Episode Archives

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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

From Boston to Berkeley, people are going raw.  Vegetarians, vegans and Atkins followers are old hat – the hottest trend in food is cool.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, why the raw food movement has people turning off their ovens and trumpeting the healing powers of uncooked food...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

When’s the last time you were wonderstruck? Would your life be richer for more wonder? What wonder is, how to make it, where to find it and what it does for us... we all get gently awed in this hour.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Most people want to do the right thing.  But what if your survival depended on doing something wrong?  Something deeply repellent.  Something evil.  And what if the police told you to?  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the consequences of moral choices, from Nazi Germany to American...Read more

camera

When disaster strikes, photojournalists run toward it instead of away. Usually, with a camera in hand. Their job is to get up close to tragedy and danger, to document things we need to see, in the hopes of somehow making a difference.  This hour we’re talking with some of the world’s great...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Last week we lost one of the great scholars of religion. Huston Smith died at the age of 97. Smith's book “The World’s Religions” sold more than three million copies and is perhaps the most important book ever written on comparative religion. He also had a colorful personal history. In the early...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Ten years ago, South African singer and activist Vusi Mahalesela had the thrill of his life.  He sang at Nelson Mandela’s inauguration.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the music and politics of South Africa - ten years after the end of apartheid.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

We’ve all heard we live in “the information age,” but what does this mean?  We’ll give you a short history of information – from talking drums onward.  But do we now have too much information?  We’ll hear how information overload is actually re-wiring our brains.  Also, the new theory in physics...Read more

a man in a cave

The Paleo Diet. Running barefoot. Look around, the modern caveman is among us.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Ayn Rand didn't know how to make small talk; she lived for big ideas and bold statements.  She believed capitalism was the best social system ever invented, and even took to wearing a gold pin in the shape of a dollar sign.  Ayn Rand died nearly thirty years ago, but she's now inspiring a new...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Ever wonder what it’s like behind on the scenes on TTBOOK?  Being in studio while the energy and imagination of Sherman Alexie bounces off the wall? Or watching E.O. Wilson, one of the world’s preeminent biologists unfold the beauty of his mind and the ideas that keep him in love with the world...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

"Let me say this as plainly as I can" President Obama said recently, "By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end." Obama's plan will bring home some 150,000 troops. But what are they coming home to? Their divorce rate is triple the national average. Alcoholism, four times the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Steve Kissing seemed like a perfect child. He was an "A" student. He excelled as an athlete. He was even an altar boy. But Steve had a secret, a secret so dark he couldn't tell anyone. Steve was possessed by the devil. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, meeting the devil. From a boy...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

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

When Meg Gaines was diagnosed with terminal cancer, her doctor told her to go home and think about the quality, not the quantity, of her days.  Instead she grabbed him by the bow-tie and said “I don’t think you understand.  I intend to live.”  Today Meg Gaines is helping other cancer patients...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

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

According to a "New York Times" poll he's the third most famous person in Japan, right behind Hirohito and Bruce Lee. But the truth is he's not even a person, he's a giant green, radioactive lizard named Godzilla. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we'll explore the history of...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Politics has such a bad reputation it’s a wonder anyone would run for office.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we’ll hear from a few people who are out to transform the way we do politics.  Also activist Si Kahn talks about the art of the political song.  And we’ll look back at one...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Muddy Waters grew up on a cotton plantation with an insatiable hunger to play music.  He beat on kerosene cans before he finally got a guitar.  Muddy Waters went on to become a legendary bluesman.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, why some people grow up musical.  Also, pianist...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Captain William Kidd is considered to be one of the most notorious buccaneers ever to sail the Spanish Main.  But apparently history got it wrong – Captain Kidd wasn’t a pirate, he was a sea captain who hunted down pirates.  Talk about being misunderstood!.  In this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

For eons Mars has been the toast of the galaxy – and has ignited the human imagination.  The Red Planet is home to the God of War – and to little green men.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, exploring Mars.  We’ll get the latest on NASA’s new Mars missions, and take a look at the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Every year billions of classified dollars are funneled into what defense analysts call “the black world.”  It’s a realm that uses code names like “Black Light,” “Classic Wizard,” and “Link Plumeria” - a place where even an idea can be top secret.  Stealth bombers came from the black world, and...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

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