Julian Barnes is one of England’s most celebrated novelists. He’s fascinated by the ways our minds play tricks with memory, especially as we age. It’s the subject of his Booker Prize winning novel “The Sense of an Ending” – one of several new books that explore the minefield of memory. We...Read more
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Episode Archives
Roast pig may look delicious on the holiday table, but you might pass on the pork if you met Piglet. That famous New Zealand pig swam in the ocean each day, loved the violin and, as the story goes, sang to the moon. But she was more than an exceptional pet. To one man she was an ambassador...Read more
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
Do you ever think about the way you think? Lately, we've been doing a lot of thinking about what we think about when we think about thinking. Join us as we explore the life of the mind.Read more
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
The most mysterious musical instrument in the world lives inside your body. Your voice. You can’t see it, can’t touch it, and yet – it expresses all of who you are. On this episode of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we’ll explore they mysteries of the voice. We’ll hear from soprano Renee...Read more
Do you believe in magic? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we’ll talk with some people who do. Join us for a conversation with America’s favorite witch – Starhawk. And uncover your own inner wizard! What Merlin, Dumbledore and Gandalf have to teach us all about living a life...Read more
According to George Bernard Shaw, the seven deadly sins are food, clothing, firing, rent, taxes, respectability and children. This time on To the Best of Our Knowledge, we’ll explore the more traditional Seven Deadly Sins. Musician Joe Jackson will tell us how lust, gluttony and the other sins...Read more
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
"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
Lace up the hiking boots and grab the bug spray! Spring is here and we're heading Into The Woods. Learn how to read a forest. Unlock the meanings hidden in leaf and bole, twig and soil. And celebrate the woods in fairytale, myth, story and song.Read more
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
Author, Author
Part Two
It's been called divine and it's been called disgusting. it's arguably one of the most important books of all time. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Vladimir Nabokov's "Lolita" as we ask the...Read more
Peggy Orenstein didn't want children. At least she didn't think so. Children killed careers and turned smart, professional women into drones. Well, that's what Orenstein was afraid of, anyway. But after a death in the family, she changed her mind. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, to...Read more
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
Dreams can be a pleasant diversion from the daily grind or something with the potential to transform, entertain, and even heal. On this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the power of dreams and the science of sleep.Read more
Dan Janzen is one of the world’s leading tropical biologists. He’s spent forty years working in the Cost Rican jungle, and there’s one creature that fascinates him above all others - the moth. Janzen has found nine-thousand different species of moth in Cost Rica. In this hour of To the Best...Read more
DEVO co-founder Mark Mothersbaugh talks about his visual art exhibition, "Myopia," and Joshua Wolf Shenk lays waste to the myth of the lone genius as we explore the creative process.Read more
Would you be surprised to know there are more slaves in the world today than at any other time in human history? An estimated 27 million people live in bondage. On this To the Best of Our Knowledge, the new abolitionists – including a reporter who risked his life to document the global traffic...Read more
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
Emerging insights from the new science of astrobiology paints a picture of a universe seeded with potential life. While astronomers discover new exoplanets every other week or so, biologists are finding unexpected life in some of the most inhospitable environments on earth. Together, their work...Read more
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
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
It's a post-apocalyptic novel that's been compared to Stephen King's "The Stand" and Cormac McCarthy's "The Road." It covers a vast time span and features a different kind of vampire, known as "virals." It's called "The Passage" and it's one of this summer's hottest books. We'll meet the author...Read more