Episode Archives

Filter episodes by the year they originally aired.
To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The average American spends more time on Facebook than with their pets or exercising -- and that's not counting Twitter, Instagram, or Vine. We're more connected than ever these days, but at what cost?Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Have you ever heard of Bibleman, the Caped Christian? This evangelical superhero quotes scripture while fighting villains. There's a Bibleman video series, as well as a live show, toys, and a computer game. Bibleman is just part of the seven-billion-dollar Christian pop culture industry. In...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

June 22nd, 1977. Two college women are camping. A man runs over their tent in a pickup truck. Then he attacks the women with an axe. Fifteen years later, one of the women returns to central Oregon to try to solve the crime. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Terri Jentz shares...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge one man’s attempt to apologize for the sins of his family’s past.  Also, mizuko kuyo, the Japanese ritural ceremony of apology to aborted fetuses.  What does it mean to say “I’m sorry.”Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

In India he’s known as the giggling guru.  In America Dr. Maden Kataria is famous in certain circles as the man who founded Laughter Yoga.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge the man who’s changing the world with chuckles, chortles and belly laughs.  And, why more and more people...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

Today's entertainment industry is shrinking the gap between real life and fantasy. Popular television shows like Big Brother turn ordinary life into an engaging drama. Virtual worlds like Second Life give users a chance to recreate themselves with the click of a button. But how real is...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

Nature, red in tooth and claw. That line from Tennyson's poem still strikes a chord when we contemplate the natural world. Today, there's a divide in how we view nature. On the one hand, we swing through it like a playground, on the other, we're forced to step back to allow for nature's power in...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

“The bearded lady/tried a jar/she’s now/a famous movie star/Burma-shave.”  Jingles like that could be found on signs across America’s highways between the 1930's and the 1950's.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the story behind the legendary Burman-Shave advertising campaign.  Also...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

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

Calling Lynne Cox a swimmer is like calling Mohammed Ali a tough guy.  At age fourteen, she swam to Catalina Island from mainland California.  At eighteen she swam between the islands of New Zealand.  Years later, with miles of hard swims behind her, she turned her eye to the unthinkable - the...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

a man with prosthetic limbs

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

cuba

As Cuba and the U.S. restore diplomatic relations, what's in store for Americans who want to visit Cuba? And for Cubans wanting more prosperity? Steve Paulson recently traveled to Cuba and brought back new stories about our island neighbor. From diplomacy to culture, we tackle jazz,...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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Leon Fleisher was once one of the world’s great pianists.  Then a rare neurological disease left two fingers of his right hand clenched into his palm, and he could play only with his left hand for 37 years.  At 76, Fleisher’s miraculously regained the use of his bad hand and he’s playing...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Back in 1967, Noam Chomsky wrote a famous essay called "The Responsibility of Intellectuals." Chomsky was furious about what he called "the deceit and distortion surrounding the American invasion of Vietnam." And he urged intellectuals "to speak the truth and expose lies." So what is the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Who are you? White or black, Muslim or Christian, working class or wealthy? Most of us rotate through many different cultural identities, at work and at home. And sometimes, reconciling them is hard.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

Pages