Episode Archives

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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Lauren Weedman grew up knowing she was adopted.  When she became a teenager, she decided she wanted to meet her birth mother, but the hospital records were sealed and the search seemed hopeless.  Then Lauren’s mom got in on the act, and today Lauren has two moms – and a one woman show...Read more

Original Air Date:

May 12, 2002

Soldiers on in the battlefield prior to the World War I Christmas Truce

On Christmas Eve of 1914, German soldiers in the Flanders trenches lit candles on small Christmas trees.  British, French, Belgian and German troops serenaded each other with songs.  Soon enemy soldiers broke bread with each other and exchanged letters.  In this hour of To the...Read more

Original Air Date:

December 16, 2001

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Comfort food’s selling like hotcakes.  People haven’t forgotten the importance of good nutrition, but these days we crave things that’ll make us feel better.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, seeking solace in a scary world.  Diane Ackerman talks about her garden, and...Read more

Original Air Date:

December 02, 2001

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

You think Greta Garbo was good at ducking the paparazzi?  She could have learned a thing or two from the giant squid.  No one has ever seen one alive.  Zoologist Clyde Roper should know, he’s spent most of his life in pursuit of this low profile ocean monster.  In this hour...Read more

Original Air Date:

November 25, 2001

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Most of us probably have heard of someone else who shares our name, and there are probably others, but unlike British comedian Dave Gorman, we haven’t traveled 24 thousand miles and spent thousands of dollars to meet all of them.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, magnificent...Read more

Original Air Date:

November 25, 2001

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Maybe home is where you live, raise your family and mow the grass. Or it's where you grew up. Or where the whole clan gathers for major holidays. Wherever home is, it's never mattered more. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, stories of home, from the Texas hill country to the ‘hood....Read more

Original Air Date:

November 04, 2001

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

We’ve got a million expressions for death: kicking the bucket, checking out, buying the farm - but what do we do when words aren’t enough?  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, artisans are finding new passages through grief, from graffiti memorials to handcrafted coffins. ...Read more

Original Air Date:

October 28, 2001

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Sometimes you can’t separate beauty from brutality in the African bush. Safari guide Mark Ross is still figuring it out.  In 1999, Ross and a group of  tourists were kidnaped by Rwandan rebels. What happened that day changed the rest of his life. Next time on To the Best of Our...Read more

Original Air Date:

September 16, 2001

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Organic food is now a booming billion dollar industry.  And today’s top chefs are its biggest cheerleaders.  They say locally-grown, organic food will help save the planet.  But not everyone agrees.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, an argument for why celebrity...Read more

Original Air Date:

September 02, 2001

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Have you ever had one of those moments when you know you really should think about a different line of work?  For Daniel Pink, it was a scorching hot June day in Washington, D.C. when he almost threw up on Al Gore.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Daniel Pink’s career as...Read more

Original Air Date:

September 02, 2001

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

A couple of years ago writer Michael Pollan was curious about the world of illegal, underground marijuana gardens.  What he found surprised him.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Mary Jane goes high tech.  A look at drug cultures past and present, a visit to a rave,...Read more

Original Air Date:

August 26, 2001

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Suppose you grew up with one of the world’s great scientists.  How would that shape your view of the world?  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, an intimate look at the great conservationist Aldo Leopold: we’ll talk with three of his children.  Also, comic novelist David...Read more

Original Air Date:

August 19, 2001

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Walk into the children's section of any bookstore and the magic wands and secret portals almost materialize in front of you. Wizards, witches, demons, time travel, dragons, orphans, orphaned dragons – doesn't anyone know how to write a non-magical book anymore?! In this hour of To the Best of...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The East Village Opera Company's new album, "Olde School," was 300 years in the making. The group gives some of opera's greatest hits an extreme musical make-over, re-imagining them as popular songs. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll meet the co-founders of The East Village...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

”Seinfeld” and “The Simpsons” may not look like grist for the philosopher’s mill, but philosopher Bill Irwin says they have a few things to teach us.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, philosophy from Socrates to Wittgenstein, with a short detour through pop culture.  Also...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

It's the liberal's apocalypse. Consider empty big-box stories, deserted highways, worthless pieces of paper we used to call money. The economy collapses. There's widespread violence and social unrest. The only people with a fighting chance ride out the storm in life-boat communities with access...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Are humans innately good? Do we have a generosity gene? Is there an inherent desire to help our fellow human beings? Or, are we natural born sinners who have to fight, tooth and nail, to conquer our inherent tendencies towards selfishness, destruction and war. In this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more

DNA

Can science conquer death? It may seem like an absurd question, but some people think it's possible. In this hour of To The Best Of Our Knowledge, we'll meet Aubrey de Grey, a maverick English scientist who's identified seven major kinds of molecular and cellular damage. He thinks we can prevent...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The sky is black. The wind’s picking up.  The hurricane is coming.  Nothing you can do about it.  But wait!  Scientists from Dyn-o-Storm fly into the hurricane.  They release a chemical that stops the hurricane dead in its tracks.  Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge, should we?  Just...Read more

an open door

Well we made it through the anticipated apocalypse. 

Now, to say, "Goodbye old year; hello, new."
 
To help us begin again, we’ve got a collection of stories about putting challenges behind us. About transformation. About coming through hard times into...Read more
To The Best Of Our Knowledge

One of this year's big novels is Colson Whitehead's sweeping historical novel, "The Underground Railroad." It's an unflinching look at the experience of slavery, inspired by the classic slave narratives. And being a sci-fi geek, Whitehead also weaves in bits of fantasy, creating an alternative...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

What’s the best way to get someone to talk?  NPR’s Terry Gross has done more interviewers than just about anyone else in public radio.  But she prefers to talk to them long distance, with no eye contact.   In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Terry Gross on the art of the interview.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The pursuit of knowledge can make you do weird things.  Sir Isaac Newton explored his eye-socket with a wooden stick.  Swedish chemist Karl Scheele was undone by the toxic chemicals he insisted on tasting.  And a German scientist named Becher spent years trying to make gold from his own urine,...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Alex Rider, Nancy Drew, The Cat in the Hat, and Harold and the Purple Crayon – for millions of children of all ages, they're some of the most imaginative and mysterious stories around. But as it turns out, the authors sometimes have their own, personal mysteries to share. In this hour of To the...Read more

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