Somewhere along the way, did we ruin poetry? Have the heartfelt angst of young lovers and the epic elegies of heroes become elitist and academic? But poetry is back, and we have new technology to thank.Read more
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Episode Archives
When you think of great movie musicals, what comes to mind? “Singing in the Rain” with Gene Kelly swinging from a streetlight in the middle of a torrential downpour. How about “A Hard Day’s Night” - with images of hysterical fans mobbing the Beatles at a train station. According to Roger...Read more
The state of Israel turns Sixty in 2008, but what is its future as a Jewish democracy? The Arab population in Israel will soon outnumber the Jews. Even diehard Zionists are calling for the creation of a Palestinian state. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, a look at the role Israeli...Read more
Kids (and adults) around the world are counting the days to the July release of the next Harry Potter film. What to read while you're waiting? Tales of magic and wizardry go back thousands of years. This time on To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll introduce you to some you may not be familiar...Read more
Racial sensitivity and political tolerance are clearly good, but is it possible to take them too far? This hour, a look at how we talk about touchy subjects -- whether political correctness is about safety or censorship.Read more
Life’s a sim and then you’re deleted. We always thought the computers would get us one day. Maybe they already have. According to one philosopher, odds are we’re already living the Matrix as mere programs in a computer simulation. In this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more
With the elections approaching, candidates and campaigns are working hard to get out the vote. But what would it take to get people politically involved all year round? This hour we explore a few ways, whether it's by using games to make the political process more fun, or mobilizing activists...Read more
It's been said that "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture." But the rock critic Robert Palmer didn't have any trouble. Palmer wrote effortlessly about all kinds of music – rock and roll, blues, jazz and world music. The fact that Palmer was also a musician didn't hurt. In...Read more
Uncovering the real story in Iraq is getting harder. Western journalists have become targets, just like American soldiers. And reporters now take elaborate precautions to avoid being killed or kidnaped. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we'll talk about the hazards of war reporting...Read more
Where’s James Bond when you need him? You have to wonder about the spy business after the dubious information that was used to justify America’s war against Iraq. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, an argument for revealing all the secrets to the public. And, a look back at Anthony...Read more
You know the earth is round, the sky is up, and your dog loves you. But HOW do you know those things? This week, how we form opinions – the psychology and brain chemistry behind our beliefs.Read more
Electrons to Enlightenment
Part Five
In the real world where we take out the garbage, we sometimes brush up against wonder and awe. We all look for it in different places. Some of us find it in God, like the great mystic poet...Read more
Space, the final frontier. But is science fiction the final frontier when it comes to being a literature of ideas? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll wax philosophical about science fiction with two of the genre's greatest writers -- George R.R. Martin and Ursula K. Le Guin....Read more
Have you ever heard of Dan Rice? Probably not. But if you were alive around the middle of the nineteenth century chances are you would know his name. That’s when Dan Rice made his mark in “the show business.” In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the life and times of Dan Rice. And...Read more
With shows in Milan, Paris and New York, it's fashion month across the Western World, and people are turning their eyes to runways. But does fashion really matter? Truth is, the garment industry is worth trillions of dollars, and employs millions of people. In this hour, we take a look at the...Read more
Red roses, chilled champagne, a candlelight dinner for two. Who cares?!?
This is the 21st century. We’ve got 30 million potential dates online. We’ve got every imaginable type of pornography at our fingertips. Odds are each of us could hook up with someone new tonight.
...Read more
Science and the Search for Meaning: Five Questions, Part 3: Does the Soul Still Matter?
For centuries, we’ve been told the soul is what makes each of us unique. It’s why we have moral responsibility. And it’s the part of us that lives on after we die. ...Read more
John Brown was a terrorist, a man who led a raid in Kansas that butchered five unarmed men. He was also, arguably, of the few white people in 1850s America who was totally color blind. According to a new book he was "the man who killed slavery and sparked the Civil War." So, was John Brown a "...Read more
Salman Rushdie's new novel is called "The Enchantress of Florence." It's a tale of two cities, consisting of stories tucked inside stories tucked inside stories...along the lines of Scheherazade's stories of "One Thousand and One Nights." In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Salman...Read more
Who did the press hail as the conqueror of the air? Alberto Santos-Dumont, who flew around the Eiffel Tower while Jules Verne and H.G. Wells watched and wondered. He even tied his “personal airship” to the lamp posts outside restaurants in Paris, and worked to revolutionize transportation. ...Read more
In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Russia and China. They were the two Communist giants. Now each is carving out a new future. By most accounts, China is doing it better. It’s still an authoritarian state, but the economy if booming. And Russia? Well, it’s capitalism’s wild...Read more
Everyone knows what comic books are about, right? But it's not all about people in long underwear hitting each other. This hour on To the Best of Our Knowledge, heroes, anti-heroes, and regular folks strutting their stuff in black and white.Read more
Seven hundred million people get their music from the Internet. More than 10 million people own iPods. Does this mean that compact discs and record companies are going the way of the gramophone and eight-track tapes? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll look at this digital...Read more