Many of us first met Islam on 9/11 with planes slamming into the World Trade Center – not a very good first impression. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, a proper introduction, as we talk with Muslims and Westerners who are redefining our relationship. From a Danish cartoonist with a...Read more
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Episode Archives
From Boston to Berkeley, people are going raw. Vegetarians, vegans and Atkins followers are old hat – the hottest trend in food is cool. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, why the raw food movement has people turning off their ovens and trumpeting the healing powers of uncooked food...Read more
Most people want to do the right thing. But what if your survival depended on doing something wrong? Something deeply repellent. Something evil. And what if the police told you to? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the consequences of moral choices, from Nazi Germany to American...Read more
The scene is a gritty punk club. Dark and smoky with sticky floors. A crowd shuffles and talks, waiting for the music. One man takes the stage. He sits down and plays – not rock, not techno, but the solo cello suites of J.S. Bach. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, breaking the...Read more
Is Jennifer Egan's book, "A Visit from the Goon Squad," a novel or is it a series of entangled stories? It's a fair question because this polyphonic narrative covers a lot of territory – from satire to tragedy told from a wide range of characters' points of view. And one chapter...Read more
It’s Art & Craft week at TTBOOK, but we’re not gluing macaroni to cardboard.
From the halls of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, to MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms; from a craft studio on the coast of Maine, to "outsider artists" at the Venice Biennale... w...Read more
*With his black Fedora hat Jack Abramoff became the symbol of everything that’s corrupt about government. But now he’s out of prison and seeking atonement. Join us for a candid interview with former lobbyist Jack Abramoff. How do we as a society deal with the...Read more
There are about 675 species of native birds in North America. To win the most demanding and prestigious birdwatching competition in the country you have to see ALL of them. And then some. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, die-hard birders compete in “The Big Year.” Also, we’ll...Read more
Ten years after the War on Terror began, militant Islamic teenagers are still blowing themselves up in crowded streets. What makes someone willing to become a human bomb? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, how religious radicalization works and new techniques for...Read more
Cult film director John Waters has been described as the "Pope of filth" and the "King of Trash." To put it mildly, his films have, well, transgressed the boundaries of good taste. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, pushing the limits in film with John Waters. We'll...Read more
Ever want to chuck everything and just live your dream? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we meet several people who are doing just that. One of them's a hot young actor, starring in a smash Broadway musical. Another is a middle-aged husband and father who published a small magazine...Read more
What makes a scientific revolution? Thomas Kuhn said it’s when a new paradigm blows the old scientific model out of the water. Fifty years later, we examine Kuhn's legacy, and talk with iconoclastic scientist Rupert Sheldrake, who says science is mired in untested dogmas. Also, stories of two...Read more
They weren’t exactly the Marx brothers, but Groucho had more in common with Karl Marx than you might think. Both had minds that were lightning fast, and both were professional provocateurs. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we’ll reassess these two legendary figures – the...Read more
It’s a mob scene in Madison, Wisconsin as novelist Mark Winegardner reveals the new Godfather. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge our yearly stage show at the Wisconsin Book Festival. Guests also include singer/songwriter Jane Siberry and the humor writers from The Onion.
This...Read more
East Meets West
Part Two
A look at America's romance with Eastern spirituality: how did dharma retreats and yoga vacations become part of the Western lifestyle? Buddhist teachers explain what Buddhism has to offer a consumer...Read more
Think you know about kung fu movies? That they’re campy, badly dubbed flicks from the 70s? Sometimes. But they’re also graceful, noble, heroic feats of movie making. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge the tiger, the crane, legends of the Shaolin (SHOW-lin) Temple, and the...Read more
Cosmologist Janna Levin feels cramped. Thirty billion light years just isn’t enough space for her. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we consider the Universe Beyond Einstein. Janna Levin tackles the shape and size of space. Also, we’ll try to catch a gravity wave, marvel at the...Read more
Vivek Maddala knows how to tell a good story. He can put a lump in your throat or make you laugh out loud. His themes are timeless and universal. Maddala composes music for silent films. In this hour of To The Best Of Knowledge, how to construct a narrative. From writing silent film music to...Read more
What do the opening notes of Beethoven’s “Symphony Number Five” and a rabbit named Oolong balancing a pancake on his head have in common? They’re both examples of memes – units of culture that are imitated and, as a result, copied from one brain to another. Are memes the driving...Read more
For all the amazing discoveries that scientists have made, the cosmos is still full of mysteries - from dark matter to quantum entanglement. Will physicists ever explain the universe, or is it fundamentally unknowable? We explore the frontiers of physics and ponder what it means to live with...Read more
There are children who seem to be re-born into new families, while remembering specific and verifiable things about their former lives. It may be coincidence, or imagination, but some of their stories will curl your hair! In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, a search for...Read more
What does it take to become a U.S. president? Driving ambition, of course, but what else? We'll dissect a few presidents - from Lincoln and LBJ to Obama - and consider the chances of a female president in 2016.Read more
Double-crossin’ dames. Grifters on the make in sleazy dive bars. Dead men that are heavier than broken hearts. Some think his novels are just pulp fiction, but to others Raymond Chandler is one of the greatest American writers of the 20th Century. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge...Read more
Want to improve your mood? Just dance. This hour we’re talking with people who’ve found an easy way to keep themselves happy, to build friendships, and make art. We’re checking in with neuroscientists too, to hear just what happens in our brains when we’re dancing. Also, how dancing...Read more