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Failure is a four letter word in America. Most of us do everything we can to avoid it.  But what if we've got the wrong idea about failure - and it's all a matter of learning the right way to do it? This hour, one psychologist's take on how to embrace the fall.  And comedian...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Future Perfect: Dreamers, Schemers & Visionaries

Part Three

 

Our environment is in trouble. It's not hard to imagine global catastrophe as problems like climate change and overpopulation take their toll. But there's always hope...Read more

a climate sticker

Global pandemics, alien invasions, the Second Coming....why do we love imagining the end of the world?  We examine apocalyptic thinking – from vampire movies to the Book of Revelation.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

When do we most need our leaders? In times of crisis? In times of war? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge Winston Churchill's biographer Martin Gilbert explains how the man who offered his nation only blood, sweat, toil and tears made it believe that was enough. And he says Churchill's...Read more

light streams into a cave

One of the biggest challenges a journalist can face is reporting a story when your connection to your source is compromised. They won't talk, or they can't talk, or it's your own father. Can anyone ever uncover the truth, the whole truth, about another person?Read more

a woman speaks her name

Your name is a collection of sounds and syllables that identify you. It's your tag, handle, label, second skin.  It's written on your birth certificate and it'll be inscribed on your grave.  But what does it actually mean?  Names carry family dreams, expectations and legacies....Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The atom bomb's ability to kill people makes it a literal dangerous idea.  But there are other kinds of dangerous ideas -- ideas that are contrary, counterintutive and just plain unconventional.  It's that kind of dangerous idea that we explore in this hour.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Americans are from Mars, and Europeans are from Venus.  At least that’s the view of foreign policy analyst Robert Kagan.  He says Europeans no longer believe in military power, quite unlike America’s leaders.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the growing split between Europe and...Read more

woman on a mountain

There's been a hot spotlight shining down on women this past year.  From allegations of a war on women to the debate about reproductive rights, it's hard to tell how far women have come and just where they're going. So, what does feminism look like today? The first woman governor...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Imagine Superman, demented with age, on a final mission to save the world.  Or Conan the Barbarian, civilized and living in L.A. boarding the bus with a good book.  It’s all there in the poetry of Charles Harper Webb.  Words fly this hour on To the Best of Our Knowledge as we take in performance...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Maybe you can sing like Jennifer Lopez or Ricky Martin.  If not, looking like them is the next best thing.  Right now, it’s never been cooler to be Hispanic.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the Latino Revolution.  From the rise of Latino-chic to the spicy secretes of salsa. ...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

President Obama is out to remake America's relationship with the Islamic world. We'll explore what this means for both the Middle East and the U.S. We'll also look at the ongoing debate over Muslim immigration in Europe, and we'll talk with a Hollywood screenwriter about his new novel on the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

It used to be simple to pick out a shade of paint, before computers made almost infinite gradations possible.  Now if you stare at those samples long enough they all start to look alike.  It turns out color is as much a mental construct as a physical substance.  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

a woman with head pain

You stub your toe, hit your head on an open cupboard, slam your fingers in a car door, slice your hand on the sharp lip of can, or lick an envelope the wrong way. Your toes throbs, your head aches, your fingers pound, your hand hurts, your lip smarts.

Pain is your body’s way of letting...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

After 11 years of isolation in New England, Nathan Zuckerman returns to New York City. Now 71, Zuckerman discovers that a lot has changed. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll meet Nathan Zuckerman's creator, the renowned novelist, Philip Roth. And we'll find out how both Roth...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

George Burns lived a good long life, hanging on to one hundred.  These days scientists say that’s no big deal.  According to them, some of us may be tottering around the golf course when we’re 150.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the quest for immortality – how long can science...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Winston Churchill once said “In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.”  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, journalist Jake Tapper discusses the ethics of telling lies during wartime.  We’ll also take a concise look at the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

There's still debate about climate change, but one thing's for sure – these days nothing's sure about the weather. Northerners can golf in December, spring shows up early, and mosquitoes are movin' on up. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, wacky weather and what you can do to help....Read more

News From Poems

For National Poetry Month, To The Best Of Our Knowledge celebrated poetry with original work by five leading American poets, written in response to current events.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

David Rothenburg is a philosopher and a jazz clarinetist, who also loves birds.  So one day he sat down in the National Aviary in Pittsburgh and started playing music.  Lo and behold, a white-crested laughing thrush started singing with him, riffing on the tunes he played.  Since then Rothenburg...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Poet Nick Lantz has a darkly satirical take on American culture. Lately, he’s been thinking about political spin and how politicians speak. In this interview—the third in our series ...Read more

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