To The Best Of Our Knowledge

There are old folktales and legends of people who can become animals. Animals who can become people. And there’s a lesson for our own time in those shapeshifting stories — a recognition that the membrane between what's human and more-than-human is razor thin. Human identity cannot be separated from our nonhuman kin. From forest ecology to the human microbiome, emerging research suggests that being human is a complicated journey made possible only by the good graces of our many companions. In partnership with the Center for Humans and Nature and with support from the Kalliopeia Foundation, To The Best Of Our Knowledge is exploring this theme of "kinship" in a special radio series. To learn more about the Kinship series, head to ttbook.org/kinship. Original Air Date: November 20, 2021 Interviews In This Hour: Reclaiming the fierce women who are shapeshifters — How a man turned into a raven — Shapeshifters, shamans and the 'New Animism' — Horror author Stephen Graham Jones on what our monsters say about us Guests: Sharon Blackie, David Abram, Chris Gosden, Stephen Graham Jones Never want to miss an episode? Subscribe to the podcast. Want to hear more from us, including extended interviews and favorites from the archive? Subscribe to our newsletter.

Before the pandemic upended all world travel, we aired a show about what it means to be an ethical traveler. Between masks and vaccinations, COVID-19 has added even more to the ethical baggage we carry with us when we travel. But part of recovering from the pandemic involves getting back out there and seeing the world. So before you take your next trip abroad, we thought we would revisit some thoughts and advice in that episode. Safe journeys. This show was produced in partnership with AFAR Magazine, whose May/June 2019 issue on ethical traveling inspired this episode. Original Air Date: May 25, 2019 Interviews In This Hour:  Trying Not To Ruin The World When You Visit — A Personal Code of Travel Ethics — How to Lessen Your Environmental Impact When You Travel — Traveling Abroad Without Falling Into Guilt Trips — To Travel Well, Be Willing To Listen, Play, Leave The Notebook Behind Guests:  Elizabeth Becker, Dave Eggers, Kathryn Kellogg, Anu Taranath, Barry Lopez Further Reading: Afar Magazine: Making the World Better, One Traveler at a Time—Afar Magazine: 4 Ways to Explore Venice Responsibly—Afar Magazine: Are We Loving Venice to Death?—Afar Magazine: How to Photograph People When You Travel (Without Being Disrespectful) Never want to miss an episode? Subscribe to the podcast. Want to hear more from us, including extended interviews and favorites from the archive? Subscribe to our newsletter. , kathryn kellog, anu taranath, barry lopez

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, producer Charles Monroe-Kane made 300 yard signs that read "You're not ok. That's ok." He put them on his porch. Soon they were gone. Original Air Date: June 18, 2022 Interviews In This Hour: The story of a pandemic yard sign — Author Susan Cain on how bittersweetness adds flavor to daily life — 'Artists anticipate things because they work in the realm of the imagination': Creating in a pandemic time loop — What would you put in your bomb shelter? Guests: Charles Monroe-Kane, Susan Cain, Alissa Wilkinson, Mary Laura Philpott Never want to miss an episode? Subscribe to the podcast. Want to hear more from us, including extended interviews and favorites from the archive? Subscribe to our newsletter.

Jim Thorpe was one of the greatest athletes the world has ever known — a legend in the NFL, MLB, NCAA, and in the Olympics. Today he is being celebrated by a new generation of Native Americans.  Rapper Tall Paul’s album is called, “The Story of Jim Thorpe." Tall Paul is an Anishinaabe and Oneida Hip-Hop artist enrolled on the Leech Lake reservation in Minnesota.  Biographer David Maraniss is the author of "Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe." Activist Suzan Shown Harjo is the recipient of a 2014 Presidential Medal of Freedom. She is Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee. Patty Loew is the director of the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research at Northwestern University. She is a member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe. Original Air Date: January 14, 2023 Interviews In This Hour:  Was Jim Thorpe the greatest athlete who ever lived? — The white man's trophy — A hero who looks like me Guests:  Tall Paul, Suzan Shown Harjo, Patty Loew, David Maraniss Never want to miss an episode? Subscribe to the podcast. Want to hear more from us, including extended interviews and favorites from the archive? Subscribe to our newsletter.

