You know Marcel Proust as the author of the massive autobiographical novel, "In Search of Lost Time." But did you know that Proust can also be considered a scientist? That's the argument that Jonah Lehrer makes in his book, "Proust Was A Neuroscientist." Lehrer explains how Proust made...Read more
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Episode Archives
Original Air Date:
March 21, 2010
Previous Airdates:
March 21, 2010
February 27, 2011
Lynda Barry rules the pages of the alternative press as the Queen of Comics. Her new book is about liberating the creative process. Barry believes that deep down we're all artists, if we could just get out of our own way. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we'll talk about channeling...Read more
Original Air Date:
November 22, 2009
Previous Airdates:
November 22, 2009
September 19, 2010
When David Foster Wallace committed suicide in September of 2008, there was a tsunami of grief. Readers, writers and critics poured out their sorrows in print and online. If you hadn't been paying attention for all the love for DFW, the response might have caught you by surprise. Wallace's hyper...Read more
Original Air Date:
August 23, 2009
Previous Airdates:
August 23, 2009
September 12, 2010
We look at the controversial Gnostic Gospels and the story of a buried Christianity.Read more
Original Air Date:
December 10, 2006
Previous Airdates:
December 10, 2006
December 16, 2007
What do you call young people who strap on explosive vests and detonate them in a crowded marketplace? President Bush says they're fascist terrorists. The Western press labels them suicide bombers. But to a Muslim, particularly one who's sympathetic to their political ideology,...Read more
Original Air Date:
September 03, 2006
Previous Airdates:
September 03, 2006
July 29, 2007
We talk with E.O. Wilson about the growing rift between science and religion. We'll also get a very different take on religious belief from historian Garry Wills, author of "What Jesus Meant."Read more
Original Air Date:
March 26, 2006
Previous Airdates:
April 29, 2007
March 26, 2006
We look at the controversial Gnostic Gospels and the story of a buried Christianity.Read more
Original Air Date:
December 10, 2006
Previous Airdates:
December 10, 2006
December 16, 2007
"We're all of us guinea pigs in the laboratory of God. Humanity is just a work in progress." So said Tennessee Williams. Inventor and visionary Ray Kurzweil believes the new, improved version of humanity could feature computers the size of blood cells implanted in our brains....Read more
Original Air Date:
October 15, 2006
Previous Airdates:
October 15, 2006
What do you call young people who strap on explosive vests and detonate them in a crowded marketplace? President Bush says they're fascist terrorists. The Western press labels them suicide bombers. But to a Muslim, particularly one who's sympathetic to their political ideology,...Read more
Original Air Date:
September 03, 2006
Previous Airdates:
September 03, 2006
July 29, 2007
We talk with E.O. Wilson about the growing rift between science and religion. We'll also get a very different take on religious belief from historian Garry Wills, author of "What Jesus Meant."Read more
Original Air Date:
March 26, 2006
Previous Airdates:
April 29, 2007
March 26, 2006
When you hear the word "globalization," you probably don't think of the sport of soccer. But Franklin Foer does. He traveled around the globe to explore this connection, attending soccer matches and interviewing his heroes. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Franklin Foer will tell us...Read more
Original Air Date:
January 30, 2005
Previous Airdates:
January 30, 2005
March 12, 2006
Mark Sundeen got an offer he couldn't refuse. A publisher paid him upfront to write a book on bullfighting in Spain. Mark doesn't speak Spanish, knows nothing about bullfighting, and hates to travel, but that didn't stop him from writing the book. He just made the whole thing up. In this hour of...Read more
Original Air Date:
March 13, 2005
Previous Airdates:
March 13, 2005
February 19, 2006
Join us for stories about bread in this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge.Read more
Original Air Date:
November 14, 2004
Previous Airdates:
November 14, 2004
July 10, 2005
Mark Sundeen got an offer he couldn't refuse. A publisher paid him upfront to write a book on bullfighting in Spain. Mark doesn't speak Spanish, knows nothing about bullfighting, and hates to travel, but that didn't stop him from writing the book. He just made the whole thing up. In this hour of...Read more
Original Air Date:
March 13, 2005
Previous Airdates:
March 13, 2005
February 19, 2006
When you hear the word "globalization," you probably don't think of the sport of soccer. But Franklin Foer does. He traveled around the globe to explore this connection, attending soccer matches and interviewing his heroes. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Franklin Foer will tell us...Read more
Original Air Date:
January 30, 2005
Previous Airdates:
January 30, 2005
March 12, 2006
Join us for stories about bread in this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge.Read more
Original Air Date:
November 14, 2004
Previous Airdates:
November 14, 2004
July 10, 2005
On Christmas Eve of 1914, German soldiers in the Flanders trenches lit candles on small Christmas trees. British, French, Belgian and German troops serenaded each other with songs. Soon enemy soldiers broke bread with each other and exchanged letters. In this hour of To the...Read more
Original Air Date:
December 16, 2001
Previous Airdates:
December 16, 2001
December 15, 2002
On Thanksgiving Day most Americans spend at least a little time doing just that – giving thanks. But followers of a Japanese discipline called Naikan practice what you could call “extreme gratitude.” They make a point of thanking everyone and everything in their lives – every day....Read more
Original Air Date:
November 24, 2002
Previous Airdates:
November 24, 2002
On Christmas Eve of 1914, German soldiers in the Flanders trenches lit candles on small Christmas trees. British, French, Belgian and German troops serenaded each other with songs. Soon enemy soldiers broke bread with each other and exchanged letters. In this hour of To the...Read more
Original Air Date:
December 16, 2001
Previous Airdates:
December 16, 2001
December 15, 2002
To be American can mean many things. It can mean a young black teen in a hoodie, or a illegal immigrant who’s been living here for 20 years. How do we reconcile the many different American experiences?Read more
Original Air Date:
March 02, 2014