Couples know the frightening statistic: 50 percent of today’s marriages will fail. And the real victims are the children. As they grow up they are more likely to be aggressive or depressed, end up in mental health hospitals, or get divorced themselves. In this hour of To the...Read more
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Episode Archives
George Orwell wrote "1984" in response to two of the reigning ideologies of his day - fascism and communism. Does his dystopian story of Big Brother and Doublethink still matter today? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we'll talk with actor Tim Robbins, who recently staged a...Read more
"Music can change the world." It's been said so many times - I wonder if it means anything anymore. Can it? Really, can music change the world? Can a song bring about peace? Or, overthrow a government? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll listen in on the soundtrack to war and...Read more
Ok, you choose: endure traditional strict religious strictures and a life of hard labor or, fully indulge in the pleasures of today? Amish youth are given that choice. When they turn 16 they're let loose to experience all the temptations the world. Then, they have to decide between the world and...Read more
In the early 1950's two-year-old Jacqueline Henley in New Orleans became darker. After the neighbors complained, her aunt turned her over to New Orleans authorities. A black couple wanted to adopt Jacqueline but -- she had the word “white” stamped on her birth certificate. Next time on To...Read more
"The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you."...Read more
Picking up a bottle of wine for dinner used to be simple. It pretty much depended on how much you wanted to spend, since everything came from France. Not anymore! We'll look at what happened to the wine world in 1976, when wine from the Napa Valley won a blind tasting and turned the industry...Read more
Toby Young thought he had it made. He had a prestigious job at Vanity Fair magazine, a press pass that got him in everywhere, and a suave British accent to boot. He was poised to take Manhattan. Then everything went wrong. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, flops, failures and...Read more
Imagine a farm five stories tall, powered by the sun, watered by the rain. Cabbage and carrots, tomatoes and eggplant grow on living walls. Tens of thousands of fish swim in aquaponic tanks. In this hour, the urban farm of the future gets real. Also, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,...Read more
Most movie stars will do anything to stay in the limelight. But Debra Winger didn’t care. Six years ago, she walked out of Hollywood. She even taped her retirement card above her mirror so she’d see it every day. Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge, Debra Winger talks about the...Read more
It's been more than four decades since the Civil Rights movement ended racial segregation in America. Yet few would say African-Americans are now fully integrated – or assimilated. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, African American writers talk about race, and how black history –...Read more
Neuroscientists have made remarkable discoveries about the brain, but so far, no one's come close to cracking the biggest mystery of all - the connection between the...Read more
Kashmir has been called the most beautiful place on earth. Today, it’s the melting point for a bitter dispute between India and Pakistan. It’s a situation that’s been called more dangerous than the Cuban missile crisis. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, an Indian writer mourns the...Read more
Maybe you watched Elizabeth Taylor strut around Ancient Rome so you think you know who Cleopatra was. Well, the real Cleopatra was far more remarkable - a brilliant woman who spoke nine languages and ruled over the world's most cosmopolitan culture... and yes, also cavorted with both Julius...Read more
Christopher Hogwood was not your ordinary household pet. For one thing, he weighed 700 pounds. And he loved to drink beer. Christopher was a very large pig with a heart of gold. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the story of how Christopher Hogwood became the best-loved pig in...Read more
The Meaning of Life
Part Two
Karen Armstrong was a Catholic nun who stopped believing. In this hour of the Peabody Award-winning program To the Best of Our Knowledge, Armstrong shares her story of how she found her way back to God...Read more
From Soup to Nuts:
Part Two
This may be the century when Americans forget how to cook. We're just too busy. Take-out's too easy. And, who needs to cook when you can buy ready-made...Read more
Eric Liu is on a campaign to restore America's civic joy. To make voting fun again, with late-night dance parties for Miami voters, participatory election street theater in Akron,Ohio; and a giant election scavenger hunt in Philadelphia. He says there's no such thing as not voting: choosing not...Read more
It started as a joke. Danny Wallace put a small ad in a London newspaper. It simply said “Join me” and invited people to send a passport-sized photo. The only problem was, no one knew what they were joining. Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge, the story of Danny Wallace’s “Join Me”...Read more
The US will pull troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2016, leaving behind an enemy they've fought for more than a decade. This week, we explore Afghanistan's Taliban insurgency and find out what motivates them.Read more
Electrons to Enlightenment
Part Three
One of the Dalai Lama's favorite places in America is a neuro-biology lab at the University of Wisconsin, looking for scientific proof that meditation works. In other labs across the country,...Read more
Parents worry that their kids spend too much time playing video games, but according to one new study, if you need surgery, you want the surgeon who grew up with a game controller in one hand. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, why the future belongs to gamers. Imagine a...Read more