How did the universe begin? Science says it all started with the Big Bang, an unimaginable explosion some 15 billion years. Religion sees the mysterious hand of God. Is there room in the cosmos for both?Read more
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Episode Archives
Roses are red. Violets are blue. My mistress's eyes are nothing like the sun. A sadder and a wiser man, he rose the morrow morn. I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock. In this...Read more
Original Air Date:
October 29, 2006
Remember the girl on TV with the frying pan? She was out to make a point about your brain on drugs, and she did. Now Daniel Levitin's catching a lot of people's ears with a new book called "Your Brain on Music." In this hour, To the Best of Our Knowledge visits with Daniel Levitin and explores...Read more
Original Air Date:
October 22, 2006
Richard Dawkins may the world's best-known atheist. A renowned biologist, he's now written his atheist manifesto called "The God Delusion." In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we'll talk with Richard Dawkins about why he thinks belief in God makes no more sense than belief in Thor,...Read more
Original Air Date:
October 15, 2006
"We're all of us guinea pigs in the laboratory of God. Humanity is just a work in progress." So said Tennessee Williams. Inventor and visionary Ray Kurzweil believes the new, improved version of humanity could feature computers the size of blood cells implanted in our brains....Read more
Original Air Date:
October 15, 2006
You remember the good old days, don't you? The music was better. The food was better. Cars were better. Everything was better really. Now, everything is all fancy and everyone is in a big rush. But not back then... Those were the days, weren't they? In this hour of To The...Read more
Original Air Date:
October 08, 2006
What do you call young people who strap on explosive vests and detonate them in a crowded marketplace? President Bush says they're fascist terrorists. The Western press labels them suicide bombers. But to a Muslim, particularly one who's sympathetic to their political ideology,...Read more
Original Air Date:
September 03, 2006
You might have thought that the ukulele was gone for good after Tiny Tim tiptoed through the tulips for the umpteenth time. But singer/songwriter Victoria Vox is doing her part to bring the ukulele back into popular music. In this hour of To The Best Of Our Knowledge, we'll meet Victoria Vox....Read more
Original Air Date:
July 23, 2006
They say his stare could give you ulcers or migraines. It could even drive you crazy. In this hour of To The Best Of Our Knowledge, the greatest chess player ever, Garry Kasparov. His most famous opponent was the IBM supercomputer, Deep Blue. Kasparov shocked the chess world when, at...Read more
Original Air Date:
May 28, 2006
Here's a conundrum. Some say the number of Americans who read books for pleasure is at an all time low, yet the internet's teeming with literary blogs, and just about everyone who cares about writing has a manuscript of their own stashed in a desk drawer somewhere. In this hour of To The Best Of...Read more
Original Air Date:
April 16, 2006
Susan Krieger knew she was losing her sight, but she still didn't want to admit she was going blind. Then one day she stepped off a curb and a car hit her. After that, she took lessons walking with a white cane, and learned how to hear buildings as she passed them. In this hour of To The...Read more
Original Air Date:
April 09, 2006
Chef Homaro Cantu wants you to play with your food. After all, he does - with creations like prosciutto cotton candy, Kalamata olive ice-shavings and edible menus. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, a visit to the kitchen of Homaro Cantu at Moto, in Chicago, Illinois. Also, we meet...Read more
Original Air Date:
April 09, 2006
What would you want for your last meal? How about some gas chamber chicken smothered in gallows gravy with a side of body bag baked beans? Those are just some of the entrees Brian Price can cook up. And he should know, he's prepared over 200 last meal requests for Death Row inmates. In this hour...Read more
Original Air Date:
April 02, 2006
We talk with E.O. Wilson about the growing rift between science and religion. We'll also get a very different take on religious belief from historian Garry Wills, author of "What Jesus Meant."Read more
Original Air Date:
March 26, 2006
Choying Drolma didn't want to get married. So, she chose the only option available to a Tibetan girl – she became a Buddhist nun. In this hour of To The Best Of Our Knowledge, how music and the monastic life drew one woman beyond Tibet and into the world. Also, the making of a Western yogi. And...Read more
Original Air Date:
March 19, 2006
Laurence Sterne's 18th Century novel "Tristram Shandy" is a staple of college English Literature courses everywhere. The 600-odd page book-within-a-book-within-a-book is filled to the brim with digressions, stunts and frazzled chronology. For many it's unreadable. For sure it's unfilmable. This...Read more
Original Air Date:
March 12, 2006
What's the big idea? Well, it turns out there are three of them...the soul, Europe and the experiment. Those are the three big ideas that Peter Watson uses to focus his history of ideas. In this hour of To The Best Of Our Knowledge, we'll talk about the history of ideas...from fire to Freud.Read more
Original Air Date:
February 26, 2006
Rebuilding has gone on in New Orleans, Sri Lanka, Kashmir, and other places devastated by natural disasters. But what kind of structures are going up? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, green architects and designers talk about building for the future. Also, a look at the latest...Read more
Original Air Date:
February 26, 2006
"Story of O" scandalized a nation. And a nation not easily scandalized - France! The anonymous tale of complete submission was called vulgar by some, brilliant by others. In any case, what kind of person could write such a book? In this hour of To The Best Of Our Knowledge, we'll find out the...Read more
Original Air Date:
February 12, 2006
Ice is amazing stuff. A few cubes in a glass and you have a refreshing drink. A light glaze on a highway and you have a tragedy waiting to happen. In this hour of To The Best Of Our Knowledge, a visit with a woman who knows pretty much all there is to know about ice. And, where there's ice,...Read more
Original Air Date:
January 22, 2006
Do animals have culture? The orangutans of Sumatra certainly do. They've learned how to fish honey out of tiny termite nests, and to scoop the pulpy food out of razor-sharp fruits. What's more, they've passed on this knowledge to their offspring. Now, scientists think these primates may offer...Read more
Original Air Date:
January 15, 2006
What happens when we die? We focus on death, and how an honest reckoning with the Grim Reaper can help us live a better life.Read more
Original Air Date:
December 18, 2005
The Meaning of Life
Part One
Where do we come from? It's a fair question. Physicist Michio Kaku says we're the reverb of a Big Bang from another universe. No, says poet Stephen Mitchell – the answer's in our creation stories. But...Read more
Original Air Date:
November 20, 2005
What makes a classic? Well, for one thing, it’s got to have some staying power. The Bob Dylan song, “Like A Rolling Stone,” certainly fits the bill. It was recorded more than fifty years ago but it’s still considered by many to be the greatest pop single ever made. In...Read more
Original Air Date:
November 13, 2005