Politics and History

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Why are we in Afghanistan? To destroy the Al-Qaeda? To make sure the Taliban doesn't get back in power? Both? What is the economic impact of the war on the US economy? And, just what would victory in Afghanistan look like anyway? The Obama Administration's refocusing the US military. But after...

spare change

How did our economists miss it? We're in a full-on economic crisis. Where was the warning? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, a look at the so-called dismal science. We'll talk with the winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize for Economics on why the alarm bells never rang. And, why is it that...

a member of the press in a military helmet

When the war in Iraq started, over 770 journalists went with Coalition troops. 5 years later there are fewer than 20. What happened? In this hour of To The Best Of Our Knowledge, the embed system. How can journalists accurately report on the very soldiers who protect them? Has the US military...

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Every mom deserves something special on Mother's Day. We can't fix you breakfast in bed or drop by with coffee and muffins – though here's hoping someone in your life does! - but we can serve up a radio show. What do women want to say to each other about what it's like to be a mom.

a woman receives makeup

The beauty biz is booming. The image conscious consumer can choose between a full-service menu of make-over options: laser facial resurfacing, liposuction, eyelid enhancing, breast implants and even a nip and tuck – wherever. And reality TV makes the whole process downright seductive. But why...

gas masks

Every good story comes to an end, but in some stories the End is just the beginning. It takes a special kind of writer to create a believable Apocalypse in the pages of a novel, and right now there are a lot of them. In this hour of To The Best Of Our Knowledge, Apocalyptic Fiction – new stories...

american flag

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. It depends on what the meaning of the word "is" is. From Bold declarations to bald-faced lies. On To The Best Of Our Knowledge, the audacity of American politics. How did we get from Thomas Jefferson to William Jefferson...

a book about language

In biology it's widely accepted, but the study of the evolution of language was once banned by The French Linguistic Institute. In this hour of To The Best Of Our Knowledge, we'll let it develop, and take a look at the story of French as well. Also, composer Stephen Paulus finds music in and...

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