’s why we have moral responsibility. And it’s the part of us that lives on after we die. ...Read more
Batman, Superman, the Green Lantern we all had our superheroes as kids. Maybe we still do today? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, SUPERHEROES. We'll celebrate Wonder Woman's 70th birthday with a look at her controversial new costume. We'll also explore the actual physics of...Read more
He was the most surprising Booker Prize winner in years. DBC Pierre had been a con man and a drug addict before he became a writer. Now he’s won one of the world’s great literary prizes. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we’ll talk with some award-winning writers including DBC...Read more
Who did the press hail as the conqueror of the air? Alberto Santos-Dumont, who flew around the Eiffel Tower while Jules Verne and H.G. Wells watched and wondered. He even tied his “personal airship” to the lamp posts outside restaurants in Paris, and worked to revolutionize transportation. ...Read more
Gore Vidal has a special fondness for the Founding Fathers, especially George Washington. “The others were geniuses. He was not a genius” he says, but “he had a powerful character which got him through the revolution, since he was not much of a general. But he was a great leader.” We’ll talk...Read more
Thousands of the world's languages are disappearing in the wake of globalization. And because language is the DNA of culture, a lost language is a lost culture. Today, stories from the frontlines of the language revitalization movement. Also, Dr. Larry Brilliant's improbable journey from...Read more
Chris Ayres never wanted to cover the war. He was perfectly content reporting on celebrity gossip in L.A. But through a twist of fate, he found himself embedded with Marines in Iraq, living in a Humvee and waiting for his death at the hands of the Republican Guard. In this hour of To the Best...Read more
Of all the days in the life of Nelson Mandela - the days in jail, awaiting sentence and his election in 94 - one day stood out as the most nerve-wracking. The day of the Rugby World Cup in 1995 - South Africa versus New Zealand. But it was much more than a sports match. It was the chance to...Read more
What happens when a Little League game turns into an epic battle to save the world from an evil, shape-shifting Coyote, and the fate of the Universe hangs on an 11-year-old boy? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, kids books for adults. Also, remembering L. Frank Baum, the creator of...Read more
There's something magical about making words. Ask any parent what their baby's first word was. Chances are they'll remember. Words are what set us apart from all the other animals. And they're endlessly fascinating. In this hour of To Best of Our Knowledge we'll meet a variety of people...Read more
In the film-going arena, one man towers above all others. His endurance, stamina and tolerance for popcorn are unparalleled. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Kevin Murphy’s quest to see a movie a day. Every day. For a Year. Also, writer Michael Ondaatje (ahn-dot-chee) on the...Read more
In 1945 Franklin Roosevelt worked out a deal with the king of Saudi Arabia. America got unlimited access to Saudi Oil, and in return, the U.S. protected the Royal Family against its enemies. Now that special relationship is under fire. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the politics...Read more
Tucker Crowe is a reclusive musician. His devoted fans consider him to be the creator of the greatest breakup album ever recorded. But Tucker Crowe doesn't actually exist. He's a character in "Juliet, Naked"...the new novel from "New York Times" best-selling author, Nick Hornby. We'll talk to...Read more
Albert Einstein died more than half a century ago, but there's still a raging debate over what he thought about religion. He once said "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind." In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, what exactly did Einstein conclude about...Read more
In the early 1950's two-year-old Jacqueline Henley in New Orleans became darker. After the neighbors complained, her aunt turned her over to New Orleans authorities. A black couple wanted to adopt Jacqueline but -- she had the word “white” stamped on her birth certificate. Next time on To...Read more
American leaders say the fight against Osama bin Laden is not a religious war, but are they right? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the deep divide between fundamentalists and the secular world. Also, a look at true believers in America - from the Holy Rollers of...Read more
"Everyone is on the Internet but they're not all talking with each other. There are groups upon groups out there, but they don't talk to one another. So while the Internet brings everyone into a share space, it does not necessarily bring them together." -- David LynchRead more
Grim news from Africa is easy to find, but there are good things happening there too. The creator of the Number 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency wants you to know all about them. He calls himself a Utopian writer. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we’ll visit the real Botswana with...Read more
Wouldn't it be great if we could predict the future? We could invest wisely, prepare for social change, and have next season's fashionable footwear.
But in our accelerated world, it seems increasingly difficult to figure out what the next big thing will be. In this hour, are trends a...Read more
In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge one man’s attempt to apologize for the sins of his family’s past. Also, mizuko kuyo, the Japanese ritural ceremony of apology to aborted fetuses. What does it mean to say “I’m sorry.”Read more
Two years ago a professor in Wisconsin checked her mail and found a most unusual letter...from an Iraqi graduate student asking for scholarly advice. Since then professor Susan Friedman has exchanged hundreds of e-mails with academics in Iraq. And she's heard harrowing accounts of academic...Read more