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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

the Legend of Sarah Winchester

Sarah Winchester (born 1840) was the heiress to the Winchester Estate with a 50% holding of the Winchester Repeating Rifle Company. She used her vast fortune to construct a mansion for 38 consecutive years.

Popular legend held that she was cursed by all those who were killed by Winchester rifles. The only way to alleviate her suffering was to continue to add on to her mansion, filling it with strange sealed rooms and staircases and corridors leading nowhere. Pamela Haag tells her tale and gives it some meaning beyond a mere ghost story.

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Russell Stannard on Uncle Albert

Russell Stannard is professor of physics emeritus at Open University in London and the author of the Uncle Albert books – a series of books for children about physics.

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Will Russell and Scott Shuffitt on Lebowski Fest

Will Russell and Scott Shuffitt are the founders of "Lebowski Fest," an annual event that celebrates Joel and Ethan Coen's 1998 film, "The Big Lebowski."

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Sharon Ghamari-Tabrizi on "The Worlds of Herman Kahn"

Sharon Ghamari-Tabrizi explores one of the Cold War's most controversial figures in her book "The Worlds of Herman Kahn: The Intuitive science of Thermonuclear War."

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Stephen Elliott on the 2004 Campaign

Stephen Elliott decided to immerse himself in politics for the 2004 campaign and traveled with the Democratic candidates throughout the primaries and conventions.

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The Secret History of Soft Drinks

Did you know that 7 Up was originally called Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda?  Good thing they changed the name.  That's one of the fascinating facts from Tristan Donovan's book, "Fizz: How Soda Shook Up the World." Donovan takes us on a guided tour of the secret history of fizzy water.

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Sonic Sidebar: Antarctica in Fiction and Art

Polar science becomes art in the hands of novelist Lucy Jane Bledsoe ("Big Bang Symphony") and musician Paul Miller (aka DJ Spooky). Here are some of their impressions of the continent they can't forget.

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Taking Revenge Against Coppola's "Apocalypse Now"

Americans are still fighting over the legacy of the Vietnam War, but one perspective is missing: the Vietnamese experience. Novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen provides a Vietnamese perspective.

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