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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Crime may not pay but writing crime fiction does. Just ask the Swedish writer, Henning Mankell. Or those who write "Tartan Noir"...Scottish detective fiction. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll explore Northern Europe's fictional crime wave. Also, Roger Ebert on film noir.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

“We can be bought,” they said,” but we can’t be bored.”  The king and queen of American theater, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne turned down a fantastic sum from the movies  in the middle of the depression to continue to live their illusion on the stage.  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

Do you get eight hours of sleep a night?  If not, join the millions of sleep-deprived Americans stumbling through life half-awake.  Scientists say our national sleep debt may be behind the epidemics of diabetes and obesity – maybe even cancer.  In this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Imagine a huge corporation running like a well-oiled machine – with no one in charge.  That’s how ant colonies work, with not a single leader among 10,000 members.  How does anything get done?  In this hour of to the Best of Our Knowledge, a look inside a colony of stinging...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Say you’re in Vegas playing high-stakes poker.  You haven’t slept in days.  To make matters worse, you’re being stared down by two of the best poker players in the world.  And...you’re bluffing.  So, you bet it all to bring the pot to well over a million dollars.  In this hour of To the Best of...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Governors are slashing state spending, and the President has put some of his own party's favorite programs on the chopping block.  But how much of the new austerity is really necessary, and how much is politics? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, is austerity a dangerous idea?  Join...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

It’s been described as the Nobel Prize of motion pictures: the coveted Academy Award.  One billion people around the world watch the Oscars on TV every year.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the history and politics of the Academy Awards.  Is Oscar a white man’s award?  Also, Don...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

He was a wandering pilgrim who talked to birds, healed the sick and tamed wild beasts.  He was also the closest thing to a medieval rock star - a man so revered in his lifetime that people tore at this clothes, desperate to touch a living saint.  Today, St. Francis of Assisi is admired by both...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Many Americans think the story of Cuba begins and ends with Fidel Castro. But the soul of the Cuban Revolution belonged to the charismatic, Romantic guerilla hero Ernesto “Che” Guevara. To the Best of Our Knowledge revisits the Sixties and counts the private costs of that era’s social gains. ...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

In the mid-80's the metal band Winger topped the charts with hits like "Seventeen." Then Grunge came along and left bands like Winger in the dust.  Now, Kip Winger is back on top with a new CD that debuted at #1 on the music charts.  Only this time, he's rocking the classical charts....Read more

clap board for a movie

What is it about certain films, and certain directors, that inspires obsession?  Maybe because these directors are obsessed themselves.  Like the legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog, who...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, some of the most critical questions you’ll ever face.  Who are you?  What does your life mean?  And how did you decide who you wanted to be?  We’ll hear from Rabbi Harold Kushner, Senator John McCain and novelist Tim O’Brien.  We’ll talk about making...Read more

holding hands in hospital

Modern medicine can treat disease at a molecular—or even atomic – level.  And today’s surgeons can fix things the naked eye can’t even see.  But there’s one thing every patient wants that no technology in the world can provide: compassion.  In this hour, doctors talk about the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Future Perfect: Dreamers, Schemers & Visionaries

Part Three

 

Our environment is in trouble. It's not hard to imagine global catastrophe as problems like climate change and overpopulation take their toll. But there's always hope...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Americans are from Mars, and Europeans are from Venus.  At least that’s the view of foreign policy analyst Robert Kagan.  He says Europeans no longer believe in military power, quite unlike America’s leaders.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the growing split between Europe and...Read more

woman on a mountain

There's been a hot spotlight shining down on women this past year.  From allegations of a war on women to the debate about reproductive rights, it's hard to tell how far women have come and just where they're going. So, what does feminism look like today? The first woman governor...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Imagine Superman, demented with age, on a final mission to save the world.  Or Conan the Barbarian, civilized and living in L.A. boarding the bus with a good book.  It’s all there in the poetry of Charles Harper Webb.  Words fly this hour on To the Best of Our Knowledge as we take in performance...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Maybe you can sing like Jennifer Lopez or Ricky Martin.  If not, looking like them is the next best thing.  Right now, it’s never been cooler to be Hispanic.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the Latino Revolution.  From the rise of Latino-chic to the spicy secretes of salsa. ...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

President Obama is out to remake America's relationship with the Islamic world. We'll explore what this means for both the Middle East and the U.S. We'll also look at the ongoing debate over Muslim immigration in Europe, and we'll talk with a Hollywood screenwriter about his new novel on the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

It used to be simple to pick out a shade of paint, before computers made almost infinite gradations possible.  Now if you stare at those samples long enough they all start to look alike.  It turns out color is as much a mental construct as a physical substance.  In this hour of To the Best of...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Today's entertainment industry is shrinking the gap between real life and fantasy. Popular television shows like Big Brother turn ordinary life into an engaging drama. Virtual worlds like Second Life give users a chance to recreate themselves with the click of a button. But how real is...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Is the NSA wiretapping story really new? Sure, whistle blower Edward Snowden is all over the news. But people were talking about federal surveillance ten years before leaked documents about “Prism.” In this hour, we take a look at what we know about government surveillance and when we knew it...Read more

discount stores

There’s a powerful new voting bloc in America. They’re white, working class, and they live in places that have been left behind. We'll talk with "Hillbilly Elegy" author J.D. Vance, and country music star Brandy Clark joins us in the studio to play some music and talk about her hometown.Read more

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