Listen Live

Program Schedule

Program Notes

Program Schedule

Music Playlists

Program Schedule

Music Playlists

TTBOOK team, mushrooms, women and human mind

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

To The Best Of Our Knowledge is a nationally-syndicated, Peabody award-winning radio show where long-form interviews lead us to dive 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 activists—anyone with a big idea and a passion to have a creative and engaging conversation about it.

We consider ideas big and small, conventional and dangerous, and marshal them into shows centered around a theme. A show's theme sometimes centers on a big question, other times it will zero in on the small things that give us pause. A good theme is a conversation starter: is the Internet making us stupid? Can a computer truly be creative? Are humans innately good? What’s the best road trip you ever took?

Once we pick the theme, we dig in with interviews that explore the culture, the debate, the stories, the science and the actual sound of it all. And hopefully, when we’re done, we’ve animated the questions along with the answers, opening both our own minds and yours.

To the Best of Our Knowledge

Up All Night

Saturday, September 17, 2022, 3:00pm

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Every night, millions of us turn out the lights hoping and praying for a good night’s sleep. And every night, millions of us lie awake in the dark.

To the Best of Our Knowledge

Losing Yourself in Fantasy

Saturday, September 17, 2022, 1:00pm

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

When the real world becomes too much, fantasy might be your ticket out. But at what point does fantasy go too far?

To the Best of Our Knowledge

Telling A Life

Sunday, September 11, 2022, 1:00pm

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Psychologists say telling a good life story can make you happier. But do we also create an inauthentic version of ourselves if we turn everything into a narrative?

To the Best of Our Knowledge

The Power of Pleasure and Joy

Saturday, September 10, 2022, 3:00pm

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

What if the most unselfish thing you could do was to pursue pleasure and joy? We make the case for the transformative power of joy, pleasure and delight.

To the Best of Our Knowledge

What's Wrong With Work?

Sunday, September 4, 2022, 1:00pm

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

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 about. What’s wrong with work — and how do we fix it?

To the Best of Our Knowledge

Year of Return

Saturday, September 3, 2022, 3:00pm

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

2019 marked the "year of return" to Ghana. Now, scores of African-Americans are moving to Ghana permanently – giving up on the country of their birth.

To the Best of Our Knowledge

Pick Your Poison

Sunday, August 28, 2022, 1:00pm

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Covert spies painting nerve agents on doorknobs? It's not the only way to poison someone. We hear stories of radioactive paint, formaldehyde-spiked baby formula, and a beautiful garden full of plants that could kill you.

To the Best of Our Knowledge

The Secret Language of Trees

Saturday, August 27, 2022, 3:00pm

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Trees talk to each other, and even form alliances with other trees or other species. Some are incredibly old — the root mass of aspens might live 100,000 years. In this hour, we explore the science and history of trees.

Ethnobotanist Gary Paul Nabhan on embracing the 'wisdom of the desert'

Saturday, August 27, 2022, 6:05am

desert

Ethnobotanist Gary Paul Nabhan has been called the "father of the local food movement." For decades, he’s campaigned for seed diversity and sustainable food production. Some of his insights come from the farming practices of Indigenous people living near the U.S.-Mexico border, who’ve grown food in arid habitats for centuries.

To the Best of Our Knowledge

A Parenting Revolution

Sunday, August 21, 2022, 1:00pm

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

The pandemic has made clear that parents are walking a tightrope with no safety net. Is it time for a parenting revolution?

To the Best of Our Knowledge

Eye-To-Eye Animal Encounters

Saturday, August 20, 2022, 3:00pm

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Exchanging glances with the natural world happens more often than you’d think. It can be so profound, there’s a name for it: eye-to-eye epiphany.

To the Best of Our Knowledge

In The Company Of Wolves

Sunday, August 14, 2022, 1:00pm

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

While their domesticated cousins sleep on our beds, Congress debates wild wolves’ survival. This hour, we’ll explore our complicated relationship with our canine cousins, and the feelings they evoke – fear, hatred, and also love.

