

To The Best Of Our Knowledge
Wisconsin Public Radio
”To the Best of Our Knowledge” is a Peabody award-winning national public radio show that explores big ideas and beautiful questions. Deep interviews with philosophers, writers, artists, scientists, historians, and others help listeners find new sources of meaning, purpose, and wonder in daily life. Whether it’s about bees, poetry, skin, or psychedelics, every episode is an intimate, sound-rich journey into open-minded, open-hearted conversations. Warm and engaging, TTBOOK helps listeners feel less alone and more connected – to our common humanity and to the world we share.For more from the TTBOOK team, visit us at ttbook.org.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 17, 2018 • 51min
What Can We Learn From Teenagers?
A chorus of hope is coming from an unexpected group — teenagers. They
have superpowers — innocence, idealism, and Instagram — and they aren't
waiting for permission to use them to shape the world.
Guests:
Angie Jiang, Kevin Coval, Luis Carranza, Kee Stein, Frances Jensen, Angie Thomas, Tyler Ruzich
Interviews:
Angie Goes To Washington, Bullying, Buses, Environmentalism, and Donald Trump: The Poetic Thinking of Teens, I'm 17 And I'm Running for Governor, Learning Machines: The Wired Teenage Brain, Author Angie Thomas: Burn It All Down Or Use Those Emotions In My Art, What Teens Need From Adults To Change The World

Mar 10, 2018 • 55min
Discovering America's Black DNA
DNA tests are uncovering mixed bloodlines. For African Americans, this can be emotionally-charged. What do you do when you find out one of your direct ancestors was a slave owner? Does it open the door to new conversations about racial justice?
Guests:
Alex Gee
Erin Hoag
Annette Gordon-Reed
Anita Foeman
Interviews:
How Do You Know Ruben Gee?
Searching for America's Racial History in a Graveyard
Uncovering America's Buried History: The Story of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings
Changing Our Conversation About Race Using Genetic Testing

Mar 3, 2018 • 51min
Why Make Art?
We grow up scribbling with crayons and covering sidewalks with chalk, and then around middle school most of us stop. Maybe we think it's childish or just too hard. So what can we learn from the people who never stopped making art? We'll talk with activist artist Molly Crabapple and legendary painter/printmaker Frank Stella. And jazz pianist Craig Taborn reflects on a lifetime of improvisation.

Feb 24, 2018 • 51min
How Do You Face The Hate On Your Doorstep?
For the first time since World War II, far-right and neo-fascist groups are winning converts and votes — all over Europe and also here at home. Why is it happening, and can it be stopped?
Guests:
Edgar Feuchtwanger
Iliaria Maria Sala
Rob Riemen
Arno Michaelis
Pardeep Singh Kaleka
Daniel Kalder
Interviews:
The Nazi Next Door
Facing History and Hate Through Museums
The Return — And Spread — Of Fascism
Understanding The Man Who Hated You
Terrible Books Written By Atrocious People

Feb 17, 2018 • 51min
Magical Thinking
"Magical thinking" gets a bad rap these days. It suggests losing your grip on reality or being so gullible that you'll believe anything - from ghosts to miracles. But what if magic isn't pure fantasy? Maybe it's the gateway to wonder.
Guests:
Nate Staniforth
Michael Muhammad Knight
Haleema Shah
Chloe Benjamin
Interviews:
From Stage Tricks to Real Magic: A Magician's Search for Wonder
Islam's Hidden History of Magic
Why Online Quizzes, Personality Tests and Horoscopes Help You Feel Special
Drawing Inspiration For The Fantastical From The Everyday

Feb 10, 2018 • 52min
Imagining Climate Change
“The climate crisis is a crisis of culture and thus of imagination,” says writer Amitav Ghosh. So what changes in our conversation about global warming when we tap into the imaginative worlds of novelists and artists? How Bad Can Climate Change Really Get?; Where’s the Great “Climate Change Novel”?; Let’s Get Serious About the Anthropocene; Zulu Time; Lidia Yuknavitch’s Dream World.

Feb 3, 2018 • 54min
What's Wrong With Men?
The right-wing politics and hard-drinking bro culture of The Proud Boys is attracting young, white men from across the country. They share fratty hazing rituals and self-proclaimed “Western chauvinism.” And with slogans like “feminism is cancer,” and “venerate the housewife,” they’re fighting to make America great for men again. The Proud Boys’ founder Gavin McInnes believes “95% of American women” would be happier at home, making babies. Where does his vision of “being a man” fit in America in 2018? Reporter Alexandra Hall meets up with a Wisconsin Proud Boys chapter and has a revealing conversation with McInnes himself.
Guests:
Gavin McInnes
Alexandra Hall
Kyle “Guante” Tran Myhre
Warren Farrell
Ashanti Branch
Interviews:
The Proud Boys: Drinking Club or Misogynist Movement?
"Proud Boys" Founder Gavin McInnes: You’d Be Happier As A Housewife
Boys In Crisis, Shouting For Attention
Angry on the Outside, Sad on the Inside
10 Responses to the Phrase "Man Up"

Jan 27, 2018 • 52min
In the Company of Wolves
This hour, we'll explore our complicated relationships with our canine cousins -- wolves, coyotes, and dogs -- and the feelings they evoke -- fear, hatred and also love. What If Your Best Friend Is A Wolf?; How Coyotes Won The War We've Waged On Them; A Lesson in Resilience From Markoe's Best Friend; Revealing the Aristocratic Lifestyles of "Monster Dogs".

Jan 20, 2018 • 52min
Can An Evil Man Be A Decent Person?
How can someone be a monster — a brutal dictator, a mass murderer, a serial killer — and up close seem like a decent, caring person? What happens when you find yourself liking someone who’s done terrible things? The American Guards Who Kept Saddam Hussein Safe Until His Execution; Paul Beatty on "The Nazi and the Barber"; What Can Americans Learn from a Norwegian Massacre?; Your Archenemy Turned Out To Be a Hero. Now What?; Can Literature Make You More Empathetic? ; Michael Tisserand on “My Friend Dahmer”.

Jan 13, 2018 • 51min
Who's Watching Us?
Ever had the nagging suspicion that you’re being watched? You are. We all are. Surrounded by security cameras — in malls, restaurants, airports, workplaces, even in church, spied on by our very own phones and computers. Yes, surveillance can keep us safe, but we’re in danger of losing the last shreds of our privacy. In this hour, we explore not only the pros and cons of living while being watched, but what it's like to be doing the watching.
Guests:
Cari Ness Nesje
Randolph Lewis
Lily Hay Newman
Josh Koury
Myles Kane
Marina Lutz
Who Else Is Siri Talking To?
Do you ever get the feeling that your digital devices are eavesdropping on you?
Life Beneath the Electric Eyes
The personal devices we live with and depend on — our computers, tablets, smartphones and more— all share information about us. Randolph Lewis tells more stories about how we’re being watched in a book called “Under Surveillance.”
Taking Back Control Over Who's Tapped In To Watch Us
In a world filled with devices that could be used to listen in on our daily lives, how do you take back control of your privacy? Steve Paulson asked security reporter Lily Hay Newman.
The Innkeeper Hidden In The Walls
A couple of years ago, journalist Gay Talese published “The Voyeur’s Motel,” the true story of a motel owner who spent more than 30 years spying on his guests while they had sex. The case is now the subject of a Netflix documentary called “Voyeur.”
When Family Photos Go Too Far
Marina Lutz grew up with a father who was obsessed with watching her. She discovered the full extent of his obsession as an adult, and made an award-winning short documentary about it called “The Marina Experiment.”


