Episode Archives

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To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Adventure writer Ann Jones recalls crossing Africa from Tangier to Cape Town in search of one special tribe.  They’re guided by the “feminine” principles of compromise, tolerance and peace.  Also, Tony Horwitz sets sail in the wake of Captain Cooke.  We’ll hear about a Frenchman who never went...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Andre Agassi says he always hated tennis, even though it's what made him rich and famous. But maybe that's not surprising, considering how his father used to browbeat him into hitting 2500 balls a day when he was seven years old, and later sent him off to a tennis academy, which Agassi calls a "...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Canal Street flooded with so much water it looks like an actual canal.  People mourning the loss of their homes and loved ones.  The Gulf Coast will never be the same after the devastation that Hurricane Katrina has caused.  In this hour of the Peabody-Award-Winning program To the Best of Our...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Imagine that you grow up with dreams of fame and fortune.  You're going to become a world-famous rock star.  The only problem is your childhood friend becomes the world's biggest rock star instead.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Neil McCormick shares his story of being upstaged...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Do African-Americans believe Jesse Jackson speaks for them? A resounding 72% between the ages of 18 and 45 say "No." In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the battle between the Civil Rights generation and the Hip-Hop generation. We'll speak to young blacks about who does speak for them...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

From trance music to ecstatic dance, from Burning Man to psychedelic mushrooms, Americans are awash in weird and intense experiences - and maybe even inventing a new kind of religion. Is this just a bunch of New Age thrill-seekers getting off, or is something deeper going on?  We explore the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

As the Bible famously says, "there is nothing new under the sun." That's pretty bleak. If it's all been said and done before, what's left? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, remix culture. Digital sampling, audio hacking, mash-ups… In today's music and art it's all about mix and remix...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Plugged into devices, fixated on screens, their world muted by headphones jammed in their ears, college students on campus in Ann Arbor can seem oblivious to risk. Poet Laura Kasischke marvels at their fearlessness in...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Ask any babbling baby.  Talking’s fun!  At least it is until the grammarians get after you.  But Patricia O’Connor says we can all relax, there’s nothing wrong with splitting an infinitive and there never was.  In this hour of the Peabody-Award winning program To the Best of Our Knowledge we...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

You know who they are – the cool kids – those above-it-all taste-makers whose fashion and entertainment choices predict what everyone else will be wearing and doing next year.  What’s their secret?  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge exploring cool.  A frustrated surfer remembers...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The thrill of victory… the agony of defeat.  And the human drama of athletic competition.  We love sports. And every 4 years we get the pleasure to watch amateur athletes, at the top of their game, compete in the Olympics.  And that got us thinking about competition.  Because that’s what it’s...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

It sounds like a deal in the ads - submit your poems, have them set to music, and start a fascinating new career as a hit songwriter.  Of course your chance of success is slim to none and you have to pay for the privilege.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the strange subculture of...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Scientists tell us optimistic people are happier, healthier and even live longer than pessimists.  But it's hard to maintain an optimistic frame of mind in the face of daily reports of war, famine, disease and injustice.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, evidence that the world is...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Pragmatic.Problem-solving. And non-partisan -- Mayors just might be the next best hope for democracy.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Future Perfect: Dreamers, Schemers & Visionaries

Part One

 

Imagine a poor child in Uruguay. Now imagine giving that young girl a hundred-dollar laptop computer. Imagine the educational opportunities that this laptop will provide...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

“Lets Make Our Own Movie!”  That was a wild idea back in the days of young Mickey Rooney, but today, anyone can do it.  Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge, how digital cameras make us all directors, and why movies may never be the same.  Also, screenwriter Andrew Davies...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Patti Smith revolutionized rock'n'roll in the Seventies by fusing poetry with rock music. Now, she's written a remarkable memoir about her emergence as an artist, and her friendship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. In this hour of To the Best of our Knowledge, we'll talk with Patti Smith...Read more

a man running

We run for all sorts of reasons -- to lose 10 pounds, to win an Olympic medal, or simply because it’s fun. Some even run as a spiritual practice. Today, why we run - and how far and how fast can humans go?Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Consider this future world: a vaccine that makes you continually happy.  A chip in your brain that lets you communicate telepathically with your spouse.  Human lives that span hundreds of years.  Sound far-fetched?  Not according the James Hughes of the World Trans-humanist Association.  He says...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

You may recall the story of six young people who reported seeing visions of the Virgin Mary in Medjugorje.  Journalist Randall Sullivan talked to one of the visionaries and concluded she believes what she was reporting.  But where does that leave us?  Next time on To the Best of Our Knowledge,...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

For eons Mars has been the toast of the galaxy – and has ignited the human imagination.  The Red Planet is home to the God of War – and to little green men.  In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, exploring Mars.  We’ll get the latest on NASA’s new Mars missions, and take a look at the...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Tom Lutz's 18-year-old son, Cody, spent day after day just lying on the couch, Lutz was surprised how angry it made him that his son was doing nothing. So Lutz decided to do something about it. He wrote a book about the history of doing nothing in America. In this hour of To the Best of Our...Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Get your fix of travel and crime fiction in one hour. Today, we explore the latest in international crime fiction -- from Israel, Kenya, Denmark, Spain and more.  Crime is the one literary genre that crosses every border and every nationality.  Because yes, we're just that bloodthirsty.Read more

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Every year billions of classified dollars are funneled into what defense analysts call “the black world.”  It’s a realm that uses code names like “Black Light,” “Classic Wizard,” and “Link Plumeria” - a place where even an idea can be top secret.  Stealth bombers came from the black world, and...Read more

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