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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Who are you?

A man? A woman?

Are you a success? A failure?

A parent? An athlete? A wallflower?

A Christian? A Buddhist? A baker? 

If we are only a collection of stories about ourselves... what's the truth of who "we" are? 

Looking for UNCUT...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Is there anything science won’t tackle? The latest question neuroscientists are taking on is, “What makes something beautiful?” We're checking in with the scientists, the philosophers and the artists in this hour.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Take a stroll through a natural history museum these days and you’ll not only see dinosaurs, you’ll smell them.  Get a whiff of T-rex’s halitosis, his dinner leftovers, and, well, how should I put this – his droppings, too! In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, museums that tickle your...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Cameron Sinclair has something to say to architects out there: design like you give a damn. The founder of Architects for Humanity says the houses and office buildings we build today will literally shape the world our children inherit. So give a damn. In this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Eighty per cent of Americans say they believe in heaven. But when they're asked to describe it, many are at a loss for words. Do they think that there's another universe in the sky or do they believe that heaven is something more abstract and metaphorical? We'll explore our enduring fascination...Read more

cool cat

Who really rules the internet?  Cats, of course.  We can't take the cuteness anymore so here it is -- our first and only show about cats.  Cat videos, superstar cats, cat music, cat history, endangered cats... and a little, tiny bit about dogs.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Supersized slabs of juicy ribs cooked over a wood fire until the meat slides right off the bone. Food doesn't get more American than barbecue. It's part of our roots. And it's tangled up in our racial history. In this hour, we celebrate barbecue and explore its secret history.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The downhill skiers in Sochi know cold weather, but for real cold -- try diving into freezing water above the Arctic Circle!  In this hour, some sports too cold even for the Winter Olympics.Read more

an ape

Are humans really unique?  Not as much as we think, says renowned primatologist Frans de Waal.  So what do our ape cousins - chimps & bonobos - think and feel?  Also, the remarkable story of a feral child who lived with monkeys.

 

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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The US is in the middle of its longest and most expensive war to date.  Not the war in Iraq – the war on drugs.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge – we’ve spent hundreds of billions of dollars fighting for a “drug-free” America, yet heroin, cocaine and other illegal drugs are cheaper...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

In Japan’s ancient Edo period, the math geek was born – but it’s not who you think!  Samurai, women, children and farmers were among the original creators of the sangaku - Japanese temple geometry.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, math for the gods.  Also, can numbers unlock the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

What we eat can often say a lot about us. But why do we consider certain foods more appealing than others? In this hour, we look a the trends and tastemakers who shape our feelings about food.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Americans change their dining room tables about as often as they change their spouses, about one and a half times in their lives.  IKEA isn’t concerned about your marriage, but it does want to change the way you look at your furniture, and yourself.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The world’s oceans are emptying at an alarming rate.  Fish populations are dwindling and dozens of species are going extinct.  Is this something to worry about?  Not as long as you like plankton stew.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we’ll meet the controversial scientist who jump-...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

After World War Two, existentialism was all the rage in the U.S.A.  College students rebelled by smoking European cigarettes and wearing black clothes and berets.  Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus felt that Americans were too self-confident and superficial to accept this dark, brooding...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Patty Loveless is a coal miner’s daughter.  And a country singer, just like her distant cousin Loretta Lynn.  When Patty Loveless’ father contracted black lung disease the family had to move to Louisville, Kentucky – so Patty’s dad could receive medical attention.  In this hour of To the Best of...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

These days, we're becoming more and more like corporations. We outsource our individual needs for everything from dating to weight loss. We brand ourselves. We behave like individuals in competition with each other rather than people with an opportunity to collaborate. But it doesn't have to be...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Science and the Search for Meaning: Five Questions, Part One: What is Life?

Scientists can now explain virtually every stage of the evolutionary process.  But there’s a basic question that still mystifies even the best scientists: How did life first begin on Earth...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

What's the centerpiece of the American Dream? Is it our belief that you can pull-yourself-up-by-your-boot-straps? Maybe it's our rugged individualism? Or maybe, just maybe, it's the lawn. In this hour of To The Best Of Our Knowledge the obsessive quest for the perfect lawn. Also, a little bunny...Read more

escape

Have you ever dreamed of escaping?  Your job, your spouse, your country?   This hour, stories of rescue and escape.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

America's gone craft crazy. Everyone's knitting, or keeping scrapbooks; throwing pots or wood-working. And naturally, there are new chains of stores that carry all the supplies these crafters need, or think they do. To the Best of Our Knowledge considers what we mean by the word "craft." Does it...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

What would you do if being a woman just didn't feel right? What if being a man didn't feel right either?

In the West, a few people are choosing to leave gender behind all together. Call them gender queer, third gender or gender guerillas… people are challenging all of our notions of “he...Read more

self help books

Every new year brings a fresh start, another chance to remake yourself. We all aspire to be better people, but following through on our goals can often be difficult.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

New York Times columnist David Brooks is best known for his political writing, but he's also fascinated by recent findings in psychology and neuroscience.  In fact he says many of our public policies fail because we're not actually the rational decision makers we think we are.  In this hour of...Read more

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