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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Does Western aid to impoverished African countries really help? Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo says no: it just lines the pockets of corrupt leaders and creates a culture of dependency. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we'll talk about the ethics of foreign aid, and hear why...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

Michael Chabon's a pretty successful writer of literary fiction. As far as he's concerned, literary fiction is just another genre, with its own set of conventions. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we get into the fight over genre fiction. Agatha Christie's grandson says the...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

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

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

It's not quite the Manhattan that we're familiar with. "The New York Times" is available in a "War-Free Edition" and there are rumors of an escaped tiger on the prowl in the Upper East Side. This is the setting of Jonathan Lethem's critically-acclaimed new novel, "Chronic City." On this To the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Two years ago a professor in Wisconsin checked her mail and found a most unusual letter...from an Iraqi graduate student asking for scholarly advice.  Since then professor Susan Friedman has exchanged hundreds of e-mails with academics in Iraq.  And she's heard harrowing accounts of academic...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Would you recognize a genius if you met one?  We’ll introduce you to four geniuses – or at least four people who just landed MacArthur “genius" awards: classical pianist Jeremy Denk, jazz musician Vijay Iyer, fiction writer Karen Russell and astrophysicist Sara Seager.  Also, practical tips on...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

A year and a half ago Gary Wolkstein’s doctor told him he had cancer of the spine, that it was terminal, and that he had just a few months left to live.  Today Gary’s in fine health.  Not, it wasn’t a miracle cure, it was a mistake.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge,...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Paul Ewald is a cancer researcher. He says we're entering a golden era in cancer treatment based on one emerging idea: most cancers are caused by viruses. It's good news, according to Ewald, who says we'll be able to treat cancer preventively, with vaccines. In this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

We’ve heard a lot about Islamic fundamentalists who hate the West. Some people can’t wait for the United States to invade Afghanistan.  But no one would be happier to see the back of Osama bin Laden than the Average Afghan.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the crucial...Read more

book pile

We're keepin it surreal this hour with a hallucinatory vortex chock full of innovative fiction.  Like Salvador Dali said -- "Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision."   Join us as we expand your vision and melt your mind....Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

It's the sesquicentennial of the Civil War -- it's been 150 years since that epic war began.   Americans will commemorate and remember it from different points of view. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Remembering the Civil War.   We'll talk about soldiers' experiences on the...Read more

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