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
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Episode Archives
East Meets West
Part Two
A look at America's romance with Eastern spirituality: how did dharma retreats and yoga vacations become part of the Western lifestyle? Buddhist teachers explain what Buddhism has to offer a consumer...Read more
Rehearsing Shakespeare’s tragedy, MacBeth, one young actor found himself in the mood for mirth. Like a specter rising from the mists, something began to take shape: a new MacBeth for the ages - with fewer daggers and more donuts. In this hour of the Peabody-Awarding winning program To the Best...Read more
When Donald Trump described his offensive remarks about women as "locker room talk," he implied that it's normal for men to engage in macho sexual braggadocio in gender-segregated spaces like men's locker rooms. Sociologist Amy Schalet and law professor Terry Kogan trace hidden...Read more
Think you know about kung fu movies? That they’re campy, badly dubbed flicks from the 70s? Sometimes. But they’re also graceful, noble, heroic feats of movie making. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge the tiger, the crane, legends of the Shaolin (SHOW-lin) Temple, and the...Read more
Somewhere along the way, did we ruin poetry? Have the heartfelt angst of young lovers and the epic elegies of heroes become elitist and academic? But poetry is back, and we have new technology to thank.Read more
There are people in the world who love books – and there are people who would kill for books. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the pleasures and perils of book collecting. We’ll go on the road with veteran book buyers Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone. And, we’ll meet...Read more
What kinds of personal information have you posted online recently? Your credit card number? Your mother’s maiden name? A photo of yourself drinking a beer? Whatever it is, these details could ruin your career, your marriage, or even your entire future. In this hour of To the...Read more
How do you win friends and influence people if you're an immigrant from Leningrad who's bullied at school? You write your way to friendship. That's what Gary Shteyngart did. We meet him in this hour as we explore creative writing. Also, the connection between alcohol and creativity. And how...Read more
It's a post-apocalyptic novel that's been compared to Stephen King's "The Stand" and Cormac McCarthy's "The Road." It covers a vast time span and features a different kind of vampire, known as "virals." It's called "The Passage" and it's one of this summer's hottest books. We'll meet the author...Read more
Malcolm Gladwell is living proof that a new hairstyle can change your life. After he grew out his hair, people started treating him differently. He racked up speeding tickets. He was surrounded by policemen who thought he was a rapist on the loose. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge,...Read more
In this hour, we find ourselves surrounded by sound. The sounds of nature, cosmic horror, capitalism, and experimental electronics.
If you want to give our theme remix a whirl, you can download files here and ...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
Are Americans dumbing down instead of smartening up? Many surveys say yes. According to a 2006 National Geographic-Roper survey, nearly half of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 don't think it's necessary to know the location of other countries in which important news is being made. In...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
How far did your food travel to get to you today? 100 miles? A thousand? Or just down the street. No matter where today's meal came from, there's a story behind it. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, food stories. New York chef Dan Barber faces a moral crisis in the form of a...Read more
“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
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
It's time to wish you a Happy 2006 – if you use the Gregorian Calendar. And a Happy 1427 by the Islamic calendar, or a Fruitful 4704 in China, where it's the Year of the Dog. But then, if you accept the Big Bang Theory, let us wish you a Happy 13 Billion, 700 Million. However you calculate it,...Read more
In the early 1950's two-year-old Jacqueline Henley in New Orleans became darker. After the neighbors complained, her aunt turned her over to New Orleans authorities. A black couple wanted to adopt Jacqueline but -- she had the word “white” stamped on her birth certificate. Next time on To...Read more
The Pentagon has something new: a microwave mounted on a Humvee that shoots an energy beam cooking everything in its path. Is this a new weapon in our war on terrorism? No, it’s the Marines’ “non-lethal” device for crowd control. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge,...Read more
Have you ever thought about disappearing... wiping out your old identity and starting fresh, with a new name, a new life, a new self? In this hour we try to find out how to disappear completely. You too can vanish without a trace! Read more