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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Maybe it hits you the first time you get a mailing from AARP – all of a sudden, getting older isn't just about other people. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we spend time with some people who've chosen to face the rest of their lives in some unusual ways. Poker columnist James...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Where did we come from, and where are we going? Whether it's the Garden of Eden and Armageddon, or the Big Bang and the Big Freeze, we can't help but ponder our place in the universe. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we consider the universal course of time, from the beginning to...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Piano lessons. For many of us those two words evoke only bad memories from our childhood. Piano lessons are shorthand for the oppression of children by mean and tyrannical adults. And no one captures this better than Dr. Seuss, the champion of all kids, underdogs and Whozits. In this hour of To...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Ten years after the War on Terror began, militant Islamic teenagers are still blowing themselves up in crowded streets.  What makes someone willing to become a human bomb?  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, how religious radicalization works and new techniques for...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Ever want to chuck everything and just live your dream? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we meet several people who are doing just that. One of them's a hot young actor, starring in a smash Broadway musical. Another is a middle-aged husband and father who published a small magazine...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Ayn Rand didn't know how to make small talk; she lived for big ideas and bold statements.  She believed capitalism was the best social system ever invented, and even took to wearing a gold pin in the shape of a dollar sign.  Ayn Rand died nearly thirty years ago, but she's now inspiring a new...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Her novel “Bel Canto” was a hit so now novelist Ann Patchett is a star.  But back when they were in college, it was her fellow student Lucy Grealy who got treated like a rock star.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, a look at uncommon friendships.  Ann Patchett tells how her...Read more

Doug Gordon heads off to host and produce "Beta" on WPR Next.

TTBOOK staffers share some of our favorite interviews and shows produced by our favorite Canadian. Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Filmmaker Ken Burns calls the national parks "America's best idea." We'll take you to Yosemite,Denali and Carlsbad Caverns. We'll also explore some forgotten parts of our history: how the "buffalo soldiers" helped create America's first parks, and why the very idea of protecting nature has...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Laura Blumenfeld’s father was a tourist in Jerusalem when he was shot in the head.  The shooter was a member of the PLO.  He had lousy aim – his victim lived.  But Blumenfeld never forgot that day.  In fact, she vowed to find the man responsible and take revenge.  She kept her word.  Her story...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The past is nebulous - a place no one can go.  When we try to get our bearings there, we often find more than one truth.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we’ll go back to Vietnam with Senator Bob Kerrey.  And, one woman pieces together her past in war-torn Liberia.  Also, paying...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Shortly after her mother died of ovarian cancer, Jessica Queller had herself tested for the dreaded BRCA gene mutation. She tested positive, which meant she had an 87 percent chance of developing breast cancer, and a nearly 50 percent chance of ovarian cancer. So Queller did the unthinkable: at...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

As the Dalai Lama turns 80, we reflect on his legacy and remarkable personal history. Also, how various Eastern spiritual traditions have taken root in the West - from yoga to meditation. And the legacy of California's famous utopian experiment at Esalen and its "religion of no religion."Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The bitter chill of winter can be hard to take.  But there are people who love all that snow and ice; in fact, some don’t know anything else.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we’ll explore the Far North, from the Inuit of Greenland to the bears of Alaska.  Also, a musical comedy...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Are humans innately violent? If you stripped the civilization out of us, just how bad would we be?Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

On February 13th, 1945 Kurt Vonnegut and other American POWs were hiding in a cellar during the firebombing of Dresden.  They were remarkably lucky, as 135,000 people died that night.  During the bombing one soldier said, “I wonder what the poor people are doing tonight?”  Nobody laughed but, as...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Are you living the American Dream? Or just struggling to get by? Changing the minimum wage, cuts to food stamps, and health care coverage have been all over the news.  What does it take to “make it” in America today? 

Also, On Our Minds this week, Swedish crime fiction writer Jens Lapidus...Read more

a woman plays guitar

Music and social change go hand in hand. We explore the secret history of protest music. Songs and social movements you might have missed -- from the early days of rock and roll to the non-violent hip hop message of FM Supreme.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

With the war in Iraq winding down, now what?  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, a look at the war’s aftermath - and not only for Iraqis, but also for the millions of people who marched against the war.  Does America’s quick victory mean the peace movement failed?  And what about...Read more

geometry in the dark

Reality is catching up to science fiction.  But there are still new science-fiction writers who are thinking the unthinkable and daring to go beyond the limits of our imaginations.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

It's called the Turing Test, an annual event in which the most advanced computer programs try to fool a panel of judges into mistaking them for real people.    And real people compete to try to win the coveted "Most Human Human Award."  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll meet...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Contemporary nomads are primitive, tribal people who chase the seasons to fresh water and greener pastures.  They’re not middle aged American women who’ve published scores of children’s books, or not usually.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we’ll meet Rita Golden Gelman,...Read more

spare change

Why do we assume more money is better?  Maybe if we weren't so focused on how much we have, we'd ask a better question:  How much is enough?  We explore the relationship between money and happiness, and alternative forms of currency.  Also, Great Britain's experiment in Gross...Read more

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