Series

On To the Best of Our Knowledge, we have deep conversations with a wide array of people about the things that inspire them and the big ideas they draw from that inspiration. In our regular series—Bookmarks, Deep Tracks, and Dangerous Ideas—we ask those individuals to describe their ideas and the inspirations that drive them in their own words.

Bookmarks

Julie Schumacher Recommends "Elephant's Journey"

"Dear Committe Members" author Julie Schumacher recommends Portuguese Nobel Lauaureate José Saramago's retelling of a true tale.More

Kim Stanley Robinson Recommends "The U.S.A. Trilogy"

Kim Stanley Robinson recommends "The Greatest Story of the 1920's That We Have: The U.S.A. Trilogy" by John Dos Passos.More

Jonathan Chait on “What Hath God Wrought”

When and how did American get so polarized? For answers, Jonathan Chait recommends reading "What Hath God Wrought," a history of American politics from 1815-1848 by the Pulitzer prize-winning historian Daniel Walker Howe.More

Let’s Change the Way We Think About Thinking

Anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann's Dangerous Idea? To be better adjusted, change the way you think about thinking.More

The Case for Embracing Horror

Can playing out negative scenarios lead to a more positive life?More

Let’s Get Serious About the Anthropocene

Historian Iain McCalman’s Dangerous Idea? The Anthropocene — the idea that humans have fundamentally changed our global climate. It’s scary, but we’re also seeing people come together in unprecedented ways to solve planetary problems.More

Nothing Left To Do But Write Songs

While pregnant with her first child, Amanda Shires was playing fiddle on the road for her husband, the country superstar, Jason Isbell. Near the end of her pregnancy, touring got to be too much. So she stayed home, alone, for weeks… with nothing to do but write songs.More