Episode Archives

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making music on a piano and a guitar

What goes into making new music? And how does hearing new music change the way we listen? From the Avant Garde composers of the 1920s, through Japanese noise music, to punk progenitor Richard Hell, we’re looking at how music - and how we hear it - changes. Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

*With his black Fedora hat Jack Abramoff became the symbol of everything that’s corrupt about government.  But now he’s out of prison and seeking atonement.  Join us for a candid interview with former lobbyist Jack Abramoff. How do we as a society deal with the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

“A short story is a love affair, a novel is a marriage.  A short story is a photograph; a novel is a film.”   -- Lorrie Moore

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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Is it any wonder boys don’t read?  Too often they’re assigned the books their female teachers loved.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the man behind the GuysRead website says forget “Little House on the Prairie” and bring on Stinky Cheese Man!  And we’ll hear what happened when the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

There are about 675 species of native birds in North America.  To win the most demanding and prestigious birdwatching competition in the country you have to see ALL of them.  And then some.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, die-hard birders compete in “The Big Year.”  Also, we’ll...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

From Facebook to Twitter to Wikipedia, World of Warcraft to YouTube, the life of the community has moved on line. And taken on a life of its own. The power of we, and the move toward collective identity and global think.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

There’s no English translation for the Dutch word “Gezellig."

Are there things that can never be understood, expressed or experienced outside their home culture?

We’re wandering the unmarked maps of cultural translation!Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Once upon a time, not so long ago, the classroom filmstrip was everywhere.  They taught us to change our underwear at least twice a week, among other things.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we’ll revisit the golden age of classroom filmstrips.  So sit up straight.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Tragedy struck Ron Mallett when he was ten years old. His beloved father died and he wanted to bring him back. So he dreamed of building a time machine. Ron Mallett grew up to become a theoretical physicist. Now he studies quantum mechanics and he's still trying to figure out how to go back in...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Our world is increasingly unthinkable.  It’s a world of tectonic shifts, strange weather and oil-drenched seascapes.  So maybe it makes sense to look to the horror genre to help us think about our unthinkable world. Next time on TO THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE, we’ll explore the...Read more

a scientist

Science is moving out of the lab and into the pages of literary fiction.  This week, we introduce the “Lab Lit” movement and talk about why fiction needs more realistic portrayals of scientists and science cultureRead more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Boots on the Ground: Stories from the War in Iraq

Part One

 

Iraq. April 6, 2004. This day marked the Marines' heaviest fighting since Vietnam and was the start of the Iraqi insurgency. By the end of the day more than 40 Marines and...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Ever get the feeling that nothing’s original these days, that every new song that comes out is just a rehash of another? This hour, we’re looking at the fine line between inspiration and imitation, and finding out what separates an original work from a bland copy.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

When’s the last time you took a selfie? You know, a snapshot of yourself that you share online. From feminist selfies to funeral selfies to politicians’ selfies, there’s been hot debate about selfies lately. This week artists, critics and psychologists weigh in.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

We all have our good days and our bad days, but chances are they’re nothing like what Andy Behrman has experienced.  Behrman would fly from Zurich to the Bahamas and back in three days to balance hot and cold weather.  On the bad days, he’d experience tornado-like rages of depression.  In this...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

There are children who seem to be re-born into new families, while remembering specific and verifiable things about their former lives.  It may be coincidence, or imagination, but some of their stories will curl your hair!  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, a search for...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Did you know that novelist Thomas Hardy had a second career as a poet? Or that many people don't find their artistic passions until after the age of 85? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we talk about change over time - that is, how change is really a lifelong project. A former monk...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Fashion photographer David Jay recently sent us a book of his photos. The lighting was perfect, the settings intimate. The women, nearly naked, were gorgeous.  Taking in the beautiful images, something stood out – the mastectomy scars.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

What does it take to become a U.S. president?  Driving ambition, of course, but what else?  We'll dissect a few presidents - from Lincoln and LBJ to Obama - and consider the chances of a female president in 2016.Read more

A protest at Standing Rock

More than 100 Native Americans nations have come to Standing Rock in solidarity to protest for water rights. This hour we ask a deceptively simple question: Who owns water?

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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

For journalists, the first days of Donald Trump’s presidency have been a bit surreal.  We find ourselves wondering how legendary muckrakers might have reacted to some of these first press briefings. So delving into the TTBOOK...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Have you seen the David Lynch film “Mulholland Drive”?  Did you understand it?  One reviewer says watching “Mulholland Drive” is “like playing Twister and Scrabble simultaneously while high on LSD.”  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge two young men talk about their internet audio...Read more

light from a lamp

Light has long been a powerful metaphor for holiness and truth, and rightly so. From the stars in the sky to the bulbs in our homes, light touches every facet of human life. This hour, a look at the natural, artificial, and symbolic light that colors our history -- and our future....Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Whatever happened to psychoanalysis?  It used to be the most influential science of the mind, but today its founder, Sigmund Freud, just looks like a sex-obsessed old man.  Analyst Adam Phillips says we got Freud all wrong; he remains a radical thinker if we know how to read him.  This hour...Read more

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