To The Best of Our Knowledge from Wisconsin Public Radio

Comfort food's selling like hotcakes. People haven't forgotten the importance of good nutrition, but these days we crave things that'll make us feel better. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, seeking solace in a scary world. Diane Ackerman talks about her garden, and sharing it with the neighborhood deer. Gary Wills introduces us to St. Augustine, and we'll check out the consolations of philosophy.

Journalist William Claassen calls himself a nomadic pilgrim. His book "Alone in Community: Journeys into Monastic Life Around the World" describes his visits to cloistered communities from various religious traditions around the world. Claassen tells Jim Fleming what Christian, Buddhist and Sufi monks have in common and says the best way to talk to God is with music and silence.

Alain de Botton is the author of "The Consolations of Philosophy." He tells Steve Paulson how modern readers can derive comfort from the likes of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, and sees no conflict between talking about serious ideas and entertaining the reader. Also, historian Garry Wills wrote the volume on St. Augustine for the Penguin Lives series. He tells Jim Fleming that despite his "Confessions," Augustine was no libertine, and dealt with all the major theological problems of early Christianity.

Poet, essayist and naturalist Diane Ackerman has a new book: "Cultivating Delight: A Natural History of My Garden." She tells Anne Strainchamps that she shares her garden with the local deer and raises hundreds of roses organically. Also, literary critic William Gass talks with Steve Paulson about the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, and explicates a poem of Rilke's about a bowl of roses. He says Rilke loved the rose's extravagant beauty and swift decay and used it as a symbol in his work. And Jim Fleming reads a short poem of Rilke's.

Books:

• Diane Ackerman, Cultivating Delight: A Natural History of My Garden (Harper Collins)
• William Claassen, Alone in Community: Journeys into Monastic Life Around the World (Forest of Peace Publishing 1-800-659-3227)
• Alain de Botton, The Consolations of Philosophy (Pantheon)
• William H. Gass, Reading Rilke: Reflections on the Problems of Translation (Knopf)
• Gary Wills, St. Augustine (Penguin Lives) (Viking Press)

Music:

• CHANT, The Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos , Tr. 1 “Puer natus est nobis” Angel CDC 7243 5 55138 2 3
• CHANT, (as above) Tr. 5 “Media vita in morte sumus”
• THE BLUE GRASS SESSIONS, Bela Fleck Tr. 3 “When Joy Kills Sorow” WB 47332-2
• GREATEST HITS OF THE 20TH CENTURY, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones Tr. 7 “Road House Blues” WB 9 47301 - 2
• FORTY YEARS OF WOMEN IN JAZZ cd 1 Tr. 11 “Rose Room” Mary Osborne; Jass CD 9/10
• MUSIC FOR HARP AND STRINGS, The Atlantic Sinfonietta, Debussy: Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, 2nd mvt Koch International 3-7016-2-H1

Distribution dates:

• week of 12/02/2001 - hour 2