Psychedelic science is back — and they could help heal people with addictions, PTSD and end-of-life anxiety.Read more
Exploring the Deeper End of Ideas
Show Archives
Air Dates:
- February 09, 2019
- February 10, 2018
- February 26, 2017
What can science reveal about lust, romance, and compassion?Read more
Air Dates:
- February 24, 2017
Forty years ago Richard Dawkins wrote the landmark book “The Selfish Gene,” where he argued that the gene is what drives evolution. But what if he got it all wrong?Read more
Air Dates:
- October 20, 2018
- October 28, 2017
- February 19, 2017
In this show, we explore storyworlds — the fictional universes that continue to enchant us. Like the ghostly supernatural realm in which Abe Lincoln’s dead son, Willie, finds himself and the surreal Pacific Northwest town of Twin Peaks, the home of some damn fine coffee....Read more
Air Dates:
- August 25, 2018
- February 05, 2017
- September 16, 2017
A garden, a tree, an apple and a serpent. The story of Adam and Eve is as old as sin. But it’s a lot more than a Bible story.Read more
Air Dates:
- May 01, 2016
- January 29, 2017
There are nearly 250 million migrants across the world right now. Some will be escaping war or oppression, others will be seeking out freedom or economic prosperity, but whatever the reason, the kind of life they're looking for lies across a border that's policed and restricted. What if it didn'...Read more
Air Dates:
- June 02, 2018
- January 22, 2017
- October 14, 2017
How do you cope with unpleasant people? We consider the adage “hell is other people.”Read more
Air Dates:
- January 19, 2017
Every generation has one or two critics with an unparalleled ability to capture the cultural moment they’re living in. Now, that critic may be Mark Greif. He’s one of the founders of the literary magazine n+1, who’s just come out with a new essay collection, “Against Everything.” In this...Read more
Air Dates:
- July 07, 2018
- November 11, 2017
- January 15, 2017
Computer scientists are closing in on the next frontier in artificial intelligence — machines that can create. Make art. Write stories. Compose music. The dream is to open the door to a whole new kind of creativity. Read more
Air Dates:
- January 12, 2017
Charles Monroe-Kane talks to David Nagler about adapting Carl Sandburg's poems to music. Read more
Air Dates:
- January 08, 2017
Be strong, be tough, don’t cry – boys are bombarded with messages about being a man and the “male code” their whole lives. It's second nature, and also toxic. Read more
Air Dates:
- January 05, 2019
- January 04, 2018
- January 01, 2017
Ah, January. Season of diets and fasts and cleanses, of "Drynuary" and "Veganuary." Why does being virtuous always seem to mean giving up pleasure?Read more
Air Dates:
- January 06, 2018
- January 01, 2017
- January 02, 2016
Why are we so obsessed with the future? Is it because we can't handle the present and all of our current problems, like climate change, racism and terrorism? That's one theory.Read more
Air Dates:
- December 18, 2016
It's December and time again for the annual media ritual — the best of list. We're sharing the best of the best of To the Best of Our Knowledge. 2016, the year in interviews.Read more
Air Dates:
- December 11, 2016
On the centennial of Shirley Jackson's birth, we explore the great literary work that she left for us — the stories and novels that continue to resonate in our culture.Read more
Air Dates:
- December 08, 2016
You get the sense that Freeman Dyson has seen everything. He's a legendary physicist who's had a front row seat on scientific breakthroughs for the past century. Read more
Air Dates:
- May 19, 2018
- August 05, 2017
- December 04, 2016
We’re living through a period of mass human migration, with people on the move all over the planet. What does it take to take an unfamiliar place and make it yours?Read more
Air Dates:
- December 23, 2017
- November 20, 2016
- February 21, 2016
There's a lot of hand-wringing these days about the American Empire. Is it doomed to come crashing down the way the Roman Empire did?Read more
Air Dates:
- April 14, 2018
- November 20, 2016
Hip hop created a sound that changed music, art, fashion, and politics. What's next? Diplomacy? Journalism? Education? Philosophy?Read more
Air Dates:
- November 13, 2016
How does it feel to know that the commodity everyone wants is inside your skull? This hour, we focus our attention — on attention. Read more
Air Dates:
- April 12, 2018
- November 13, 2016
- January 31, 2016
Reading books isn't always the best way to learn. Some things you need to learn from your elders, and their wisdom has often been passed down through the generations. Read more
Air Dates:
- November 03, 2018
- August 26, 2017
- October 30, 2016
How do we put the fairness and the fun back in American elections? In this hour, we present a few simple ideas for how to remake the electoral process.Read more
Air Dates:
- December 22, 2018
- January 13, 2018
- July 29, 2017
Psychologists say telling a good life story can make you happier. But do we also create an inauthentic version of ourselves if we turn everything into a narrative?Read more
Air Dates:
- February 03, 2018
- July 02, 2017
- October 09, 2016
This hour, we explore our obsession with time travel. Why is such a recurring them in movies and TV shows? And what can time travel teach us about ourselves?Read more
Air Dates:
- November 25, 2017
- October 02, 2016
- March 15, 2015
Fermentation revivalists share a slow food philosophy, a DIY approach to foodcraft, and a deep interest in the health of the American gut.Read more
Air Dates:
- April 21, 2018
- September 04, 2016
- December 27, 2015
Some people talk to God and some think God talks to them. Read more
Air Dates:
- June 10, 2017
- September 03, 2016
Can we ever get inside the mind of an animal? Can we really know how a chimp or a parrot thinks and experiences the world?Read more
Air Dates:
- December 01, 2018
- February 24, 2018
- August 28, 2016
We delve into the new science of revulsion.Read more
Air Dates:
- July 21, 2018
- March 12, 2017
- July 16, 2016
When suicide bombers blow up crowded marketplaces, or a lone shooter attacks a nightclub, one question we’re always left with is why. This hour, a look at the underlying psychology of political violence.Read more
Air Dates:
- April 02, 2017
- July 03, 2016
Have you ever thought about tracking down someone who bullied you when you were a child? Allen Kurzweil thought about it and actually confronted him. We'll hear his story in this hour as we explore the bullying epidemic. Also, we'll find out how the Internet has transformed bullying into a...Read more