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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Double-crossin’ dames.  Grifters on the make in sleazy dive bars.  Dead men that are heavier than broken hearts.  Some think his novels are just pulp fiction, but to others Raymond Chandler is one of the greatest American writers of the 20th Century.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge...Read more

a dancer in red lighting

Want to improve your mood? Just dance. This hour we’re talking with people who’ve found an easy way to keep themselves happy, to build friendships, and make art. We’re checking in with neuroscientists too, to hear just what happens in our brains when we’re dancing. Also, how dancing...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Lilydale, New York isn’t your average small town.  In Lilydale, people say ghosts walk the streets and the neighbors can talk to the dead.  No, this is not fiction.  20-thousand visitors a year travel to Lilydale to consult the largest community of mediums in the world.  Is it all a gigantic...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Rising sea levels, brutal storms and droughts, record temperatures...is there anything we can do about climate change? As world leaders gather at the Paris Climate Summit, we consider a range of proposals - from geoengineering and new green technology to a post-carbon economy.   Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

If chocolate be the food of love, eat on!  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, why chocolate may be the next big health food.  It's our Valentine’s Day special:  two best-selling romance writers share tricks of the trade.  And, listeners share their true stories of love at first sight...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Libya, Jordan, Oman, Syria  even Madison, Wisconsin, and the list grows day by day. People are filling the streets and demanding change. They want different things, but their protests have one thing in common: they have no leaders. They're organizing without...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Sales clerks at Powell's Books in Portland, Oregon, reportedly call the best-selling "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo", "the girl who pays our paychecks". The award-winning Swedish crime thriller has sold so many copies, publishers are racing to find the next Scandinavian best-seller. We meet...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

“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

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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Sure you get to throw a great party and drink lots of champagne, but once the celebration’s over the grueling work of marriage begins.  It’s hard to believe in the fairy tale any more with so many divorces.  If Cinderella were around today, she might just shack up with Prince Charming and keep...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Look at the bright side.  Keep a positive attitude.  Pull yourself up by your own boot straps.  If you set your mind on it, you can do anything.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, a rosy view of optimism and wishful thinking.  And for you cynics?  A look at the positive power of...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Our world is increasingly unthinkable.  It’s a world of tectonic shifts, strange weather and oil-drenched seascapes.  So maybe it makes sense to look to the horror genre to help us think about our unthinkable world. Next time on TO THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE, we’ll explore the...Read more

a scientist

Science is moving out of the lab and into the pages of literary fiction.  This week, we introduce the “Lab Lit” movement and talk about why fiction needs more realistic portrayals of scientists and science cultureRead more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The most mysterious musical instrument in the world lives inside your body.  Your voice.  You can’t see it, can’t touch it, and yet – it expresses all of who you are. On this episode of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we’ll explore they mysteries of the voice.  We’ll hear from soprano Renee...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

"Every time a bell rings, an Angel gets its wings." At this time of year you're likely to hear that line over and over again, as Jimmy Stewart plows through "It's a Wonderful Life." But he's not the only one who's seen an angel - in or out of the movies. In this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Ever get the feeling that nothing’s original these days, that every new song that comes out is just a rehash of another? This hour, we’re looking at the fine line between inspiration and imitation, and finding out what separates an original work from a bland copy.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

When’s the last time you took a selfie? You know, a snapshot of yourself that you share online. From feminist selfies to funeral selfies to politicians’ selfies, there’s been hot debate about selfies lately. This week artists, critics and psychologists weigh in.Read more

A protest at Standing Rock

More than 100 Native Americans nations have come to Standing Rock in solidarity to protest for water rights. This hour we ask a deceptively simple question: Who owns water?

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