The human brain is naturally mathematical. But there’s one particular kind of math people have surprisingly strong feelings about — geometry. It's the secret sauce of mathematics — different from everything else, and applicable to everything from gerrymandering to human evolution to romance novels. Original Air Date: May 28, 2022 Interviews In This Hour:  The 14th dimension, AI that writes romance novels, and other things explained by geometry — Did shapes make us human? Guests:  Jordan Ellenberg, Stanislas Dehaene Never want to miss an episode? Subscribe to the podcast. Want to hear more from us, including extended interviews and favorites from the archive? Subscribe to our newsletter.

Clocks and calendars chop time into increments – minutes, hours, days, years. It’s efficient, and it helps us get to meetings on time. But when we invented artificial time, we gave up natural time, and a deep sense of connection to the larger universe. What does time feel like when you stop counting it? Original Air Date: January 04, 2020 Interviews In This Hour: Alexander Rose on The Clock of the Long Now — Reclaiming Time — The Eternal Moment — Brian Swimme on Organic Time — Laura Williams on a Tidal-Powered Moon Clock — What It Looks Like To Live For 600K Years Guests: Alexander Rose, Douglas Rushkoff, Wade Davis, Brian Swimme, Laura Williams, Rachel Sussman Never want to miss an episode? Subscribe to the podcast. Want to hear more from us, including extended interviews and favorites from the archive? Subscribe to our newsletter.

If you look at a mountain, you might see a skiing destination, a climbing challenge, or even a source of timber to be logged or ore to be mined. But there was a time when mountains were sacred. In some places, they still are. What changes when you think of a mountain not as a giant accumulation of natural resources, but as a living being? Human identity cannot be separated from our nonhuman kin. From forest ecology to the human microbiome, emerging research suggests that being human is a complicated journey made possible only by the good graces of our many companions. In partnership with the Center for Humans and Nature and with support from the Kalliopeia Foundation, To The Best Of Our Knowledge is exploring this theme of "kinship" in a special radio series. To learn more about the Kinship series, head to ttbook.org/kinship. Original Air Date: July 24, 2021 Interviews In This Hour:  What Do You Owe The Mountains Around You? — 'These Are Live, Active Places': A Ute Activist Fights To Save The Bears Ears National Monument — A Poet Finds Life Lessons on Hunger Mountain — 'I Was Born To Volcanoes' Guests:  John Hausdoerffer, Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk, David Hinton, Lisa Maria Madera Never want to miss an episode? Subscribe to the podcast. Want to hear more from us, including extended interviews and favorites from the archive? Subscribe to our newsletter.

In peaceful times, and in moments of violence, writers have used their art as protest, remembrance, and sometimes, political acts. We talk with poets and novelists about how they deeply notice the historical time we live in — through their words and voice. Original Air Date: May 07, 2022 Interviews In This Hour: Poetry as protest: 'When people are powerless for so many hundreds of years, language becomes a weapon' — 'All writing is political': Author Bernardine Evaristo on tenacity, growing up Black and British, and winning the Booker Prize — Should we still read the 'proud imperialist' Kipling? Guests: Ilya Kaminsky, Bernardine Evaristo, Christopher Benfey, Salman Rushdie Never want to miss an episode? Subscribe to the podcast. Want to hear more from us, including extended interviews and favorites from the archive? Subscribe to our newsletter. Categories: writing, activism, politics, philosophy, poetry

Wakanda is a very American version of an idealized African future. So how do African science fiction writers tell stories about their own imagined future? Original Air Date: December 10, 2022 Interviews In This Hour: Deconstructing 'Black Panther': African Scholars Respond to the Hollywood Blockbuster — Wakanda is only the start: 'Africanfuturism' and dreaming of bigger, bolder African futures — How Marlon James Created His African 'Game of Thrones' Guests: Mshai Mwangola, Nnedi Okorafor, Ainehi Edoro, Marlon James Never want to miss an episode? Subscribe to the podcast. Want to hear more from us, including extended interviews and favorites from the archive? Subscribe to our newsletter.

In the 21st century, there are a lot of old crafts we think we don’t have much use for anymore. Blacksmithing. Wood turning. Spinning and basket-making. But here's the funny thing — as our world gets more and more virtual, traditional skills are starting to look better and better to a lot of people. Original Air Date: April 09, 2022 Guests: Sara Dahmen — Monroe Robinson — Nick Offerman Interviews In This Hour: Could you build your own pots and pans? Coppersmith Sara Dahmen revives a lost art — A craftsman alone in the Alaskan wIlderness — ‘He’s my Shakespeare’: Nick Offerman on the craft and wisdom of Wendell Berry Never want to miss an episode? Subscribe to the podcast. Want to hear more from us, including extended interviews and favorites from the archive? Subscribe to our newsletter.