Episode Archives

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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

What's your favorite podcast? Are you thinking about launching one of your own? Smart phones and digital distribution have made it easier to get into the radio game. After the breakout success of Serial, it seems like everyone’s talking...Read more

making music on a piano and a guitar

What goes into making new music? And how does hearing new music change the way we listen? From the Avant Garde composers of the 1920s, through Japanese noise music, to punk progenitor Richard Hell, we’re looking at how music - and how we hear it - changes. Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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

a woman shushing

Hear that?  It's the soothing sound of silence.  We'll have much more, including "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking"; one man's quest for absolute silence; and John Cage's 4'33." 

And if you are looking to contribute your neighbor story,...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

It’s the only musical instrument that’s played without being touched – the theremin.  You’ve probably heard its eerie sound in movies like Hitchcock’s “Spellbound” or on the Beach Boys’ hit “Good Vibrations.”  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the intriguing life of the instrument’s...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Back in 1933 novelist James Hilton wrote of an earthly paradise hidden in the Himalayas. He called it Shangri-La. But Hilton didn't invent the idea. Myths about Shangri-La go back centuries, and they pop up in a variety of places from Tibet to Kashmir. In this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Let boys be boys. It's a hard thing to do today with concern over violence in schools and the seeming violence of boys' play. But what if, thanks to our culture of fear, boys are slipping through the cracks? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we take a look at the inner world of...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

East Meets West

Part Five

 

Tariq Ramadan is a controversial philosopher who believes Muslims can thrive in secular, Western society. Ayaan Hirsi Ali disagrees. She's an equally controversial figure who's living under a death threat...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The physics world has a darling - it's called string theory. The idea that the universe is composed of infinitesimal vibrating strings. String theory has been the subject of bestselling books, popular TV series and countless articles. But is it a dead end street? In this hour of on To the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Bright young men and women used to graduate and head for Wall Street or a top corporate law firm. Today, more and more of them are heading back to the land. After all, which would you rather do wear a suit and slave in a cubicle or spend your days on your own land, growing food for...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

When did "fat" become a four-letter word?  Leaders of the body acceptance movement say it's time to stop shaming fat people.  In this hour, curvy girls and plus-size women talk about the emotional and physical costs of America's toxic obsession with weight and body image. Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Say the name "Robert Krulwich" and hard-core public radio listeners start smiling. These days Robert does a lot of science journalism, even though he admits he's no expert. He believes everyone's interested, even though they think it's too hard for them. In this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Imagine sipping tea with a militant Muslim and listening to how he set off a series of bombs in a crowded marketplace, trying to kill as many people as possible.  Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge, an anthropologist describes her visit to a militant training camp in Pakistan. ...Read more

robot lady

China Mieville’s new novel, “Embassytown,” features sentient beings famous for their unique language and a woman who’s a living simile. Ursula K. LeGuin says that “Embassytown” is “a fully-achieved work of art.” We’ll meet China Mieville, as we explore the language of science fiction.  Also...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

We all have our good days and our bad days, but chances are they’re nothing like what Andy Behrman has experienced.  Behrman would fly from Zurich to the Bahamas and back in three days to balance hot and cold weather.  On the bad days, he’d experience tornado-like rages of depression.  In this...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Fashion photographer David Jay recently sent us a book of his photos. The lighting was perfect, the settings intimate. The women, nearly naked, were gorgeous.  Taking in the beautiful images, something stood out – the mastectomy scars.Read more

a city street

 

Oh, city living. The crush of people, the crowd of buildings, the empty lots, the garbage-strewn slums. 
 
More than half of us will be living urban by 2050. How will we manage?Read more
water

Even now, the oceans of the world are terra incognita.  We’ve explored only 5-10 percent of them on a planet mostly comprised of water.  What we’re missing couldsurprise us.  This hour, we explore the mysteries of the deep.  We’ll hear about the oceans’ oddest creatures...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

"Beowulf" is the oldest story in the English language, but for centuries no one knew it existed. The manuscript was buried in an ancient monastery, written in a language no one understood. Even after it was discovered few scholars read it as serious literature, but that all changed with J.R.R...Read more

the thinker

Thoughts about thinking, including Daniel Goleman on "Emotional Intelligence" and Daniel Kahneman on "Thinking, Fast and Slow."Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and...a trip to the mall?  Like it or not, a trip to the mall is an American rite of passage.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge a look at the great American pastime - shopping.  From the Mall of America to the latest new strip mall, Americans spend more...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

James Hood had a dream.  He wanted to go to college and get an education.  But there was a problem.  Hood was a black man in segregated Alabama in 1963.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, a variety of views and opinions from Black Americans on their expectations of freedom.  We’ll...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Posters at Starbucks ask customers to focus on the world water crisis. Church congregations ask the faithful to go on a "carbon diet." Slate magazine asks readers to take a "green challenge." We've got green cars, green clothing, green politics and even green weddings. In this hour of To the...Read more

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