We sang it during the civil rights movement, on marches, on buses, and in the face of violence. We sang it for workers rights, and to protest the war in Vietnam, on the mall in Washington. Sometimes, we sang it hand in hand, our arms criss-crossed across our bodies, swaying. More than any...Read more
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Episode Archives
It would be hard to imagine a more fundamental American value than democracy. For centuries, disenfranchised people have fought for the right to vote. But would we be better off if fewer peoplevoted - if only the people who actually know about public policy were allowed to vote...Read more
East Meets West
Part Three
The ancient trading routes through Persia, India and China were once the crossroads between East and West. Is the blogosphere the new Silk Road? Hear heartrending e-mails between an American professor and...Read more
American citizens worry about suicide bombers on airplanes, but intelligence analysts say the real threat today is in cyberspace. Cyber attacks on American companies and military installations are on the rise. Could terrorist hackers take down America's power grid? Or financial networks. In...Read more
When Meg Gaines was diagnosed with terminal cancer, her doctor told her to go home and think about the quality, not the quantity, of her days. Instead she grabbed him by the bow-tie and said “I don’t think you understand. I intend to live.” Today Meg Gaines is helping other cancer patients...Read more
In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Simon Winchester tells the remarkable story of Krakatoa. The volcanic eruption spewed chunks of land 25 miles into the air. The blast was heard three thousand miles away. And it kicked up monstrous tidal waves that killed nearly forty thousand...Read more
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
When you think of great movie musicals, what comes to mind? “Singing in the Rain” with Gene Kelly swinging from a streetlight in the middle of a torrential downpour. How about “A Hard Day’s Night” - with images of hysterical fans mobbing the Beatles at a train station. According to Roger...Read more
Racial sensitivity and political tolerance are clearly good, but is it possible to take them too far? This hour, a look at how we talk about touchy subjects -- whether political correctness is about safety or censorship.Read more
What would you die for? And what are you willing to kill for? Democracy?On this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the meaning of democracy. We’ll hear from writers Alice Walker, Sherman Alexie, Isabel Alende and Margaret Atwood. Also, tomorrow’s citizens. Are schools giving children...Read more
In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, James Bradley remembers his father the war hero, who helped raise the flag on Iwo Jima. Martin Amis comes to terms with his famous father – the writer Kingsley Amis. And the story of a military father who was an officer but no gentleman...Read more
Cosmologist Janna Levin feels cramped. Thirty billion light years just isn’t enough space for her. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we consider the Universe Beyond Einstein. Janna Levin tackles the shape and size of space. Also, we’ll try to catch a gravity wave, marvel at the...Read more
Vivek Maddala knows how to tell a good story. He can put a lump in your throat or make you laugh out loud. His themes are timeless and universal. Maddala composes music for silent films. In this hour of To The Best Of Knowledge, how to construct a narrative. From writing silent film music to...Read more
Forty years ago the streets of Chicago exploded as police clashed with anti-war protesters at the Democratic National Convention. It's one of the momentous events that defined the Sixties. Or is it? Some historians now say the rise of the conservative movement is what truly made history in the...Read more
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
Steve Kissing seemed like a perfect child. He was an "A" student. He excelled as an athlete. He was even an altar boy. But Steve had a secret, a secret so dark he couldn't tell anyone. Steve was possessed by the devil. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, meeting the devil. From a boy...Read more
When Donald Trump described his offensive remarks about women as "locker room talk," he implied that it's normal for men to engage in macho sexual braggadocio in gender-segregated spaces like men's locker rooms. Sociologist Amy Schalet and law professor Terry Kogan trace hidden...Read more
Double-crossin’ dames. Grifters on the make in sleazy dive bars. Dead men that are heavier than broken hearts. Some think his novels are just pulp fiction, but to others Raymond Chandler is one of the greatest American writers of the 20th Century. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge...Read more
Want to improve your mood? Just dance. This hour we’re talking with people who’ve found an easy way to keep themselves happy, to build friendships, and make art. We’re checking in with neuroscientists too, to hear just what happens in our brains when we’re dancing. Also, how dancing...Read more
We’re exploring love by the numbers, this week. 36 questions, 40 first dates, and 43 equations – it’s all part of the new mathematical science of love.Read more
What would the Old Masters make of the exhibitions that get some elected officials so worked up? They might have liked them! In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, new art and old masters. Simon Schama paints Rembrandt as a prankster. We’ll uncover the political...Read more
Belly up to the bar as To the Best of Our Knowledge spends an hour with drinkers and drunks. Meet the man who invented the Cosmopolitan. He says it’s a really simple drink. All you need is fresh lime juice.Read more
Is it any wonder boys don’t read? Too often they’re assigned the books their female teachers loved. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the man behind the GuysRead website says forget “Little House on the Prairie” and bring on Stinky Cheese Man! And we’ll hear what happened when the...Read more
There’s no English translation for the Dutch word “Gezellig."
Are there things that can never be understood, expressed or experienced outside their home culture?
We’re wandering the unmarked maps of cultural translation!Read more