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
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Episode Archives
You might think that men’s anxiety over baldness is a relatively recent development in the history of civilization. But it’s not. The ancient Romans invented the comb-over and paint-on hair, which has since become spray-on hair. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we’...Read more
American children grow up playing Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh. As adults, they line up for the latest anime movies and hang out in karaoke bars. In other words -- Japanese culture is serious business. So serious that Japan's Prime Minister appointed a "Cool Japan" minister to oversee...Read more
Forty years ago, the U.S. ended its war in Vietnam, but we're still fighting over its legacy - in foreign policy and military strategy, and also in books and movies. But there's one question Americans rarely ask: what does the war mean to the Vietnamese themselves? We'll hear several...Read more
It’s one of the great stories in the history of books. James Murray was a poor kid from Scotland who dropped out of school at age 14. Somehow, he taught himself the history of words in various languages, and went on to create the world’s greatest dictionary. In this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more
Two people, a house, a pitchfork, and a barn. It's hard to find a better-known American painting than Grant Wood's masterpiece "American Gothic." But just who are those grim people, and why do they have such a hold on the American psyche? Here's the history of an American classic. Also, a...Read more
It turns out that television may not be quite the "boob tube" and "the idiot box" that we thought it was. It seems that watching TV can actually make you smarter... by posing new cognitive challenges for your brain to solve. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll explore the...Read more
David Graeber was an iconoclastic anthropologist and influential radical thinker, one who popularized the rallying cry "We are the 99%." He died on Sept. 2 in Venice, Italy at age 59. Read more
A rose is a rose is a rose... until it becomes perfume. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the power of the flower. A science journalist introduces us to Luca Turin, the most amazing nose in the business, with a new theory about how we smell. We’ll talk with photographer Joyce...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
America is in trouble. The decline of the dollar, climate change and the ugly math of Social Security and national debt are just a handful of the challenges facing the next generation. And who's to blame for the current mess? Baby Boomers - according to a growing movement, pitting one generation...Read more
Siberia is the name for a place we tend to think of as a metaphor as much as a destination on the map. Writer Ian Frazier indulged what he calls his dread Russia love with travels through Siberia, tracing the path of prisoners on their way to lonely exile and through mosquito-ridden swamps at...Read more
Scientists have proven what pet owners already knew - cuddling with your dog or cat is good for you – and for your pet. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, keeping animals well, and how they return the favor. From gorilla conservation and eco-tourism to the dilemmas posed...Read more
Crime may not pay but writing crime fiction does. Just ask the Swedish writer, Henning Mankell. Or those who write "Tartan Noir"...Scottish detective fiction. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll explore Northern Europe's fictional crime wave. Also, Roger Ebert on film noir.Read more
Scientists tell us optimistic people are happier, healthier and even live longer than pessimists. But it's hard to maintain an optimistic frame of mind in the face of daily reports of war, famine, disease and injustice. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, evidence that the world is...Read more
Patti Smith revolutionized rock'n'roll in the Seventies by fusing poetry with rock music. Now, she's written a remarkable memoir about her emergence as an artist, and her friendship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. In this hour of To the Best of our Knowledge, we'll talk with Patti Smith...Read more
You may recall the story of six young people who reported seeing visions of the Virgin Mary in Medjugorje. Journalist Randall Sullivan talked to one of the visionaries and concluded she believes what she was reporting. But where does that leave us? Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge,...Read more
Sinatra swings it, Miles Davis jazzes it up, and Billy Holiday croons it from the heart. Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge, the biography of a great American love song. In our second annual Valentine’s Day Show the Rogers and Hart hit “My Funny Valentine.” And our listeners share true...Read more
Busloads of Senior Citizens roll onto the Reservation for high stakes bingo. Lottery tickets show up on people’s shopping lists in 47 states. Practically every office has a pool on the NFL or the Final Four or the outcome of the latest reality television series. In this hour of To the Best of...Read more
“Lets Make Our Own Movie!” That was a wild idea back in the days of young Mickey Rooney, but today, anyone can do it. Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge, how digital cameras make us all directors, and why movies may never be the same. Also, screenwriter Andrew Davies...Read more
Consider this future world: a vaccine that makes you continually happy. A chip in your brain that lets you communicate telepathically with your spouse. Human lives that span hundreds of years. Sound far-fetched? Not according the James Hughes of the World Trans-humanist Association. He says...Read more
Since the explosion of surfing in the 60s, hanging ten has become one of the coolest sports around. Today, women, children, and seniors surf their way across peaks of blue water. Some of them even find the divine along the way. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we’ll find out how...Read more
The differences among the world’s various religions are getting a lot more ink these days than the similarities. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge stories of common ground. “The Life of Pi,” in which an Indian boy finds magic in three different faiths with the help of a Bengal Tiger...Read more
Pop culture writer Chuck Klosterman has interviewed some of the biggest names in the celebrity constellation. But getting a celebrity to talk is no easy task. In fact, Klosterman says it's not in the celebrity's best interest to do any interviews at all. In this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more