Episode Archives

Filter episodes by the year they originally aired.
burning book

What's the hot new thing in fiction? Fire! Today, novelists Jesse Ball and Joe Hill talk about their incendiary new fiction. And we meet a pyromaniac-turned-firefighter who can really light up a page. Join us for an hour of flammable fiction.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

There are people in the world who love books – and there are people who would kill for books.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the pleasures and perils of book collecting.  We’ll go on the road with veteran book buyers Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone.  And, we’ll meet...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Every year billions of classified dollars are funneled into what defense analysts call “the black world.”  It’s a realm that uses code names like “Black Light,” “Classic Wizard,” and “Link Plumeria” - a place where even an idea can be top secret.  Stealth bombers came from the black world, and...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

How do you win friends and influence people if you're an immigrant from Leningrad who's bullied at school?   You write your way to friendship.  That's what Gary Shteyngart did. We meet him in this hour as we explore creative writing.  Also, the connection between alcohol and creativity.  And how...Read more

book

Is Jennifer Egan's book, "A Visit from the Goon Squad," a novel or is it a series of entangled stories? It's a fair question because this polyphonic narrative covers a lot of territory – from satire to tragedy told from a wide range of characters' points of view. And one chapter...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Libya, Jordan, Oman, Syria  even Madison, Wisconsin, and the list grows day by day. People are filling the streets and demanding change. They want different things, but their protests have one thing in common: they have no leaders. They're organizing without...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Sales clerks at Powell's Books in Portland, Oregon, reportedly call the best-selling "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo", "the girl who pays our paychecks". The award-winning Swedish crime thriller has sold so many copies, publishers are racing to find the next Scandinavian best-seller. We meet...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

*With his black Fedora hat Jack Abramoff became the symbol of everything that’s corrupt about government.  But now he’s out of prison and seeking atonement.  Join us for a candid interview with former lobbyist Jack Abramoff. How do we as a society deal with the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

There are about 675 species of native birds in North America.  To win the most demanding and prestigious birdwatching competition in the country you have to see ALL of them.  And then some.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, die-hard birders compete in “The Big Year.”  Also, we’ll...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

This may be the century when Americans forget how to cook.  We’re too busy and take-out’s too easy, and who needs to cook when you can buy dinner at the supermarket?  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the profound implications of the decline and fall of chicken soup, meatloaf, and...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Once upon a time, not so long ago, the classroom filmstrip was everywhere.  They taught us to change our underwear at least twice a week, among other things.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we’ll revisit the golden age of classroom filmstrips.  So sit up straight.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The average American child grows up in a house with three TVs, three Radios, two VCRs, two CD players, a video game player and a computer. That's a lot of media. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge what happens when kids stop consuming media and start making it? We'll meet kids who...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Tragedy struck Ron Mallett when he was ten years old. His beloved father died and he wanted to bring him back. So he dreamed of building a time machine. Ron Mallett grew up to become a theoretical physicist. Now he studies quantum mechanics and he's still trying to figure out how to go back in...Read more

a man at the end of the world

How many ways can you imagine the end of the world?   To celebrate the end of 2012, we've gathered some of our favorite apocalyptic fiction.  Doomsday scenarios from award-winning novelists and short story writers, featuring  zombie invasions, mutant plagues, fire and...Read more

a model brain

Do you ever think about the way you think?   Lately, we've been doing a lot of thinking about what we think about when we think about thinking.  Join us as we explore the life of the mind.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

East Meets West

Part Four

 

Imagine growing up in Pakistan. Islam is a way of life. You get up every morning at 4:30 to pray. Then when you're 18, you move to the American Midwest, Iowa, to attend college. That's the story Kumail...Read more

a man becomes a living cereal bowl

What do the opening notes of Beethoven’s “Symphony Number Five” and a rabbit named Oolong balancing a pancake on his head have in common?  They’re both examples of memes – units of culture that are imitated and, as a result, copied from one brain to another.  Are memes the driving...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Memory and ForgettingDo you think your memory is a record of what actually happened?  Chances are, it's not.  New scientific findings show that with every act of remembering, our brains...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Wallace Stegner put it this way. “National Parks are the best idea we ever had.”  This weekend, the National Park Service celebrates its birthday by making the parks free for a day. We're celebrating with an hour on the history and politics of national parks.  And we'll meet some folks whose...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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Toby Young thought he had it made.  He had a prestigious job at Vanity Fair magazine, a press pass that got him in everywhere, and a suave British accent to boot.  He was poised to take Manhattan.  Then everything went wrong.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, flops, failures and...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Most movie stars will do anything to stay in the limelight.  But Debra Winger didn’t care.  Six years ago, she walked out of Hollywood.  She even taped her retirement card above her mirror so she’d see it every day.  Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge, Debra Winger talks about the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge one man’s attempt to apologize for the sins of his family’s past.  Also, mizuko kuyo, the Japanese ritural ceremony of apology to aborted fetuses.  What does it mean to say “I’m sorry.”Read more

Pages