It's hard to go anywhere this time of year without being handed a drink, so as the bubbles rise to cheer in the Millenium To the Best of Our Knowledge is taking a long hard look into the bottle. In this hour, the rise of binge drinking among young women, and the story of the Phone Ranger, a punning winemaker who loves "ugly duckling" grapes. And, the renaissance of the martini.

Psychologist Sharon Wilsnack tells Judith Strasser about the startling jump in the number of young women who indulge in binge drinking, and offers some explanations for their behavior. Also, Christopher Dickey is Newsweek's bureau chief in Paris, and the author of "Summer of Deliverance: A Memoir of Father and Son." Dickey is the son of poet and novelist James Dickey. His memoir records the summer spent filming his father's most famous book. Christopher Dickey tells Steve Paulson that the success of "Deliverance" contributed to his father's alcoholism

Philip Van Munching was born into the family that brought Heineken and Amstel Light to America. He tells Jim Fleming that he got out of the beer business because now it's all about marketing and hype, not brewing excellence. He's especially hard on the megaliths Miller and Annheuser-Busch. Van Munching's book is "Beer Blast: The Inside Story of the Brewing Industry's Bizarre Battles for Your Money." Also, Lowell Edmunds teaches classics at Rutgers and is the author of "Martini, Straight Up: The Classic American Cocktail." He tells Jim Fleming about his favorite drink.

• week of 11/21/99 - hour 2
• week of 12/27/98 - hour 3