The a**hole certainly isn't on any endangered species lists. Quite the opposite, in fact. We're seeing a population explosion. So we have to ask — Are we living in the "Age of the A**hole"?Read more
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Episode Archives
Is this Philip K. Dick's world and are we just living in it? It sure seems like it these days. This hour, we explore his life and work. Read more
Original Air Date:
January 20, 2013
Previous Airdates:
October 07, 2017
January 20, 2013
Certain brain disorders can lead to remarkable insights....even genius. We'll peer into the world of autistic savants and dyslexics, and contemplate our cyborg future, when our brains merge with tiny, embedded computers. Also, one of the most fascinating investigations of consciousness:...Read more
Original Air Date:
December 02, 2012
Previous Airdates:
December 02, 2012
August 11, 2013
We explore one of the world's most controversial and secretive religions — Scientology. Also, how much do we really know about the Mormon faith?
Original Air Date:
September 30, 2012
Previous Airdates:
September 30, 2012
September 15, 2013
We put together our favorite interviews with female athletes.Read more
Original Air Date:
July 29, 2012
Previous Airdates:
July 29, 2012
Worried about climate change? Trying hard to reduce your carbon footprint? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, living small and liking it – an argument in favor of the radically local life.Read more
Original Air Date:
May 02, 2010
Previous Airdates:
May 02, 2010
May 15, 2011
You know Marcel Proust as the author of the massive autobiographical novel, "In Search of Lost Time." But did you know that Proust can also be considered a scientist? That's the argument that Jonah Lehrer makes in his book, "Proust Was A Neuroscientist." Lehrer explains how Proust made...Read more
Original Air Date:
March 21, 2010
Previous Airdates:
March 21, 2010
February 27, 2011
Science and the Search for Meaning: Five Questions, Part Five: Can Science be Sacred?
What if you don't believe in God, and the thought of church makes you queasy? Can you still experience the sacred? There's a growing movement of secular scientists who revel in the awe...Read more
Original Air Date:
December 19, 2010
Previous Airdates:
December 19, 2010
Lynda Barry rules the pages of the alternative press as the Queen of Comics. Her new book is about liberating the creative process. Barry believes that deep down we're all artists, if we could just get out of our own way. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we'll talk about channeling...Read more
Original Air Date:
November 22, 2009
Previous Airdates:
November 22, 2009
September 19, 2010
When David Foster Wallace committed suicide in September of 2008, there was a tsunami of grief. Readers, writers and critics poured out their sorrows in print and online. If you hadn't been paying attention for all the love for DFW, the response might have caught you by surprise. Wallace's hyper...Read more
Original Air Date:
August 23, 2009
Previous Airdates:
August 23, 2009
September 12, 2010
Worried about climate change? Trying hard to reduce your carbon footprint? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, living small and liking it – an argument in favor of the radically local life.Read more
Original Air Date:
May 02, 2010
Previous Airdates:
May 02, 2010
May 15, 2011
You know Marcel Proust as the author of the massive autobiographical novel, "In Search of Lost Time." But did you know that Proust can also be considered a scientist? That's the argument that Jonah Lehrer makes in his book, "Proust Was A Neuroscientist." Lehrer explains how Proust made...Read more
Original Air Date:
March 21, 2010
Previous Airdates:
March 21, 2010
February 27, 2011
Lynda Barry rules the pages of the alternative press as the Queen of Comics. Her new book is about liberating the creative process. Barry believes that deep down we're all artists, if we could just get out of our own way. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge we'll talk about channeling...Read more
Original Air Date:
November 22, 2009
Previous Airdates:
November 22, 2009
September 19, 2010
When David Foster Wallace committed suicide in September of 2008, there was a tsunami of grief. Readers, writers and critics poured out their sorrows in print and online. If you hadn't been paying attention for all the love for DFW, the response might have caught you by surprise. Wallace's hyper...Read more
Original Air Date:
August 23, 2009
Previous Airdates:
August 23, 2009
September 12, 2010
We look at the controversial Gnostic Gospels and the story of a buried Christianity.Read more
Original Air Date:
December 10, 2006
Previous Airdates:
December 10, 2006
December 16, 2007
