Episode Archives

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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

This hour we combine two seemingly unlikely things: food and death. But when you think about it food and death really do go hand-in-hand. From the Last Meal to the new phenomenon of Death Dinners. Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Read any good life-list books lately? How about "1,000 Places You Must Visit Before You Die?" or "1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die." There's no shortage of "life-list" books to read these days. What's next? "1,000 Life-List Books You Must Read Before You Die"? Probably. We'll explore...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Think that a TV series based on the Coen Brothers' 1996 black comedy crime thriller, "Fargo," is a bad idea? Then you haven't seen "Fargo," The TV series.  Creator and showrunner Noah Hawley talks about how he transformed the iconic film into the critically-acclaimed, award-winning TV series.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Batman, Superman, the Green Lantern we all had our superheroes as kids. Maybe we still do today? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, SUPERHEROES. We'll celebrate Wonder Woman's 70th birthday with a look at her controversial new costume. We'll also explore the actual physics of...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Gore Vidal has a special fondness for the Founding Fathers, especially George Washington.  “The others were geniuses.  He was not a genius” he says, but “he had a powerful character which got him through the revolution, since he was not much of a general.  But he was a great leader.”  We’ll talk...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Tenzin Palmo isn’t your ordinary Englishwoman.  For twelve years she boiled snow for drinking water, lived without heat and electricity, and spent 12 hours a day propped up in a wooden box.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, a Buddhist nun recalls her years of meditation in a lonely...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Are we running out of water? Science writer Fred Pearce thinks so. He's traveled the world to investigate the current state of crucial water sources. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge Pearce talks about the defining crisis of the twenty-first century. Also, we'll explore the social...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Getting through winter requires mental and physical toughness, plus good central heating.  But animals have amazing strategies for surviving conditions that make humans whimper.  Today, winter survival strategies from our furred and feathered friends.  What could we learn from a walrus who...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Have you ever thought about disappearing... wiping out your old identity and starting fresh, with a new name, a new life, a new self? In this hour we try to find out how to disappear completely. You too can vanish without a trace! Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

In the wake of a number of high profile shootings over the past year, people are talking about policing, racism, and injustice. But there's one issue we don't really talk all that much about: fear.This hour, we take a closer look at negative stereotypes about African American men, how those...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

There’s an old joke from the former Soviet Union.  Roughly translated it goes like this.  The communists were liars.  Everything they said about communism was untrue.  Unfortunately, everything they said about capitalism was true.  Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge, considering...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Does Western aid to impoverished African countries really help? Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo says no: it just lines the pockets of corrupt leaders and creates a culture of dependency. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we'll talk about the ethics of foreign aid, and hear why...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

"Shhh… I have a secret… Now, I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you." Classic spy joke – but not so funny when it's true. In this hour of To The Best of Our Knowledge, we'll go the dark side of secrecy - warrantless wiretapping, secret CIA prisons, "extraordinary rendition,"...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

It's been said that "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture." But the rock critic Robert Palmer didn't have any trouble. Palmer wrote effortlessly about all kinds of music – rock and roll, blues, jazz and world music. The fact that Palmer was also a musician didn't hurt. In...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Michael Chabon's a pretty successful writer of literary fiction. As far as he's concerned, literary fiction is just another genre, with its own set of conventions. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we get into the fight over genre fiction. Agatha Christie's grandson says the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

From Soup to Nuts:

Part Three

Meat and Potatoes isn't just what's for dinner. Meat and Potatoes is a way of life. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, food that sticks to your ribs. We'll get into the science of the French fry and...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The average American spends more time on Facebook than with their pets or exercising -- and that's not counting Twitter, Instagram, or Vine. We're more connected than ever these days, but at what cost?Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

"Everyone is on the Internet but they're not all talking with each other.  There are groups upon groups out there, but they don't talk to one another.  So while the Internet brings everyone into a share space, it does not necessarily bring them together."  -- David LynchRead more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Have you ever heard of Bibleman, the Caped Christian? This evangelical superhero quotes scripture while fighting villains. There's a Bibleman video series, as well as a live show, toys, and a computer game. Bibleman is just part of the seven-billion-dollar Christian pop culture industry. In...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

June 22nd, 1977. Two college women are camping. A man runs over their tent in a pickup truck. Then he attacks the women with an axe. Fifteen years later, one of the women returns to central Oregon to try to solve the crime. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Terri Jentz shares...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Atheists have been called the most hated minority in America, but recent atheist manifestos by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris have all made the bestseller list. Have these atheists changed our thinking about religion? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the New...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Imagine the world as we know it, only without us. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, a writer imagines a world reinventing itself without human beings. He sees the New York subway system returning to its watery origins. The re-absorption of carbon into the earth, and endangered...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

 After one of the ugliest and most divisive presidential races in history -- can America heal? Weeks of vitriolic campaign rhetoric have taken a toll on friends and families. A majority of voters are disgusted with politics and don’t believe the next president will be able to unite the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

John Brown was a terrorist, a man who led a raid in Kansas that butchered five unarmed men. He was also, arguably, of the few white people in 1850s America who was totally color blind. According to a new book he was "the man who killed slavery and sparked the Civil War." So, was John Brown a "...Read more

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