Episode Archives

Filter episodes by the year they originally aired.
To The Best Of Our Knowledge

What makes a scientific revolution?  Thomas Kuhn said it’s when a new paradigm blows the old scientific model out of the water.  Fifty years later, we examine Kuhn's legacy, and talk with iconoclastic scientist Rupert Sheldrake, who says science is mired in untested dogmas.  Also, stories of two...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Hillary Clinton once described herself as a "Rorschach test." People see in her what they want, whether they love her or hate her. In this hour of To the Best Of Our Knowledge we'll talk about the complicated feelings many women have about Hillary, her marriage to Bill, and whether it's possible...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

the road in the middle

Do you ever get the feeling that everyone's reading all the same books and listening to all the same music, and seeing all the same films?   Maybe there's a reason why.  New York and Los Angeles account for only a fraction of landmass when it comes to the continental United States...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Imagine a country where Islam is the dominant religion but Christians, Jews and Muslims still live together peacefully – a place where philosophers from all three religions talk and debate openly. Well, there was once such a culture in the Middle Ages. For centuries, Al Andalus was the beacon of...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Being a kid has never been cooler.  In fact, it’s SO cool, it’s not just for the twelve and under set anymore.  These days more adults watch the Cartoon Network than CNN, Care Bears are making a comeback, and Scoobie-Doo underpants come in grown-up sizes.  In this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Woody Allen is an Academy Award-winning film-maker and screenwriter, but he's notoriously media-shy. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Eric Lax on talking to Woody Allen over 36 years. Also, we'll explore how independent screenplays work.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

This hour we combine two seemingly unlikely things: food and death. But when you think about it food and death really do go hand-in-hand. From the Last Meal to the new phenomenon of Death Dinners. Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Elephants mourning their dead.  Chimpanzees dying of grief.  And the everyday joy of a dog at play.  Biologist Marc Bekoff says the evidence is all around us, if we learn how to see it.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the case for animal emotions.  And we’ll spend some time with a...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Are you living the American Dream? Or just struggling to get by? Changing the minimum wage, cuts to food stamps, and health care coverage have been all over the news.  What does it take to “make it” in America today? 

Also, On Our Minds this week, Swedish crime fiction writer Jens Lapidus...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

With the war in Iraq winding down, now what?  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, a look at the war’s aftermath - and not only for Iraqis, but also for the millions of people who marched against the war.  Does America’s quick victory mean the peace movement failed?  And what about...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The past is nebulous - a place no one can go.  When we try to get our bearings there, we often find more than one truth.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we’ll go back to Vietnam with Senator Bob Kerrey.  And, one woman pieces together her past in war-torn Liberia.  Also, paying...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Grim news from Africa is easy to find, but there are good things happening there too.  The creator of the Number 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency wants you to know all about them.  He calls himself a Utopian writer.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we’ll visit the real Botswana with...Read more

tarot cards

Wouldn't it be great if we could predict the future? We could invest wisely, prepare for social change, and have next season's fashionable footwear.

But in our accelerated world, it seems increasingly difficult to figure out what the next big thing will be. In this hour, are trends a...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

It's not quite the Manhattan that we're familiar with. "The New York Times" is available in a "War-Free Edition" and there are rumors of an escaped tiger on the prowl in the Upper East Side. This is the setting of Jonathan Lethem's critically-acclaimed new novel, "Chronic City." On this To 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

Today most of what we read is on a screen.  So here's the question: Is there something different -- something better -- about reading a physical book?  Or does it matter?  We explore slow reading, e-reading, bibliotherapy and a novel that unfolds within another novel.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Does Western aid to impoverished African countries really help? Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo says no: it just lines the pockets of corrupt leaders and creates a culture of dependency. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we'll talk about the ethics of foreign aid, and hear why...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Barbara Moss needed a new face.  Her mouth was so deformed she could pop a baby’s fist between her teeth and out again without opening her jaw.  As a girl, she prayed for just a little bit of beauty.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, one woman discovers her true face.  Also, why men...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

Michael Chabon's a pretty successful writer of literary fiction. As far as he's concerned, literary fiction is just another genre, with its own set of conventions. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we get into the fight over genre fiction. Agatha Christie's grandson says the...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

Memory and ForgettingDo you think your memory is a record of what actually happened?  Chances are, it's not.  New scientific findings show that with every act of remembering, our brains...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Wallace Stegner put it this way. “National Parks are the best idea we ever had.”  This weekend, the National Park Service celebrates its birthday by making the parks free for a day. We're celebrating with an hour on the history and politics of national parks.  And we'll meet some folks whose...Read more

Pages