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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Bart Kosko is a professor of electrical engineering at USC and the author of "Noise." He explains the science of noise. And we hear lots of examples.

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Death is not a single moment; it’s can take hours – and some people live again after they die. So says resuscitation physician Sam Parnia. This UNCUT interview with him ranges from the new science of reversing death, to near death experiences, and the possibility of consciousness after death.  

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Bill Moyers has won 9 Peabody Awards and 30 Emmys, and now hosts a show on PBS.  His particular niche is exploring big ideas on television, as he did in his memorable series with myth-maker Joseph Campbell.

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

We hate mosquitoes.

But why?  I mean, yes --- West Nile, dengue, malaria, Zika…not to mention ruined picnics, sleepless nights, and bites you scratch until they bleed … Those are logical reasons to dislike mosquitoes.  But admit it – they also just creep you out.

Jeffrey Lockwood gets at the psychology in his book “The Infested Mind.” He’s an entomologist who once had a truly horrific encounter with a swarm of grasshoppers.   He was left traumatized. Afterwards he wondered why we all fear and loathe insects so much.

Lockwood told Rehman Tungekar the answer is deep deep in our psyches.

 

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Carel Van Schaik tells Steve Paulson that orangutans, those great red apes, use tools and pass learning down from one generation to the next.

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Jonathan Lethem bookmarks "Kafka Was the Rage" by Anatole Broyard.

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

As the Books Editor of Paste Magazine, Charles McNair cares deeply about what we read.  But McNair is concerned that we're only reading a handful of the artists available to us, thanks to what he calls a kind of geographic hegemony of taste-making.  In other words - we're all reading the same books because a handful of respected critics on the East and West coasts tell us to.  

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Doug Stanhope replaced Jimmy Kimmel as the host of “The Man Show.” He tells Steve Paulson that the show is a dumb joke on men that no one should take seriously.

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