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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Tim Richardson tells Anne Strainchamps about his favorite candies from around the world.

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

When blogger Jenny Lawson recently tweeted about an awkward exchange she had with a cashier at an airport, she couldn't have imagined the flood of responses she'd get from fans recounting their own mortifying moments. The tweet went viral and within a few days she'd received thousands of messages from fans recounting their own awkward stories. The whole affair was proof of something Jenny had long suspected -- that awkwardness can help bring people together.

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The first stories in "Thousand and One Nights" were written down in the ninth century. They’ve been added to over the years. In some ways, it’s not so much a book as a living river of stories. Some of the most recent additions come from the celebrated novelist Salman Rushdie.

You can also hear many more interviews with Rushdie.

 

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Peter Edelman says government policies can either help or hinder people on the road to economic stability. Edelman’s the longtime policy advisor who quit Bill Clinton’s administration when the President signed new welfare laws that – in Edelman’s opinion – destroyed the social safety net.

 

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

In the U.S., copyright originally lasted only 14 years. These days, creative works could be protected for as long as the author's alive, plus an additional 70 years. Cultural historian Siva Vaidhyanathan explains the evolution of copyright law, and how it's affected artists.

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

One of the founders of queer theory says his childhood in the Pentecostal church laid the ground for his evolution as a gay man and literary scholar.  Michael Warner grew up around faith healing and speaking in tongues. He says it was an education in thinking beyond "normal". 

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Starhawk is one of America’s best known witches. She tells Anne Strainchamps about the Pagan festival of Samhain and how the wiccan community celebrates it.

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

How does something as wet and gooshy as the brain produce consciousness, which is immaterial?  Steve Paulson reports on the debate among scientists and philosophers.

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