Episode Archives

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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

As the Dalai Lama turns 80, we reflect on his legacy and remarkable personal history. Also, how various Eastern spiritual traditions have taken root in the West - from yoga to meditation. And the legacy of California's famous utopian experiment at Esalen and its "religion of no religion."Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Have you ever heard of Bibleman, the Caped Christian? This evangelical superhero quotes scripture while fighting villains. There's a Bibleman video series, as well as a live show, toys, and a computer game. Bibleman is just part of the seven-billion-dollar Christian pop culture industry. In...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

June 22nd, 1977. Two college women are camping. A man runs over their tent in a pickup truck. Then he attacks the women with an axe. Fifteen years later, one of the women returns to central Oregon to try to solve the crime. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Terri Jentz shares...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

 After one of the ugliest and most divisive presidential races in history -- can America heal? Weeks of vitriolic campaign rhetoric have taken a toll on friends and families. A majority of voters are disgusted with politics and don’t believe the next president will be able to unite the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Everyone knows what comic books are about, right? But it's not all about people in long underwear hitting each other. This hour on To the Best of Our Knowledge, heroes, anti-heroes, and regular folks strutting their stuff in black and white.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

To mark the Winter Solstice, we’ll honor the sacred origins our secular Christmas decorations and hear a solstice story from India.  And to help you get through the long winter evenings, we’ll get some recommendations for your winter reading list.  Solstice myths and stories and provocative new...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Seven hundred million people get their music from the Internet. More than 10 million people own iPods.  Does this mean that compact discs and record companies are going the way of the gramophone and eight-track tapes?  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll look at this digital...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Anne D. LeClaire was walking along the beach on Nantucket Sound when she heard a voice. The voice said, "Sit in silence." LeClaire turned to look but there was no one there. Anne D. LeClaire talks about this experience seventeen years ago and how it inspired her to remain silent for two days...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Film-maker David Lynch has been "diving within" through the Transcendental Meditation technique for more than 30 years.  Now Lynch has created a foundation that wants to help students discover their full creative potential through T.M. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, David Lynch...Read more

a man near the Mississippi

The Mississippi River is an American icon. It's a body of water that’s been shaped as much by cultural processes as by environmental ones. From the state lines it draws to its role in literature and the arts, it’s a river that flows deep in the American psyche.

This episode is about the...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

spare change

Why do we assume more money is better?  Maybe if we weren't so focused on how much we have, we'd ask a better question:  How much is enough?  We explore the relationship between money and happiness, and alternative forms of currency.  Also, Great Britain's experiment in Gross...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

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

Getting through winter requires mental and physical toughness, plus good central heating.  But animals have amazing strategies for surviving conditions that make humans whimper.  Today, winter survival strategies from our furred and feathered friends.  What could we learn from a walrus who...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Uncovering the real story in Iraq is getting harder.  Western journalists have become targets, just like American soldiers.  And reporters now take elaborate precautions to avoid being killed or kidnaped.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we'll talk about the hazards of war reporting...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Where’s James Bond when you need him?  You have to wonder about the spy business after the dubious information that was used to justify America’s war against Iraq.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, an argument for revealing all the secrets to the public.  And, a look back at Anthony...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The Creative BrainCreativity is a little like obscenity:  You know it when you see it, but you can't exactly define it....unless you're a neuroscientist.  In labs around the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Computers permeate our lives.  They scan our groceries.  They entertain us.  They keep us safe.  But, can they write a poem?  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, will your desktop be the next Bard?  And, the life of the original rock n’ roll rebel: the 19th century French poet Arthur...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

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

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