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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

"Let me say this as plainly as I can" President Obama said recently, "By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end." Obama's plan will bring home some 150,000 troops. But what are they coming home to? Their divorce rate is triple the national average. Alcoholism, four times the...Read more

A protest at Standing Rock

More than 100 Native Americans nations have come to Standing Rock in solidarity to protest for water rights. This hour we ask a deceptively simple question: Who owns water?

...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

There are children who seem to be re-born into new families, while remembering specific and verifiable things about their former lives.  It may be coincidence, or imagination, but some of their stories will curl your hair!  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, a search for...Read more

forest

Lace up the hiking boots and grab the bug spray!   Spring is here and we're heading Into The Woods.  Learn how to read a forest.   Unlock the meanings hidden in leaf and bole, twig and soil.  And celebrate the woods in fairytale, myth, story and song.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

What does it take to become a U.S. president?  Driving ambition, of course, but what else?  We'll dissect a few presidents - from Lincoln and LBJ to Obama - and consider the chances of a female president in 2016.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

East Meets West

Part Two

 

A look at America's romance with Eastern spirituality: how did dharma retreats and yoga vacations become part of the Western lifestyle? Buddhist teachers explain what Buddhism has to offer a consumer...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Think you know about kung fu movies?  That they’re campy, badly dubbed flicks from the 70s?  Sometimes.  But they’re also graceful, noble, heroic feats of movie making.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge the tiger, the crane, legends of the Shaolin (SHOW-lin) Temple, and the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

"Beowulf" is the oldest story in the English language, but for centuries no one knew it existed. The manuscript was buried in an ancient monastery, written in a language no one understood. Even after it was discovered few scholars read it as serious literature, but that all changed with J.R.R...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and...a trip to the mall?  Like it or not, a trip to the mall is an American rite of passage.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge a look at the great American pastime - shopping.  From the Mall of America to the latest new strip mall, Americans spend more...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

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

"Being a man, like being a woman, is something you have to learn." That's what Aaron Raz Link says. And Link should know. He began life as a girl named Sarah. And he started a new life as a gay man twenty-nine years later. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll meet Aaron Raz Link,...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

For centuries Western travelers have felt the pull of exotic places.  Tibet has always held a special fascination.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, is the Western romance with Tibet grounded in reality, or based on some notion of Shangri-La?  Also a look at Bruce...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

It's a post-apocalyptic novel that's been compared to Stephen King's "The Stand" and Cormac McCarthy's "The Road." It covers a vast time span and features a different kind of vampire, known as "virals." It's called "The Passage" and it's one of this summer's hottest books. We'll meet the author...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Malcolm Gladwell is living proof that a new hairstyle can change your life. After he grew out his hair, people started treating him differently. He racked up speeding tickets. He was surrounded by policemen who thought he was a rapist on the loose.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge,...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

You’ve seen the Olympics on TV, but do you want to know what’s really happening in Utah?  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, a special program recorded in front of a live audience at Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City.  From the culture of snowboarding to past Olympic scandals.  Plus...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Are Americans dumbing down instead of smartening up? Many surveys say yes. According to a 2006 National Geographic-Roper survey, nearly half of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 don't think it's necessary to know the location of other countries in which important news is being made. In...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

How far did your food travel to get to you today? 100 miles? A thousand? Or just down the street. No matter where today's meal came from, there's a story behind it. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, food stories. New York chef Dan Barber faces a moral crisis in the form of a...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

"Every time a bell rings, an Angel gets its wings." At this time of year you're likely to hear that line over and over again, as Jimmy Stewart plows through "It's a Wonderful Life." But he's not the only one who's seen an angel - in or out of the movies. In this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Tribute albums, reunion tours and mash-ups.  If pop culture’s all about the new, why is there so much wallowing in our immediate past?  Simon Reynolds joins us to talk about his book, “Retromania.”   Is this retromania a death knell for our own originality?Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

From Soup to Nuts

Part Four

They say variety is the spice of life. But let's be honest, spices are really the spice of life. Pepper, oregano, vanilla. . . parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, things get...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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Somewhere along the way, did we ruin poetry? Have the heartfelt angst of young lovers and the epic elegies of heroes become elitist and academic? But poetry is back, and we have new technology to thank.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Roast pig may look delicious on the holiday table, but you might pass on the pork if you met Piglet.  That famous New Zealand pig swam in the ocean each day, loved the violin and, as the story goes, sang to the moon.  But she was more than an exceptional pet.  To one man she was an  ambassador...Read more

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