To the Best of Our Knowledge

Saving Democracy from Demagogues

Saturday, August 13, 2022, 3:00pm

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Around the world, authoritarian leaders are on the rise – from Russia and Hungary to the U.S. We examine the return of the Strongman — and how to save democracy.

Killing democracy? There's a playbook for that.

Saturday, August 13, 2022, 5:30am

an abstract photo of a leader at a desk

Daniel Ziblatt has watched authoritarian leaders elected in country after country — Putin in Russia, Erdogan in Turkey, Orban in Hungary, Bolsinaro in Brazil. He says there’s a playbook for how demagogues destroy their countries' democracies.

To the Best of Our Knowledge

The Resilient Brain

Sunday, August 7, 2022, 1:00pm

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

New experiences rewire the brain. So after all we’ve been through, are we different? We consider the "COVID brain" in both neuroscience and the arts.

To the Best of Our Knowledge

Journeys Through Gender

Saturday, August 6, 2022, 3:00pm

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Sharing of personal pronouns is just one sign of an increasingly widespread shift in how we think about gender. So what’s next? Maybe gender should be messy? Maybe trans should be joy?

Inside the lab that's creating enough psilocybin for everyone on Earth

Saturday, August 6, 2022, 6:15am

an illustration of a scientist synthesizing mushrooms in a lab.

The psychedelic revolution in mental health treatment is on the way, with FDA approval likely in just a few years. In Madison, a non-profit drug manufacturer is gearing up to synthesize enough medical-grade hallucinogenic molecules to supply the world.

Psilocybin, the 'God molecule,' and the quest to revolutionize mental health care

Saturday, August 6, 2022, 6:15am

an illustration of a man having his mind expanded by psychedelics

Bill Linton is on a mission. He wants to get FDA approval for using psychedelics to treat depression and addiction. So he co-founded his own nonprofit psychedelic center, Usona Institute, to help revolutionize the treatment of mental illness.

To the Best of Our Knowledge

Show page on TTBOOK.org

Sunday, July 31, 2022, 1:00pm

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

We surround ourselves with possessions, but at what point do they start to possess us?

To the Best of Our Knowledge

Show page on TTBOOK.org

Saturday, July 30, 2022, 3:00pm

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Walking prolongs our life and makes us human. So why are we doing less and less of it?

To the Best of Our Knowledge

Show page on TTBOOK.org

Sunday, July 31, 2022, 1:00pm

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

We surround ourselves with possessions, but at what point do they start to possess us?

To the Best of Our Knowledge

Show page on TTBOOK.org

Saturday, July 30, 2022, 3:00pm

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Walking prolongs our life and makes us human. So why are we doing less and less of it?

To the Best of Our Knowledge

Show page on TTBOOK.org

Sunday, July 24, 2022, 1:00pm

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

It doesn't matter whether you grew up going to Coney Island, Six Flags, or Pacific Park — to a kid, all amusement parks are magical. This hour we take a trip to the land of funnel cake, freak shows and fast rides.

To the Best of Our Knowledge

Show page on TTBOOK.org

Saturday, July 23, 2022, 3:00pm

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Remember when reading still felt magical? When a book could sweep you off your feet into another world? It might be that the best way to find your way back the magic is through a kid’s book. We talk to authors about Wonderland, magic wands, unicorns and other children's stories that inspire.

To the Best of Our Knowledge

Show page on TTBOOK.org

Sunday, July 24, 2022, 1:00pm

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

It doesn't matter whether you grew up going to Coney Island, Six Flags, or Pacific Park — to a kid, all amusement parks are magical. This hour we take a trip to the land of funnel cake, freak shows and fast rides.

To the Best of Our Knowledge

Show page on TTBOOK.org

Saturday, July 23, 2022, 3:00pm

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Remember when reading still felt magical? When a book could sweep you off your feet into another world? It might be that the best way to find your way back the magic is through a kid’s book. We talk to authors about Wonderland, magic wands, unicorns and other children's stories that inspire.

To the Best of Our Knowledge

Show page on TTBOOK.org

Sunday, July 17, 2022, 1:00pm

To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Scientists and explorers have found a whole new world under our feet. It's an exciting place, and it's changing what we know about the planet and ourselves.