Canal Street flooded with so much water it looks like an actual canal. People mourning the loss of their homes and loved ones. The Gulf Coast will never be the same after the devastation that Hurricane Katrina has caused. In this hour of the Peabody-Award-Winning program To the Best of Our...Read more
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Episode Archives
Betsy Lerner was a chubby kid. Then an overweight teenager. Then, a compulsive eater with a secret food life. Binging and dieting consumed her life – until the day she tried to kill herself. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge the story of Betsy Lerner’s struggle with weight. And,...Read more
The idea of creative collaboration is a relatively new one. For centuries, science and culture focused on the self self-expression, self-realization. But two is the magic number. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll explore creative partnerships. Joshua Wolf Shenk talks about...Read more
The US is in the middle of its longest and most expensive war to date. Not the war in Iraq – the war on drugs. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge – we’ve spent hundreds of billions of dollars fighting for a “drug-free” America, yet heroin, cocaine and other illegal drugs are cheaper...Read more
As Hillary Rodham Clinton prepares to give the most important speech of her life, listen back to the speech that marked her entrance into public political life, now available for the first time in its entirety. On May 31st, 1969, Hillary Rodham became the first student to give a commencement...Read more
What we eat can often say a lot about us. But why do we consider certain foods more appealing than others? In this hour, we look a the trends and tastemakers who shape our feelings about food.Read more
Nearly 20 million households in America are one paycheck away from losing their homes. For many of these families, keeping a roof over their head means having to choose between the rent or dinner that evening. This hour, we explore how housing insecurity drives poverty in America.Read more
The geography of organized religion in America is changing. Today, more and more Americans identify themselves as spiritual, rather than aligning themselves with a particular religion. They're cobbling together faith and spirituality from sources all over the world, picking and choosing the...Read more
When somebody asks Josh Ritter what kind of music he plays, sometimes he ends up lying. After all, Ritter's music is hard to describe - a little bit rock n' roll by way of Bruce Springsteen with a twist of Bob Dylan. Anyway you describe it, Josh Ritter has arrived. We'll get inside the music...Read more
Imagine a scenario where universes bubble up out of black holes. Space itself can boil, and humankind may have to fight for survival by building gigantic atom-smashers the length of several star systems. That future may be closer than you think. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge,...Read more
Scientists are launching one of the most audacious projects ever conceived: a detailed map of the human brain, neuron by neron, synapse by synapse. For some scientists...Read more
Did you ever notice your dog gets depressed when you do? That your cat seems to make you feel more relaxed? Every wonder why? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the connection between people and animals. Primatologist Frans de Waal says it may not be opera and abstract art, but...Read more
Do African-Americans believe Jesse Jackson speaks for them? A resounding 72% between the ages of 18 and 45 say "No." In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the battle between the Civil Rights generation and the Hip-Hop generation. We'll speak to young blacks about who does speak for them...Read more
Plugged into devices, fixated on screens, their world muted by headphones jammed in their ears, college students on campus in Ann Arbor can seem oblivious to risk. Poet Laura Kasischke marvels at their fearlessness in...Read more
Future Perfect: Dreamers, Schemers & Visionaries
Part One
Imagine a poor child in Uruguay. Now imagine giving that young girl a hundred-dollar laptop computer. Imagine the educational opportunities that this laptop will provide...Read more
We may think it’s pretty clear what is – and isn’t – science, but history is littered with cases where the line wasn’t so obvious. For instance, Isaac Newton studied alchemy, and Galileo was a practicing astrologer. This hour explores the edges of science, and we hear about the...Read more
East Meets West
Part Four
Imagine growing up in Pakistan. Islam is a way of life. You get up every morning at 4:30 to pray. Then when you're 18, you move to the American Midwest, Iowa, to attend college. That's the story Kumail...Read more
Boots on the Ground: Stories from the War in Iraq
Part Three
For many soldiers and Marines, war is not fundamentally about the mission. War is not really about the enemy. It's not even about patriotism. War is about the man to the...Read more
When did "fat" become a four-letter word? Leaders of the body acceptance movement say it's time to stop shaming fat people. In this hour, curvy girls and plus-size women talk about the emotional and physical costs of America's toxic obsession with weight and body image. Read more
Wisdom may come with age, but if you want to make scientific history, it pays to be young. Newton invented calculus before he turned 25. Einstein published his special theory of relativity when he was only 26. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, does genius slip away with age? Also...Read more
Say the name "Robert Krulwich" and hard-core public radio listeners start smiling. These days Robert does a lot of science journalism, even though he admits he's no expert. He believes everyone's interested, even though they think it's too hard for them. In this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more
On a scale of one to ten, how happy would you say you are right now? If someone could teach you how to be even happier, would you be interested? Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge, how to boost your happiness IQ. Also, eating for pleasure, with chef and food writer Deborah Madison. ...Read more
The mind and the body meet in the brain. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, two of the world’s top brain doctors claim that what you feel affects how you feel. Dr. Norman Rosenthal, the man who discovered Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), says there’s an Emotional...Read more