What do you call young people who strap on explosive vests and detonate them in a crowded marketplace? President Bush says they're fascist terrorists. The Western press labels them suicide bombers. But to a Muslim, particularly one who's sympathetic to their political ideology,...Read more
Original Air Date:
September 03, 2006
Previous Airdates:
September 03, 2006
July 29, 2007
We talk with E.O. Wilson about the growing rift between science and religion. We'll also get a very different take on religious belief from historian Garry Wills, author of "What Jesus Meant."Read more
Original Air Date:
March 26, 2006
Previous Airdates:
April 29, 2007
March 26, 2006
We look at the controversial Gnostic Gospels and the story of a buried Christianity.Read more
Original Air Date:
December 10, 2006
Previous Airdates:
December 10, 2006
December 16, 2007
"We're all of us guinea pigs in the laboratory of God. Humanity is just a work in progress." So said Tennessee Williams. Inventor and visionary Ray Kurzweil believes the new, improved version of humanity could feature computers the size of blood cells implanted in our brains....Read more
Original Air Date:
October 15, 2006
Previous Airdates:
October 15, 2006
What do you call young people who strap on explosive vests and detonate them in a crowded marketplace? President Bush says they're fascist terrorists. The Western press labels them suicide bombers. But to a Muslim, particularly one who's sympathetic to their political ideology,...Read more
Original Air Date:
September 03, 2006
Previous Airdates:
September 03, 2006
July 29, 2007
We talk with E.O. Wilson about the growing rift between science and religion. We'll also get a very different take on religious belief from historian Garry Wills, author of "What Jesus Meant."Read more
Original Air Date:
March 26, 2006
Previous Airdates:
April 29, 2007
March 26, 2006
When you hear the word "globalization," you probably don't think of the sport of soccer. But Franklin Foer does. He traveled around the globe to explore this connection, attending soccer matches and interviewing his heroes. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Franklin Foer will tell us...Read more
Original Air Date:
January 30, 2005
Previous Airdates:
January 30, 2005
March 12, 2006
Mark Sundeen got an offer he couldn't refuse. A publisher paid him upfront to write a book on bullfighting in Spain. Mark doesn't speak Spanish, knows nothing about bullfighting, and hates to travel, but that didn't stop him from writing the book. He just made the whole thing up. In this hour of...Read more
Original Air Date:
March 13, 2005
Previous Airdates:
March 13, 2005
February 19, 2006
Join us for stories about bread in this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge.Read more
Original Air Date:
November 14, 2004
Previous Airdates:
November 14, 2004
July 10, 2005
Mark Sundeen got an offer he couldn't refuse. A publisher paid him upfront to write a book on bullfighting in Spain. Mark doesn't speak Spanish, knows nothing about bullfighting, and hates to travel, but that didn't stop him from writing the book. He just made the whole thing up. In this hour of...Read more
Original Air Date:
March 13, 2005
Previous Airdates:
March 13, 2005
February 19, 2006
When you hear the word "globalization," you probably don't think of the sport of soccer. But Franklin Foer does. He traveled around the globe to explore this connection, attending soccer matches and interviewing his heroes. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Franklin Foer will tell us...Read more
Original Air Date:
January 30, 2005
Previous Airdates:
January 30, 2005
March 12, 2006
Join us for stories about bread in this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge.Read more
Original Air Date:
November 14, 2004
Previous Airdates:
November 14, 2004
July 10, 2005
On Christmas Eve of 1914, German soldiers in the Flanders trenches lit candles on small Christmas trees. British, French, Belgian and German troops serenaded each other with songs. Soon enemy soldiers broke bread with each other and exchanged letters. In this hour of To the...Read more
Original Air Date:
December 16, 2001
Previous Airdates:
December 16, 2001
December 15, 2002
On Thanksgiving Day most Americans spend at least a little time doing just that – giving thanks. But followers of a Japanese discipline called Naikan practice what you could call “extreme gratitude.” They make a point of thanking everyone and everything in their lives – every day....Read more
Original Air Date:
November 24, 2002
Previous Airdates:
November 24, 2002
On Christmas Eve of 1914, German soldiers in the Flanders trenches lit candles on small Christmas trees. British, French, Belgian and German troops serenaded each other with songs. Soon enemy soldiers broke bread with each other and exchanged letters. In this hour of To the...Read more
Original Air Date:
December 16, 2001
Previous Airdates:
December 16, 2001
December 15, 2002