It was the best of times for Pattie Boyd. Her modeling career was booming and the sixties were exploding on the London scene. One day she got a call - she'd been cast in a Beatles film. The rest is history. We'll meet the woman who inspired three of the most famous rock songs of all time,...Read more
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Episode Archives
Alex Rider, Nancy Drew, The Cat in the Hat, and Harold and the Purple Crayon – for millions of children of all ages, they're some of the most imaginative and mysterious stories around. But as it turns out, the authors sometimes have their own, personal mysteries to share. In this hour of To the...Read more
It doesn’t get much more American than a waitress in a diner taking your order. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the diner. For some, like painter Edward Hopper, the diner is a muse. For others it’s just a greasy spoon. But have we romanticized the endless cups of coffee and the...Read more
Fifty Years ago James Watson and Francis Crick made history when they cracked the code for DNA. Watson was only 24 years old, and by no means the smartest scientist around. So why do some scientists make great discoveries? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, James Watson talks about...Read more
Film on radio? Why not? This hour, join us LIVE from the historic Orpheum Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin, for a special “Wisconsin Film Festival edition” of To The Best of Our Knowledge for film on radio. We’ll talk Dogme with “Italian for Beginners” director, Lone Scherfig. Also, the anti-...Read more
Everyone in your Facebook feed is falling for fake news–sharing it even when there's no way it can be true. They keep falling for it. But not you, right? You’re smart, well-educated. You can tell the difference. Or can you?Read more
A fashion model with prosthetic legs… a musician who can’t hear… a writer who can’t see. Instead of disabled, differently-abled, handicapped – why not better-abled?Read more
These days it seems we just can’t get enough of it. Over the past few years, luxury spending in the United States has been growing four times faster than overall spending. We’re spending more money on more products and services that we don’t really need – like Evian bottled water and Prada...Read more
James Tiptree Jr. wrote some of the most critically-acclaimed science fiction stories in the 1960's and 1970's....classics like "Houston, Houston, Do You Read?" and "The Women Men Don't See." But James Tiptree was actually the pseudonym of a 61-year-old woman, Alice B. Sheldon. In this hour of...Read more
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
Remember those great cars from the Fifties? The Redscare Phantom Witchhunter and the Bongo Beatnik Ferlinghetti TurboHipster? If you don’t recall them rolling off Detroit’s assembly lines, there’s a perfectly good reason. They never existed, except in the imagination of writer and illustrator...Read more
As Hillary Rodham Clinton prepares to give the most important speech of her life, listen back to the speech that marked her entrance into public political life, now available for the first time in its entirety. On May 31st, 1969, Hillary Rodham became the first student to give a commencement...Read more
Any day now, the United States will welcome the three hundred millionth American. He or she may be a new born baby, or someone who comes across the border – legally or illegally. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we’ll look at America’s changing demographics, and consider the price...Read more
Nearly 20 million households in America are one paycheck away from losing their homes. For many of these families, keeping a roof over their head means having to choose between the rent or dinner that evening. This hour, we explore how housing insecurity drives poverty in America.Read more
Jonathan Kaplan is a field doctor who travels to war zones around the world. He treats people who’ve been shot or maimed. Many of his patients die on the operating table. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge what war looks like from the inside. Also singer/songwriter Steve Earle...Read more
Your mother always told you money can’t buy happiness. Well, she was wrong. And economists have calculated the price. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the high cost of happiness. Also, why we cry: from crocodile tears to the three-hankie movie. Writer Andrew Solomon’s struggles...Read more
From Soup to Nuts
Part Six
Once upon a time, there was a chef who made the greatest cakes in the world. His name was Antonin Careme. But this is no fairy tale. It’s a true story of a man called the King of the Cooks. In this hour of To the Best...Read more
A restaurant wasn't always a place to eat. It used to be a thing to eat - a cup of medicinal broth to restore your health. These days Americans eat almost half their meals out, so how did the modern restaurant evolve? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the rise of the restaurant. ...Read more
Say you’re in Vegas playing high-stakes poker. You haven’t slept in days. To make matters worse, you’re being stared down by two of the best poker players in the world. And...you’re bluffing. So, you bet it all to bring the pot to well over a million dollars. In this hour of To the Best of...Read more
Every day you pick up the paper and there's another report about something you either should be eating or shouldn't. Omega 3-fatty acids, soy milk, broccoli - good. Trans fats, soda, fast food - bad. What if instead we just ate what made us happy? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge,...Read more
It’s primitive and brutal and a lot of people want to see it banned. But it’s a 500 million dollar a year industry that’s not about to throw in the towel. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, a hard look at boxing. And how the sport influenced the English language. Also, one woman’s...Read more
Did you ever notice your dog gets depressed when you do? That your cat seems to make you feel more relaxed? Every wonder why? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the connection between people and animals. Primatologist Frans de Waal says it may not be opera and abstract art, but...Read more
Democracy is one of those rubbery words. We kind of know what it means. But do we really? It’s voting and elections, but it’s much, much more than that. Democracy has inspired The Velvet Revolution and the Arab Spring. It encouraged the Suffragists and the Civil Rights Movement. It stirred the...Read more
In case it’s not obvious: we LOVE books on TTBOOK. But we’re also incredibly picky about which books we choose for interviews.Read more