For journalists, the first days of Donald Trump’s presidency have been a bit surreal. We find ourselves wondering how legendary muckrakers might have reacted to some of these first press briefings. So delving into the TTBOOK...Read more
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Episode Archives
Popular myths, urban legends and just plain lies. Why do we persist in believing things that just aren't true?Read more
Fashion photographer David Jay recently sent us a book of his photos. The lighting was perfect, the settings intimate. The women, nearly naked, were gorgeous. Taking in the beautiful images, something stood out – the mastectomy scars.Read more
Another season of HBO's "Game of Thrones" is beginning, and the History Channel's "Vikings" is racking up ratings. Why are we so interested in the Middle Ages?Read more
Science and the Search for Meaning: Five Questions, Part Four: Can Islam and Science Coexist?
Islamic culture was once the center of the scientific world. During Europe's Dark Ages, Baghdad, Cairo and other Middle Eastern cities were the key repositories of ancient...Read more
Jesse Gilmour was fifteen-years-old and he was flunking every subject at school. So what did his father, David Gilmour, do? He told Jesse that he could drop out and that he wouldn't have to work or pay rent. All he had to do was watch three movies every week with his dad. Movies that his...Read more
Peggy Orenstein didn't want children. At least she didn't think so. Children killed careers and turned smart, professional women into drones. Well, that's what Orenstein was afraid of, anyway. But after a death in the family, she changed her mind. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, to...Read more
Dan Janzen is one of the world’s leading tropical biologists. He’s spent forty years working in the Cost Rican jungle, and there’s one creature that fascinates him above all others - the moth. Janzen has found nine-thousand different species of moth in Cost Rica. In this hour of To the Best...Read more
Many people treat it as a national holiday, more Americans watch it than vote in presidential elections, and it leaves an economic footprint larger than the Gross Domestic Product of 49 countries: it's Super Bowl Sunday. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll go behind the scenes of...Read more
Once upon a time people believed the world was populated with terrible monsters and fabulous mythical beasts. They thought if they just searched long enough and hard enough, they'd find them. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the mythical beasts of folktale and legend and the modern...Read more
The public sees a politician one way. A political cartoonist sees something else entirely. What makes a good political cartoon? We’ll get some answers from Steve Brodner, one of the most savage illustrators at work in the United States. It’s The New Toons in this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more
The Bible and the Quran are some of our most sacred and revered texts. They're also full of violent passages. Is religion the source of violence and intolerance around the world? We look at how sacred texts inspire both violence and liberation.Read more
The cultural revolution changed everything for Hao Jian Tian. When he was ten years old, Tian studied piano. Reluctantly. So when his piano teacher was hauled off to jail, it was a day of celebration. No more piano lessons. No more practicing. But years later, music caught up with Hao...Read more
We're keepin it surreal this hour with a hallucinatory vortex chock full of innovative fiction. Like Salvador Dali said -- "Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision." Join us as we expand your vision and melt your mind....Read more
If you think the influence of Shakespeare is confined to the page and the stage, think again. Take starlings, the aggressive European birds who’ve pushed a lot of Native American birds out of their nests. They were introduced by a Shakespeare fanatic, who loosed dozens of them in Central Park....Read more
Plato argued that poets would be banished from the ideal republic. He said poets are only good for promoting petty emotions, such as anger and lust and love. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, poetry. We'll talk with four-time Slam Poet champion Patricia Smith about how powerful words...Read more
Her novel “Bel Canto” was a hit so now novelist Ann Patchett is a star. But back when they were in college, it was her fellow student Lucy Grealy who got treated like a rock star. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, a look at uncommon friendships. Ann Patchett tells how her...Read more
A few years ago, the notion of the "quantified self" was the domain of a relatively small group of hackers, engineers, and computer enthusiasts. Now, under its many names—lifelogging, self-tracking, fitness monitoring—it's become one of the fastest growing segments of the technology...Read more
Laura Blumenfeld’s father was a tourist in Jerusalem when he was shot in the head. The shooter was a member of the PLO. He had lousy aim – his victim lived. But Blumenfeld never forgot that day. In fact, she vowed to find the man responsible and take revenge. She kept her word. Her story...Read more
Who would have guessed that number two on the Best Seller List this summer would be an intellectual thriller starring four brainy Princeton seniors and a 15th century manuscript written in code? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, meet the authors of “The Rule of Four.” Lost 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
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
If you want to know the truth about J.D. Salinger, good luck. To this day we know more about his fictional character Holden Caulfield than we do about the man who created him. In this hour of the Peabody-Award winning program To the Best of Our Knowledge, literary life after Salinger’s...Read more
Chaotic headlines out of Washington, ice melting in Antarctica, world temps rising and global conflict on the rise… it could be worse. It could be Ragnarok. Writer Neil Gaiman retells the ancient Norse myth of the Twilight of the Gods and apocalyptic end of the world in his stunning new...Read more