Who doesn’t love a good book? We all know a great novel can change the way we see the world, but what about the way we treat each other? This week, we explore the benefits of reading fiction, and find out if it makes us more moral.
And if you're wondering if movies can make us more...Read more
President Obama's surrounded by science advisors. So you might figure he doesn't need to know much about physics, but you'd be mistaken. How is a President supposed to assess the risk of a "dirty bomb," or weigh the pros and cons of various energy sources, from solar power to nuclear energy?...Read more
What's the hot new thing in fiction? Fire! Today, novelists Jesse Ball and Joe Hill talk about their incendiary new fiction. And we meet a pyromaniac-turned-firefighter who can really light up a page. Join us for an hour of flammable fiction.Read more
Many of us first met Islam on 9/11 with planes slamming into the World Trade Center – not a very good first impression. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, a proper introduction, as we talk with Muslims and Westerners who are redefining our relationship. From a Danish cartoonist with a...Read more
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
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
Hillary Clinton once described herself as a "Rorschach test." People see in her what they want, whether they love her or hate her. In this hour of To the Best Of Our Knowledge we'll talk about the complicated feelings many women have about Hillary, her marriage to Bill, and whether it's possible...Read more
Do you ever get the feeling that everyone's reading all the same books and listening to all the same music, and seeing all the same films? Maybe there's a reason why. New York and Los Angeles account for only a fraction of landmass when it comes to the continental United States...Read more
Tom Lutz's 18-year-old son, Cody, spent day after day just lying on the couch, Lutz was surprised how angry it made him that his son was doing nothing. So Lutz decided to do something about it. He wrote a book about the history of doing nothing in America. In this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more
Is Jennifer Egan's book, "A Visit from the Goon Squad," a novel or is it a series of entangled stories? It's a fair question because this polyphonic narrative covers a lot of territory – from satire to tragedy told from a wide range of characters' points of view. And one chapter...Read more
Get your fix of travel and crime fiction in one hour. Today, we explore the latest in international crime fiction -- from Israel, Kenya, Denmark, Spain and more. Crime is the one literary genre that crosses every border and every nationality. Because yes, we're just that bloodthirsty.Read more
Photographers capture heartache and agony. What does it mean for them? And what does it mean for us, those viewing the photos? Do these images create empathy? Compassion? Or something else?Read more
Bright young men and women used to graduate and head for Wall Street or a top corporate law firm. Today, more and more of them are heading back to the land. After all, which would you rather do wear a suit and slave in a cubicle or spend your days on your own land, growing food for...Read more
Every person on earth is unique and special, but some people – maybe one in a hundred – are autistic. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we get to know a few autistic people with Asperger's Syndrome. We'll hear what it's like to try to live in the world when you have visionary...Read more
They weren’t exactly the Marx brothers, but Groucho had more in common with Karl Marx than you might think. Both had minds that were lightning fast, and both were professional provocateurs. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we’ll reassess these two legendary figures – the...Read more
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
It’s a mob scene in Madison, Wisconsin as novelist Mark Winegardner reveals the new Godfather. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge our yearly stage show at the Wisconsin Book Festival. Guests also include singer/songwriter Jane Siberry and the humor writers from The Onion.
This...Read more
You’ve seen the Olympics on TV, but do you want to know what’s really happening in Utah? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, a special program recorded in front of a live audience at Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City. From the culture of snowboarding to past Olympic scandals. Plus...Read more
Today most of what we read is on a screen. So here's the question: Is there something different -- something better -- about reading a physical book? Or does it matter? We explore slow reading, e-reading, bibliotherapy and a novel that unfolds within another novel.Read more
Do you think your memory is a record of what actually happened? Chances are, it's not. New scientific findings show that with every act of remembering, our brains...Read more
Barbara Moss needed a new face. Her mouth was so deformed she could pop a baby’s fist between her teeth and out again without opening her jaw. As a girl, she prayed for just a little bit of beauty. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, one woman discovers her true face. Also, why men...Read more
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
Remember the good old days? No? Well that's either because you haven't lived them yet, or you need to check the note you left on the bedside table. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we're looking at age and memory with a Nobel Prize winner searching through the mechanics of the brain...Read more