To The Best Of Our Knowledge
To The Best Of Our Knowledge is a nationally-syndicated, Peabody award-winning public radio show that dives headlong into the deeper end of ideas. We have conversations with novelists and poets, scientists and software engineers, journalists and historians, filmmakers and philosophers, artists and a… read more
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What Sparks Creativity?
February 9th, 2019
Human creativity — whether it’s solving a tough problem or writing a novel — is one of our defining traits. It’s also deeply mysterious. Where does …
In Search of "Real" Food [Rebroadcast]
February 2nd, 2019
What makes food "authentic"? Do we need to feel close to where it's made? Know the complete history of where it comes from? Be able to diagram the chemistry of how it dances along our taste buds? How can we quantify the …
Virtually Anywhere [Extra]
January 30th, 2019
Remember virtual reality? Back in the 1990’s, it was going to be the technology of the future. Today, it’s here. But we're still figuring out what …
New Voices in Native American Writing
January 26th, 2019
Every so often, a new literary movement coalesces. A new generation of writers finds a voice. This time they’re young, gifted, and Native American.
Guests:
Jennifer Foerster, Tommy Orange, Terese Marie Mailhot, David …
Women Who Rule [Rebroadcast]
January 19th, 2019
Where do you go to find models of powerful women? Hatshepsut, Circe, Antigone — the ancient world was full of them, real and mythic. For thousands of …
What Can We Learn From Teenagers? [Rebroadcast]
January 12th, 2019
All over the country, a chorus of hope is coming from an unexpected group — teenagers. They are marching, protesting and demanding a better future as …
The Third Act [Rebroadcast]
January 5th, 2019
If life is a play, what happens during the last act? What’s it like to live knowing you have a limited amount of time left? This week, we’re talking about how to face, and in some cases, embrace your third act, whenever …
Ending With A Flourish [Rebroadcast]
December 29th, 2018
New Years celebrations are all parties and hats, songs and champagne. No one ever seems to talk about the fact that something big just ended. An …
Should You Delete Your Facebook Account?
December 22nd, 2018
Your finger’s hovering over the "delete" button on your Facebook app. Your friends are abandoning Twitter. Every day brings fresh revelations of data …
The Secret Language of Trees [Rebroadcast]
December 15th, 2018
Using a complex network of chemical signals, trees talk to each other and form alliances with fellow trees, even other species. In fact, whole …
Giving Is Complicated
December 8th, 2018
Even the most welcome gift can spark guilt, resentment, obligation or vulnerability. We can be inspired by the generosity of others, or unsettled by …
Is Anger Useful?
December 1st, 2018
We’ve been taught to ignore, stifle, or just get over anger for many years — but what if we embraced it? It seems like most of us are feeling angry these days. But what if we took that emotion and instead of letting it …
Religion Without Doctrine
November 24th, 2018
What's the essence of religion? God? Scripture? Moral codes? Or is it really about something more mysterious and unexplainable?
In this hour, we explore the roots of religion — religion before it's even called …
We've Had 30 Years Of Prozac. Why Are We Still Depressed? [Rebroadcast]
November 17th, 2018
Modern anti-depressants have saved a lot of minds. And lives. But our 30-year experiment with modern anti-depressants is taking a toll. What have …
Writing Truth and Lies
November 10th, 2018
We all tell stories about our lives: funny stories, happy stories, sad stories. But are they true stories? In an age of “alternative facts” and “fake news,” we’re all thinking harder about why truth matters – not just …
Building A Better Ballot Box
November 3rd, 2018
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 …
Even Stranger Things [Rebroadcast]
October 27th, 2018
Did you know that the U.S. military has a long history of working with psychics to try to discover enemy secrets? We examine this history and take a deep dive into the paranormal.
Guests:
Discovering America's Black DNA [Rebroadcast]
October 20th, 2018
DNA tests are uncovering mixed bloodlines. For African Americans, this can be emotionally-charged. What do you do when you find out one of your direct ancestors was a slave owner? Does it open the door to new …
Pick Your Poison
October 13th, 2018
Covert spies painting nerve agents on doorknobs? It's not the only way to poison someone. We hear stories of radioactive paint, formaldehyde-spiked …
What's Wrong With Men? [Rebroadcast]
October 6th, 2018
The right-wing politics and bro culture of The Proud Boys is attracting young, white men nationwide. Founder Gavin McInnes believes “95% of American …
Listening to the City
September 29th, 2018
Cities can be cacophonous and loud, a chaos of sonic discord. If, that is, you don't really focus your listening. People who’ve trained their ears to hear urban soundscapes in new ways hear something different.
Guests:
…
Magical Thinking [Rebroadcast]
September 22nd, 2018
"Magical thinking" gets a bad rap these days. It suggests losing your grip on reality or being so gullible that you'll believe anything - from ghosts …
The Ways We Are Born — Again and Again
September 15th, 2018
If you think of your life as a series of births, what changes? The first birth is when you arrive here, as a wet, wiggling newborn. But there may be …
Rethinking David Foster Wallace
September 8th, 2018
On the tenth anniversary of his suicide, David Foster Wallace faces renewed criticism over his treatment of women, in his life and work. Fans and critics are re-reading his work, struggling to reconcile genius with …
What's Wrong With Work?
September 1st, 2018
It's not easy in America today to find work that matters, that’s meaningful, and that pays enough to live on. Which is the one thing we don’t talk …
ICYMI: Our Invisible, Treacherous, Cynical, Wise, Miraculous World
August 27th, 2018
Haven’t listened in a while? In case you missed it, here's a sampling of what we’ve heard on the show recently.
Shows featured:
Could Psychedelic Drugs Save Your Life? [Rebroadcast]
August 25th, 2018
Guests:
Ayelet Waldman
Stephen Ross
Katherine MacLean
Daniel Kasza
William Richards
Interviews in this hour:
The Einstein You Don't Know [Extra]
August 23rd, 2018
There are the female scientists you can name, and the ones forgotten by history. Like Mileva Marić-Einstein. She might just have been more brilliant than Albert was — but we'll never know.
Guests:
Striving To See in a Vast, Invisible Universe
August 18th, 2018
From our narrow vantage point on Earth, how can we see what's out there, beyond our skies?
Guests:
Francis Halzen
Priya Natarajan
Seth Shostak
Don Gurnett
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Interviews in this hour:
Being Sincere in a Cynical World
August 11th, 2018
Why is the world so damn cynical? Rather than surrendering to corrosive, hopeless snark, we look to some unexpected sources to make the case for …
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- To The Best Of Our Knowledge Copyright 2019 by Wisconsin Public Radio