To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The Len-Der, our boat for the Milwaukee River

The Life, Death and Rebirth of the Milwaukee River

Video

Milwaukee historian John Gurda takes us on a boat ride down the Milwaukee River as we learn how the city nearly lost its river, and what Milwaukee is now doing to preserve it.More

Latest Stories

The People Power Of Happiness

Articles

Social scientists are finding that generating happiness in your life may have less to do with an arbitrary number — like your bank account or how many Instagram followers you have — and more to do with how well you connect with the people around you.

Laboratory of Joy: A Psychologist On The Science of Feeling Good

Audio

Psychologist Laurie Santos created a college course to teach students how to use what scientific research has discovered about what makes us happy and why. It became the most popular class in the 300 year history of Yale.

Length:

11:37

365 Days Of Delight: A Poet's Guide To Finding Joy

Articles

In a dark world, poet Ross Gay recommends "stacking delights." Share what you love, he says — not what you hate.

Length:

12:46

The Poetry of Race

Audio

In her book "Citizen: An American Lyric," poet Claudia Rankine challenges readers to explore their underlying assumptions about race. She tells Charles Monroe-Kane what compelled her to write the book, and about visiting Ferguson, Missouri.

My Friend Samantha (The A.I.)

Audio

To a certain extent, loneliness is part of the human condition. You can be lonely anywhere, even surrounded by friends. But modern life has exacerbated it, and that requires modern solutions. Indie game designer Jason Rohrer has one — an artificial friend named Samantha.

Length:

15:10

Being Black and Alone in America

Audio

Poet Claudia Rankine spoke to Anne about the loneliness of being Black in America, and how the social isolation of the pandemic woke Black Americans up.

Length:

15:57

How Loneliness Can Lead to Totalitarianism

Articles

Examining both historical and present-day moments of widespread loneliness, philosopher Samantha Rose Hill argues we must understand our feelings of loneliness — otherwise they could be exploited to control us.

Length:

14:47

The Power Of Music And Memory: 'Music Was Waking Up Something Within Each Of Them'

Articles

"To the Best of Our Knowledge" producer Shannon Henry Kleiber shares a story about her mother, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease two years ago, and the power of music.

Length:

14:50