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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Think that a TV series based on the Coen Brothers' 1996 black comedy crime thriller, "Fargo," is a bad idea? Then you haven't seen "Fargo," The TV series.  Creator and showrunner Noah Hawley talks about how he transformed the iconic film into the critically-acclaimed, award-winning TV series.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

a politically divided map

 Political animosity between the right and the left is off the charts.  Social scientists say we're living in one of the most polarized periods in history and that conservatives and liberals don't just disagree anymore. They hate everything about each other.  It's time to de-...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Remember the good old days? No? Well that's either because you haven't lived them yet, or you need to check the note you left on the bedside table. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we're looking at age and memory with a Nobel Prize winner searching through the mechanics of the brain...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Noelle Howey got the shock of her life when she was 14.  She found out her dad liked to wear women’s clothes.  In fact, he really wanted to be a woman.  So he re-lived his teenage years ... as a girl, just as Noelle herself hit adolescence.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge stories...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

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

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

Reading a good book may be the most fun you can have sitting down.  Books can be a hobby or a passion, an interest or an obsession.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, tales from book world.  A former bookseller takes us to Hay on Wye - the Welsh town that’s well on its way to...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Want to learn a second or third language?  You don’t have to slave away in a French seminar – it only takes a minute or two to pick up “ob.”  Next time on tob-oo thob-ah bob-est ob-of ob-our knob-ow-lob-edge.  Or should I say To the Best of Our Knowledge, word games, and secret...Read more

a preacher on the prairie

You know the earth is round, the sky is up, and your dog loves you.  But HOW do you know those things?  This week, how we form opinions – the psychology and brain chemistry behind our beliefs.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

From Soup to Nuts:

Part Three

Meat and Potatoes isn't just what's for dinner. Meat and Potatoes is a way of life. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, food that sticks to your ribs. We'll get into the science of the French fry and...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The average American spends more time on Facebook than with their pets or exercising -- and that's not counting Twitter, Instagram, or Vine. We're more connected than ever these days, but at what cost?Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

tarot cards

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Picking up a bottle of wine for dinner used to be simple. It pretty much depended on how much you wanted to spend, since everything came from France. Not anymore! We'll look at what happened to the wine world in 1976, when wine from the Napa Valley won a blind tasting and turned the industry...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

To mark the Winter Solstice, we’ll honor the sacred origins our secular Christmas decorations and hear a solstice story from India.  And to help you get through the long winter evenings, we’ll get some recommendations for your winter reading list.  Solstice myths and stories and provocative new...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Thomas Paine was a working class Englishman without many prospects when he landed in America in 1774. Two years later his pamphlet "Common Sense" laid the foundation for the Declaration of Independence and transformed American politics. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, why...Read more

beautiful food

Imagine a farm five stories tall, powered by the sun, watered by the rain. Cabbage and carrots, tomatoes and eggplant grow on living walls. Tens of thousands of fish swim in aquaponic tanks. In this hour, the urban farm of the future gets real. Also, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Film-maker David Lynch has been "diving within" through the Transcendental Meditation technique for more than 30 years.  Now Lynch has created a foundation that wants to help students discover their full creative potential through T.M. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, David Lynch...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

While the debate about how to fix America’s schools rages on, millions of parents have their own solution – opting out of the system.  Homeschoolers in America usually make the choice for two reasons – to invest more religion in the curriculum or to embrace the vales of progressive education. ...Read more

Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader speaking at a campaign event in Waterbury, CT

Selling out: we talk with two people who’ve vowed never to sell out: Ralph Nader, and Congressman Joe Walsh. Walsh says the Tea Party must be the party of no compromise. Also, someone often accused of selling out: Shepard Fairey; he went from making street art to designing an iconic Obama poster...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Toby Young thought he had it made.  He had a prestigious job at Vanity Fair magazine, a press pass that got him in everywhere, and a suave British accent to boot.  He was poised to take Manhattan.  Then everything went wrong.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, flops, failures and...Read more

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