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
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Episode Archives
From trance music to ecstatic dance, from Burning Man to psychedelic mushrooms, Americans are awash in weird and intense experiences - and maybe even inventing a new kind of religion. Is this just a bunch of New Age thrill-seekers getting off, or is something deeper going on? We explore the...Read more
Since the explosion of surfing in the 60s, hanging ten has become one of the coolest sports around. Today, women, children, and seniors surf their way across peaks of blue water. Some of them even find the divine along the way. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we’ll find out how...Read more
Any day now, the United States will welcome the three hundred millionth American. He or she may be a new born baby, or someone who comes across the border – legally or illegally. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we’ll look at America’s changing demographics, and consider the price...Read more
The differences among the world’s various religions are getting a lot more ink these days than the similarities. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge stories of common ground. “The Life of Pi,” in which an Indian boy finds magic in three different faiths with the help of a Bengal Tiger...Read more
Jonathan Kaplan is a field doctor who travels to war zones around the world. He treats people who’ve been shot or maimed. Many of his patients die on the operating table. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge what war looks like from the inside. Also singer/songwriter Steve Earle...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
Rose O’Neal Greenhow was the Pamela Harriman of her day - the “hostess with the mostess” in Washington D.C. But Rose ran a Confederate spy ring out of her house. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we get close to some brazen women of American history and popular culture. And we’ll...Read more
Some people think they just can’t do math, but it turns out our brains are hard-wired for adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. We’re born with a numbers sense. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge celebrating our mathematical minds. Also, the natural history...Read more
Scientists tell us optimistic people are happier, healthier and even live longer than pessimists. But it's hard to maintain an optimistic frame of mind in the face of daily reports of war, famine, disease and injustice. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, evidence that the world is...Read more
Democracy is one of those rubbery words. We kind of know what it means. But do we really? It’s voting and elections, but it’s much, much more than that. Democracy has inspired The Velvet Revolution and the Arab Spring. It encouraged the Suffragists and the Civil Rights Movement. It stirred the...Read more
Japan has a “slow life” movement. Italy has a “slow cities” movement. Spain has a network of siesta salons. And Americans? 10 to 15 million of us now meditate or do yoga. Is it possible the world is finally ready to slow down? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge a look at the...Read more
Pragmatic.Problem-solving. And non-partisan -- Mayors just might be the next best hope for democracy.Read more
“Lets Make Our Own Movie!” That was a wild idea back in the days of young Mickey Rooney, but today, anyone can do it. Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge, how digital cameras make us all directors, and why movies may never be the same. Also, screenwriter Andrew Davies...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
Consider this future world: a vaccine that makes you continually happy. A chip in your brain that lets you communicate telepathically with your spouse. Human lives that span hundreds of years. Sound far-fetched? Not according the James Hughes of the World Trans-humanist Association. He says...Read more
What's the best piece of reporting you read or saw or heard this year? Today, we share stories that made us see the world in a new way. National Book Award winner Katherine Boo reports from the slums of Mumbai. Photojournalist Brendan Bannon documents the tenacity and vitality of Africa. ...Read more
If you live in Wisconsin, chances are you've heard of the Wisconsin Idea. It's the century-old dream of sharing the best of higher education with the entire state -- bringing the values of the liberal arts, scientific knowledge and search for truth to everyone. It's a cherished tradition,...Read more
From Soup to Nuts
Part Five
Whether black from a bottomless cup or as a Frappuccino mocha skim latte, it's our culture's elixir: coffee. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Java, Joe or a cup of mud . . . Most of us drink it...Read more
How does creative work get done? When the answer finally comes to a question that's dogged you for weeks or years, where is it coming from?
In this special hour, Nathan Englander - acclaimed novelist, short story writer, playwright - is our guest...Read more
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
"Beowulf" is the oldest story in the English language, but for centuries no one knew it existed. The manuscript was buried in an ancient monastery, written in a language no one understood. Even after it was discovered few scholars read it as serious literature, but that all changed with J.R.R...Read more
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
Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and...a trip to the mall? Like it or not, a trip to the mall is an American rite of passage. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge a look at the great American pastime - shopping. From the Mall of America to the latest new strip mall, Americans spend more...Read more