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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Youngstown, Ohio is the center of the Rust Belt.  During steel's heyday, Youngstown was a city of nearly 200,000. Now, it’s under 70,000. The steel mills closed in the 1980’s, people left, and no one replaced them. Steve Paulson sat down with urban planner Justin Hollander talk about what to do next - what Hollander calls "smart decline."

 

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

One more story from Walter Moskowitz, the last of the Bowery Scab Merchants. Walter tattoos 80 men in a day.

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Photographer Rachel Sussman has documented 30 of the oldest living things in the world.

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

What do you do when you’re an African-American filmmaker living in a country full of people who dress up in blackface at Christmastime?  You pick up a camera. Roger Ross Williams  talks about his new documentary,  "Blackface." It's about the traditional Dutch celebration of "Black Pete" -- a Santa's helper who dresses in blackface, an Afro wig, red lipstick and big hoop earrings.

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Jane Austen abandoned her novel "Lady Susan," but filmmaker Whit Stillman has revivied it - in a new film and novel, both called "Love and Friendship." He talks about why he loves Austen and the 18th century.

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The Wailin’ Jennys talk about the joys and mystery of harmony, and sing a few examples. 

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Today, the Dutch philosopher Spinoza - father of the Enlightenment - is revered, but in the mid-17th century, he was branded a heretic by his Jewish congregation in Amsterdam.  Recently, philosopher Steve Nadler was asked if Spinoza should be exonerated. He explains why he said no.

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Timothy Ferris is the author of nearly a dozen books of popular science, including “Seeing in the Dark: How Backyard Stargazers Are Probing Deep Space and Guarding Earth from Interplanetary Peril.”

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