Episode Archives

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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Are you deadline driven?  Most focused, most productive as “zero hour” approaches?  Well, what about the ultimate end, the true end of the time frame. 

Deadline, indeed. 

How does knowing that you’re going to die affect your life?  In this hour we’re minding mortality.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Welcome to the digital age. There’s information everywhere but do we know any more than we did twenty years ago? And for all that info... where's knowledge?Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

American flags are everywhere.  U.S. soldiers are once again heroes.  And some people say it’s downright unpatriotic to criticize the president or the war against terrorism.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the new meaning of patriotism and the crackdown on dissent....Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Peggy Orenstein didn't want children. At least she didn't think so. Children killed careers and turned smart, professional women into drones. Well, that's what Orenstein was afraid of, anyway. But after a death in the family, she changed her mind. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, to...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Most of us think in words, but not Temple Grandin.  She thinks in pictures.  Grandin is autistic, and visual thinking is common among people with autism.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Temple Grandin talks about how thinking in pictures has helped her help animals.  Also, mark...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Dreams can be a pleasant diversion from the daily grind or something with the potential to transform, entertain, and even heal. On this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the power of dreams and the science of sleep.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Dan Janzen is one of the world’s leading tropical biologists.  He’s spent forty years working in the Cost Rican jungle, and there’s one creature that fascinates him above all others - the moth.  Janzen has found nine-thousand different species of moth in Cost Rica.  In this hour of To the Best...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

It's been called all kinds of things: God, Brahman, Nirvana, All, Dao. But renowned religion writer Karen Armstrong says we've often lost sight of what this ultimate reality means, so it's not surprising it can seem so unbelievable. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Karen Armstrong...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

If you believe those at the top of society deserve their success, doesn’t that mean you think those at the bottom deserve their failure?  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we’ll talk about status anxiety.  Also, we’ll find out why American poverty matters to everyone.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

We’ve all heard we live in “the information age,” but what does this mean?  We’ll give you a short history of information – from talking drums onward.  But do we now have too much information?  We’ll hear how information overload is actually re-wiring our brains.  Also, the new theory in physics...Read more

a man in a cave

The Paleo Diet. Running barefoot. Look around, the modern caveman is among us.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Remember the movie “Field of Dreams,” about Shoeless Joe Jackson with Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones?  Well, the Field of Dreams is a real place, not a Hollywood studio lot.  It’s a cornfield in Dyersville, Iowa and it’s become something of a religious site for many baseball fans.  In this...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

20 years ago a group of musicians gathered in Trinity Church in Toronto and did something extraordinary. In one night, using only one microphone and with no budget, they recorded a masterpiece. The band is the Cowboy Junkies. And the album, "The Trinity Session." The Cowboy Junkies look back on...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Where did we come from, and where are we going? Whether it's the Garden of Eden and Armageddon, or the Big Bang and the Big Freeze, we can't help but ponder our place in the universe. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we consider the universal course of time, from the beginning to...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Piano lessons. For many of us those two words evoke only bad memories from our childhood. Piano lessons are shorthand for the oppression of children by mean and tyrannical adults. And no one captures this better than Dr. Seuss, the champion of all kids, underdogs and Whozits. In this hour of To...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Ayn Rand didn't know how to make small talk; she lived for big ideas and bold statements.  She believed capitalism was the best social system ever invented, and even took to wearing a gold pin in the shape of a dollar sign.  Ayn Rand died nearly thirty years ago, but she's now inspiring a new...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

On a scale of one to ten, how happy would you say you are right now?  If someone could teach you how to be even happier, would you be interested?  Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge, how to boost your happiness IQ.  Also, eating for pleasure, with chef and food writer Deborah Madison. ...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The mind and the body meet in the brain.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, two of the world’s top brain doctors claim that what you feel affects how you feel.  Dr. Norman Rosenthal, the man who discovered Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), says there’s an Emotional...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Muddy Waters grew up on a cotton plantation with an insatiable hunger to play music.  He beat on kerosene cans before he finally got a guitar.  Muddy Waters went on to become a legendary bluesman.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, why some people grow up musical.  Also, pianist...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Captain William Kidd is considered to be one of the most notorious buccaneers ever to sail the Spanish Main.  But apparently history got it wrong – Captain Kidd wasn’t a pirate, he was a sea captain who hunted down pirates.  Talk about being misunderstood!.  In this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more

Towering radio

We remember the magical moments of chemistry in certain interviews; the brilliant sound design that emerged from particular studio sessions; the stories that took us places and those that changed us.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Boots on the Ground: Stories from the War in Iraq

Part Five

 

At least 120 journalists have been killed in Iraq since the war began. They're targets for insurgents. But what are journalists to the US military? A necessary evil? Or...Read more

an old bible

Who doesn’t love a good book? We all know a great novel can change the way we see the world, but what about the way we treat each other? This week, we explore the benefits of reading fiction, and find out if it makes us more moral.

And if you're wondering if movies can make us more...Read more

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