PRI: To the Best of Our Knowledge Podcast
PRI: To The Best Of Our Knowledge Podcast
Each week To the Best of Our Knowledge delivers in-depth interwith nationally and internationally-known guests whose passion for new ideas will challenge and engage. Hosted by Jim Fleming, this interview magazine is thoughtful and penetrating, and features fascinating topics and guests
Genre Busters
Judith Freeman followed Raymond Chandler's trail around L.A. Michael Chabon thinks genre fiction is wonderful. Michael Dirda wants everyone to read the classics for pleasure. M.C. Beaton & Matthew Prichard on what makes Agatha Christie great. Richard ...
In Living Color
Alan Weisman imagines a world without humans. Anne Strainchamps and a classroom full of kids imagine a green city. Sam Keen reflects on bird watching. Thomas Morton took a voyage to the Pacific Ocean's Garbage Island. Erec Toso describes his ...
To Breed or Not to Breed
Peggy Orenstein goes on a baby quest. Madelyn Cain on the childless revolution. Catherine Wagner shares some motherhood poems. A.M. Homes wrote an adoption memoir.
Dumbing Down, Smartening Up
Susan Jacoby gives some frightening examples of the dumbing down of American culture. George Saunders introduces Megaphone Man, the guy who is ruining the party. Chris Bachelder created the ultimate matchup ? Bear v. Shark! Al Franken and Katherine ...
Forbidden Food
Andrew Zimmern travels the world eating bizarre foods. Barry Glassner wants us to rethink the way we eat. Christa Weil tells us about foods that other cultures consider delicious. Mort Rosenblum on the delights of chocolate. Dorie Greenspan talks ...
The New Abolitionists
Maria Suarez talks about her life as a modern-day slave. Benjamin Skinner describes how easy it is to buy a human being today. Adam Hochschild on British abolitionist history. Katrina Browne made a documentary about her family's slave trade legacy. ...
Pop Music
Love is a Mix Tape - Rob Sheffield, Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Gayle F. Wald, Pub Rock - Will Birch, Alternative Rock Novel - Jonathan Lethem
Talking Across Religions
Tariq Ali on a medieval culture of tolerance. Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver & Priscilla Warner, The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew ? Three Women Search for Understanding. Bruce Chilton explains the myth of martyrdom in the story of Abraham ...
Aging and Memory
Nobel Prize winner Eric R. Kandel has spent a lifetime studying memory. Host Jim Fleming talks about his aging father. Claire Tomalin's biography of Thomas Hardy reveals the inspiration he received from his wife's death. Rodney Rothman retired at ...
Language: The Dress of Ideas
Elizabeth Little talks about the joys and perils of speaking Chinese. Larry Smith & Rachel Fershleiser edit Smith Magazine and collected six word memoirs. Derek Bickerton is Professor Emeritus of Linguistics at the University of Hawaii, and author of ...
Boredom: The Tedium is the Message
Philosophy of Boredom - Lars Svendsen. "Ennui to Go" An ode to Boredom - Jon Winokur. A Case of Boredom - Ghita Schwarz. Fascination with Boredom - Augustin De la Pena. "Doing Nothing" - Tom Lutz.
Learning Outside the Box
Jonathan Mooney is president of a nonprofit mentoring and advocacy organization for students with learning disabilities. Dan Zanes collaborated with other musicians on an album of children's music. Matt Hern is an advocate for alternative education. ...
Consciousness
Conciousness Debate - Andrew Newberg, Daniel Dennett, Ken Wilber, Roger Penrose, Deepak Chopra. Female Brain - Louann Brizendine. Buddhism & Consciousness - Alan Wallace. Autistic Savant - Daniel Tammet.
Touching the Sound
Evelyn Glennie understands percussion differently due to her deafness. Richard Roth explores the sounds of early America. Philip Groning filmed the silence of a Carthusian monastery. Sound artist Doug Quin hears the sounds the rest of us don't ...
A Good Death?
Susan Sontag is remembered by her son David Rieff. Judith Stasser meditates on her own mortality. David Shields knows that death is a sure thing. Surgeon Pauline Chen reflects on mortality. Ed Wohl reminisces about music and his father's death.
Singular Brains
Lizzy Gottlieb has made a film about her brother, Nicky. John Elder Robison explains Asperger's from the inside. Howard Dully talks about his lobotomy. Oliver Sacks explores music & the brain.
Talking Pictures
Eric Lax is the author of "On Being Funny: Woody Allen and Comedy." Jeanine Basinger explores the studio star system. J.J. Murphy is Professor of Film in the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Will Russell, a ...
Frontiers of Physics
Time Travel - Ron Mallett; Poetry about Physics - Fleda Brown; Sci-Fi TV - Leo Duran with Lawrence Krauss and Michael Cassutt; Space Travel - Chris Jones; Bio-Friendly Universe - Paul Davies
Screen Shots
Iraq Documentary - Laura Poitras; Orson Welles - Simon Callow; Screenwriting - Zach Helm; Hitchcock's Music - Jack Sullivan