The Meaning of Life
Part Four
Pete Best should have been famous beyond his wildest dreams. He had Ringo's job just months before the Beatles' "Love Me Do" became a smash hit. But he got tossed out of the band and ended up working...Read more
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Episode Archives
From Soup to Nuts:
Part Two
This may be the century when Americans forget how to cook. We're just too busy. Take-out's too easy. And, who needs to cook when you can buy ready-made...Read more
Batman, Superman, the Green Lantern we all had our superheroes as kids. Maybe we still do today? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, SUPERHEROES. We'll celebrate Wonder Woman's 70th birthday with a look at her controversial new costume. We'll also explore the actual physics of...Read more
Gore Vidal has a special fondness for the Founding Fathers, especially George Washington. “The others were geniuses. He was not a genius” he says, but “he had a powerful character which got him through the revolution, since he was not much of a general. But he was a great leader.” We’ll talk...Read more
We explore music and memory in this hour -- Kurt Cobain's lasting impact 20 years after his death; insidious and infectious earworms; and the retro worldly music of Pink Martini.Read more
With the elections approaching, candidates and campaigns are working hard to get out the vote. But what would it take to get people politically involved all year round? This hour we explore a few ways, whether it's by using games to make the political process more fun, or mobilizing activists...Read more
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
It's been more than four decades since the Civil Rights movement ended racial segregation in America. Yet few would say African-Americans are now fully integrated – or assimilated. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, African American writers talk about race, and how black history –...Read more
Have you ever heard of Dan Rice? Probably not. But if you were alive around the middle of the nineteenth century chances are you would know his name. That’s when Dan Rice made his mark in “the show business.” In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the life and times of Dan Rice. And...Read more
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
With shows in Milan, Paris and New York, it's fashion month across the Western World, and people are turning their eyes to runways. But does fashion really matter? Truth is, the garment industry is worth trillions of dollars, and employs millions of people. In this hour, we take a look at the...Read more
In this age of globalization, why would anyone want borders, an army, currency? Isn’t that kind of … old school? Read more
Buried scrolls, clay tablets, priceless artifacts and expensive forgeries – this week, we bring you stories from the strange and amazing world of biblical archeology.Read more
Who are you?
A man? A woman?
Are you a success? A failure?
A parent? An athlete? A wallflower?
A Christian? A Buddhist? A baker?
If we are only a collection of stories about ourselves... what's the truth of who "we" are?
Looking for UNCUT...Read more
Ingrid Betancourt was kidnapped by Marxist rebels in Columbia while in the midst of her presidential campaign. She spent the next six and a half years in captivity chained, humiliated and abused. But her greatest fear was not death. It was losing her humanity. In this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more
Novelist John Updike doesn’t like doing interviews. At least until the interview starts. Then he realizes it’s kind of flattering to talk about himself. Now, he’s written a novel about a famous artist being interviewed. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, John Updike on why an...Read more
Everybody gets excited about whatever's new, but what about what's really, really old? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we commemorate geologic time. We'll meet the scientists who found the oldest object on Earth - a three point four billion year old zircon! And the Jazz...Read more
We explore the frontiers of brain science, from the neurobiology of emotions to recent discoveries about autism. Renowned neuroscientists Richard Davidson and V.S. Ramachandran reveal new insights into the brain, and we'll hear the story of one marriage saved by a diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome...Read more
America is famously a nation of immigrants, a melting pot of cultures. And yet, few subjects will be debated as passionately this year as immigration reform. What are we really talking about, when we argue about immigration? And, what's it like to be 'fresh off the boat" in a country that...Read more
Everybody needs a little help, and some of us need a lot. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we’ll meet some helpers - and they’re not all human. We’ll visit a stable where they do equine assisted therapy, and we’ll hear from a writer who’s a volunteer fireman in his small hometown...Read more
When he was 10-years-old, Brian Raftery realized he couldn't sing. Despite his lack of vocal prowess, Raftery is obsessed with karaoke. He's traveled around the world to trace karaoke's evolution from a cult fad to a multimillion-dollar industry. In this hour, we'll explore the world of karaoke...Read more
Is the NSA wiretapping story really new? Sure, whistle blower Edward Snowden is all over the news. But people were talking about federal surveillance ten years before leaked documents about “Prism.” In this hour, we take a look at what we know about government surveillance and when we knew it...Read more
Have you ever wished you cared less or been told to develop a thicker skin? For the polite and anxious among us, suddenly being immune to criticism and embarrassment might seem to be a superpower. In this hour, we’re exploring...Read more