The atom bomb's ability to kill people makes it a literal dangerous idea. But there are other kinds of dangerous ideas -- ideas that are contrary, counterintutive and just plain unconventional. It's that kind of dangerous idea that we explore in this hour.Read more
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Episode Archives
Science and the Search for Meaning: Five Questions, Part Two: What Does Evolution Want?
If there’s one strand of evolutionary theory that sticks in the craw of nearly every religious believer, it’s the idea that human beings are just an evolutionary accident. But...Read more
So much of our daily lives gets turned into data -- our online shopping purchases, phone calls, family photos. We're all surrounded by data, and learning how to harness it could be more transformative than we realize. This week, a look at the new data specialists using their knowledge of numbers...Read more
Atheists are finally coming out of the closet, and in some cases denouncing religion. Others still crave a sense of the sacred even though they don’t believe in God. Do atheists have something to learn from religion? Why do so many people call themselves "spiritual but not religious"? And...Read more
The holidays can be challenging. All that togetherness can be like squishing a passel of porcupines into a sardine can. In other words - not nice. On the other hand, there is a bright side. Po Bronson found it in the lives of families across the country. In this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more
Today's entertainment industry is shrinking the gap between real life and fantasy. Popular television shows like Big Brother turn ordinary life into an engaging drama. Virtual worlds like Second Life give users a chance to recreate themselves with the click of a button. But how real is...Read more
Nature, red in tooth and claw. That line from Tennyson's poem still strikes a chord when we contemplate the natural world. Today, there's a divide in how we view nature. On the one hand, we swing through it like a playground, on the other, we're forced to step back to allow for nature's power in...Read more
“The bearded lady/tried a jar/she’s now/a famous movie star/Burma-shave.” Jingles like that could be found on signs across America’s highways between the 1930's and the 1950's. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the story behind the legendary Burman-Shave advertising campaign. Also...Read more
The East Village Opera Company's new album, "Olde School," was 300 years in the making. The group gives some of opera's greatest hits an extreme musical make-over, re-imagining them as popular songs. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll meet the co-founders of The East Village...Read more
”Seinfeld” and “The Simpsons” may not look like grist for the philosopher’s mill, but philosopher Bill Irwin says they have a few things to teach us. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, philosophy from Socrates to Wittgenstein, with a short detour through pop culture. Also...Read more
Winston Churchill once said “In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.” In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, journalist Jake Tapper discusses the ethics of telling lies during wartime. We’ll also take a concise look at the...Read more
There's still debate about climate change, but one thing's for sure – these days nothing's sure about the weather. Northerners can golf in December, spring shows up early, and mosquitoes are movin' on up. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, wacky weather and what you can do to help....Read more
Did you know that Teddy Roosevelt was one of nine U.S. presidents who had hooks for hands? Well, that's just one of countless facts included in John Hodgman's new almanac. But, as it turns out, all of these facts are fake. In this hour of the Peabody Award-winning To the Best of Our Knowledge,...Read more
As Cuba and the U.S. restore diplomatic relations, what's in store for Americans who want to visit Cuba? And for Cubans wanting more prosperity? Steve Paulson recently traveled to Cuba and brought back new stories about our island neighbor. From diplomacy to culture, we tackle jazz,...Read more
Leon Fleisher was once one of the world’s great pianists. Then a rare neurological disease left two fingers of his right hand clenched into his palm, and he could play only with his left hand for 37 years. At 76, Fleisher’s miraculously regained the use of his bad hand and he’s playing...Read more
Back in 1967, Noam Chomsky wrote a famous essay called "The Responsibility of Intellectuals." Chomsky was furious about what he called "the deceit and distortion surrounding the American invasion of Vietnam." And he urged intellectuals "to speak the truth and expose lies." So what is the...Read more
Who are you? White or black, Muslim or Christian, working class or wealthy? Most of us rotate through many different cultural identities, at work and at home. And sometimes, reconciling them is hard.Read more
Alex Rider, Nancy Drew, The Cat in the Hat, and Harold and the Purple Crayon – for millions of children of all ages, they're some of the most imaginative and mysterious stories around. But as it turns out, the authors sometimes have their own, personal mysteries to share. In this hour of To the...Read more
A fashion model with prosthetic legs… a musician who can’t hear… a writer who can’t see. Instead of disabled, differently-abled, handicapped – why not better-abled?Read more
It was the best of times for Pattie Boyd. Her modeling career was booming and the sixties were exploding on the London scene. One day she got a call - she'd been cast in a Beatles film. The rest is history. We'll meet the woman who inspired three of the most famous rock songs of all time,...Read more
These days it seems we just can’t get enough of it. Over the past few years, luxury spending in the United States has been growing four times faster than overall spending. We’re spending more money on more products and services that we don’t really need – like Evian bottled water and Prada...Read more
Words can change lives. Just look at the “at-risk” students in Erin Gruwell’s class. Many of them were branded “unteachable.” Then they read Anne Frank’s diary, and started to keep their own journals. The experience was electrifying. In this hour of To the Best of...Read more
In this age of globalization, why would anyone want borders, an army, currency? Isn’t that kind of … old school? Read more
Some critics call V.S. Naipaul the world’s greatest living writer. But his harsh views on Islam and the Third World have sparked enormous controversy. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Naipaul talks about his life as a writer. Also, poetry for the ages: we’ll hear Yeats, Auden and...Read more