They spent their Sunday evenings taking turns lying in a coffin, while each exposed the minute details of his sex life and personal history. Who are they? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Yale's secret society Skull and Bones, and it's alumni who are running the country today. Also, the allegations of genocide rocking the world of anthropology.

In his book "Darkness in El Dorado" and in this conversation with Jim Fleming, Patrick Tierney questions the ethics of anthropologists who visited the Yanomamo people in the Amazon, filming staged fights and possibly creating a measles epidemic. Also, celebrated novelist Doris Lessing talks with Steve Paulson about Ben, the genetic throwback at the center of her books "The Fifth Child" and "Ben, In the World." Ben is a Neanderthal-like creature who is a complete cultural misfit in modern society.

Journalist Elaine Sciolino tells Anne Strainchamps about the culture of Iran that exists in the privacy of people's homes. There are cocktail parties, aerobics studios and salons for hair and elaborate makeup. Even though the law demands that women be covered in public. Sciolino's book is called "Persian Mirrors." Also, Veronica Rueckert reports on the secret lives of young singers in New York hoping to make it big in the world of opera.

Journalist Ron Rosenbaum talks with Steve Paulson about Yale University's secret society, Skull and Bones. The members lie in a coffin and reveal the details of their sex lives, forming bonds that reinforce their status as members of the power elite. Rosenbaum's book about Skull and Bones is "The Secret Parts of Fortune."

Distribution dates:

• week of 11/12/2000 - hour 1