Episode Archives

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love neon sign

Red roses, chilled champagne, a candlelight dinner for two. Who cares?!?

This is the 21st century. We’ve got 30 million potential dates online. We’ve got every imaginable type of pornography at our fingertips. Odds are each of us could hook up with someone new tonight.

...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Everyone knows what comic books are about, right? But it's not all about people in long underwear hitting each other. This hour on To the Best of Our Knowledge, heroes, anti-heroes, and regular folks strutting their stuff in black and white.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Suppose you drop a family photograph on the subway, is it still yours?  Not if Brian Dunn finds it.  He collects lost photos and makes them his own.  I’m Jim Fleming.  Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge “Who owns what?”  If there are copyrights are there copy “...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Seven hundred million people get their music from the Internet. More than 10 million people own iPods.  Does this mean that compact discs and record companies are going the way of the gramophone and eight-track tapes?  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll look at this digital...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

You know those end of the year lists?  Best books, movies, music and so on?  This hour, To the Best of Our Knowledge shares the best interviews from 2015.  Plus a booklist or two.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

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

dark man in mask

“Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.”
-- Mark TwainRead more

a loner

If there's one sweeping societal change that we've failed to put our finger on, it may be this: more people than ever before in America are living alone.  And loving it.  And, far from being dysfunctional neurotics - people who live alone are happy, socially involved and solvent. In...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Couples know the frightening statistic: 50 percent of today’s marriages will fail.  And the real victims are the children.  As they grow up they are more likely to be aggressive or depressed, end up in mental health hospitals, or get divorced themselves.  In this hour of To the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

George Orwell wrote "1984" in response to two of the reigning ideologies of his day - fascism and communism. Does his dystopian story of Big Brother and Doublethink still matter today? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we'll talk with actor Tim Robbins, who recently staged a...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Are you planning to see the world this summer? Or enjoy the frugal pleasure of a stay-cation? Remember, the best travel isn't about miles logged – it's about minds expanded. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, travel stories. Travel guru Rick Steves develops an unexpected passion for...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Have you ever thought about disappearing... wiping out your old identity and starting fresh, with a new name, a new life, a new self? In this hour we try to find out how to disappear completely. You too can vanish without a trace! Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

One of the top-selling songs last year was by rapper Kanye West.  But it wasn’t hardcore hip-hop, it was a gospel song called “Jesus Walks.”  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the rebirth of Gospel Music.  We’ll look at where gospel came from and where it’s going.  And, we’ll feel...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

It’s the most contested piece of real estate on Earth.  Jews know it as the Temple Mount.  Muslims call it Al-Aqsa.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the controversy over this sacred site in Jerusalem’s Old City.  Also, why the Temple Mount inspires apocalyptic visions for some...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

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The Jewish High Holy Days come to an end every fall on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.  This year, we're thinking about atonement and forgiveness.  Whether you're Jewish or non-Jewish, secular or religious, forgiveness is something we all struggle with.  Today we explore the path to...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Born 200 years ago, Charles Darwin was a revolutionary figure, and yet polls show that more than half of all Americans still don't accept his theory of evolution. So, is Darwinian evolution compatible with faith in God? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, what Darwin himself thought...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Remember what it was like to be a kid, playing outside with friends for hours at a time? Sure, it may just seem like fun and games, but it may also have been invaluable training for life as an adult.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Mind and Brain

Neuroscientists have made remarkable discoveries about the brain, but so far, no one's come close to cracking the biggest mystery of all - the connection between the...Read more

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