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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The Jewish High Holy Days come to an end every fall on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.  This year, we're thinking about atonement and forgiveness.  Whether you're Jewish or non-Jewish, secular or religious, forgiveness is something we all struggle with.  Today we explore the path to...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The Meaning of Life

Part Four

 

Pete Best should have been famous beyond his wildest dreams. He had Ringo's job just months before the Beatles' "Love Me Do" became a smash hit. But he got tossed out of the band and ended up working...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

From Soup to Nuts:

Part Two

This may be the century when Americans forget how to cook. We're just too busy. Take-out's too easy. And, who needs to cook when you can buy ready-made...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Once upon a time people believed the world was populated with terrible monsters and fabulous mythical beasts. They thought if they just searched long enough and hard enough, they'd find them. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the mythical beasts of folktale and legend and the modern...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

There's something magical about making words. Ask any parent what their baby's first word was. Chances are they'll remember. Words are what set us apart from all the other animals. And they're endlessly fascinating. In this hour of To Best of Our Knowledge we'll meet a variety of people...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The public sees a politician one way.  A political cartoonist sees something else entirely.  What makes a good political cartoon?  We’ll get some answers from Steve Brodner, one of the most savage illustrators at work in the United States.  It’s The New Toons in this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

What happens when a Little League game turns into an epic battle to save the world from an evil, shape-shifting Coyote, and the fate of the Universe hangs on an 11-year-old boy?  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, kids books for adults.  Also, remembering L. Frank Baum, the creator of...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

In 1945 Franklin Roosevelt worked out a deal with the king of Saudi Arabia. America got unlimited access to Saudi Oil, and in return, the U.S. protected the Royal Family against its enemies. Now that special relationship is under fire. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the politics...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Do you ever think about the future? Not tomorrow or next month or post-election, but 100, 200 years in the future.  Everyone alive now will be dead -- and what will be remembered? Which pop stars, movies and books will people still know?  And will people's understanding of gravity...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Electrons to Enlightenment

Part Four

 

Polls show that nearly half of all Americans believe the Biblical story of creation, while only a quarter accept evolution. The philosopher Daniel Dennett thinks we need to "break the spell" of...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

It’s up for debate whether or not the business of America is business.  But like it or not, corporate culture touches us all.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the quirky online marketplace that brings together buyers and sellers from all over the world.  But is e-bay really the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

How's your basic knowledge of religion? Can you name the Ten Commandments? The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism? What happens during Ramadan? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we'll hear an argument for why every American should know the basics of the world's religions. Also, Muslim hip...Read more

a workspace with notebook, coffee, laptop and notebook

American companies generate a lot of wealth. But Americans aren't seeing much of it. Media theorist Douglas Rushkoff says that's because today's corporations are obsessed with one thing -- growth. We'll find out why our economy's operating system is broken and how we can fix it, as we rethink...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

It’s the longest-running prime-time animated series in TV history...with sixteen seasons and more than 350 episodes. So far.  Not bad for a four-fingered family whose first gig was doing animated segments on a TV variety show.  In this hour of the Peabody Award Winning Program To the Best of Our...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge one man’s attempt to apologize for the sins of his family’s past.  Also, mizuko kuyo, the Japanese ritural ceremony of apology to aborted fetuses.  What does it mean to say “I’m sorry.”Read more

Fitbit and notebooks

A few years ago, the notion of the "quantified self" was the domain of a relatively small group of hackers, engineers, and computer enthusiasts. Now, under its many names—lifelogging, self-tracking, fitness monitoring—it's become one of the fastest growing segments of the technology...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Two years ago a professor in Wisconsin checked her mail and found a most unusual letter...from an Iraqi graduate student asking for scholarly advice.  Since then professor Susan Friedman has exchanged hundreds of e-mails with academics in Iraq.  And she's heard harrowing accounts of academic...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Imagine living your whole life in excruciating pain, 24/7, and actually choosing to go without any pain medication.  Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge, one man’s permanent pain.  And is a teenager slashing her arms with a razor a cry for help or an ancient ritual of sacred pain?  Also,...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

In the film-going arena, one man towers above all others.  His endurance, stamina and tolerance for popcorn are unparalleled.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Kevin Murphy’s quest to see a movie a day.  Every day.  For a Year.  Also, writer Michael Ondaatje (ahn-dot-chee) on the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Thomas Paine was a working class Englishman without many prospects when he landed in America in 1774. Two years later his pamphlet "Common Sense" laid the foundation for the Declaration of Independence and transformed American politics. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, why...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Tucker Crowe is a reclusive musician. His devoted fans consider him to be the creator of the greatest breakup album ever recorded. But Tucker Crowe doesn't actually exist. He's a character in "Juliet, Naked"...the new novel from "New York Times" best-selling author, Nick Hornby. We'll talk to...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

He was the most surprising Booker Prize winner in years.  DBC Pierre had been a con man and a drug addict before he became a writer.  Now he’s won one of the world’s great literary prizes.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we’ll talk with some award-winning writers including DBC...Read more

person at chalkboard

Thousands of the world's languages are disappearing in the wake of globalization. And because language is the DNA of culture, a lost language is a lost culture. Today, stories from the frontlines of the language revitalization movement. Also, Dr. Larry Brilliant's improbable journey from...Read more

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