To The Best Of Our Knowledge

Ah, January.  Season of diets and fasts and cleanses, of "Drynuary" and "Veganuary."  Why does being virtuous always seem to mean giving up pleasure?  This hour, we explore the concept of renunciation and our complicated feelings about it. The Man Who Invented "Dry-nuary"; The Story of a Contemporary Hermit; The Religious Roots of Renunciation; Renunciation as a Creative Force; David Foster Wallace on Alcoholics Anonymous; How Prohibition Shaped America.

We don’t handle endings well, in general. So this hour, let’s learn about how to make a good ending — whether leaving a lover, quitting a job, or getting ready for the end of life itself. Guests: Steve Almond, Ilana Gershon, Sean Hemingway, Simon Critchley, David Giffels Interviews: What We Really Ask For When We Ask For Relationship Advice, The Most Important Job Skill In The New Economy Is Quitting , Hemingway's 47 Endings to "A Farewell to Arms", Only Grief Can Actually Stop Time. And It's Horrible., Would You Build Your Own Coffin? With Your Dad?, A Ritual For A New Year

Who really runs the world? Presidents and prime ministers, or CEOs and bankers? And who’s responsible when everything falls apart? Guests: Yanis Varoufakis, Steve James, Nathan Schneider, N. K. Jemisin Interviews: "Capitalism Will End" Says The Former Greek Finance Minister, When Prosecuting Banks, It's Easier To Fit The Little Guy In A Cell, Turning Twitter Into The People's Platform, A Not So Distant Future in the "Broken Earth" Trilogy

Do you ever crave silence? Maybe some can’t stand to hear themselves thinking, but others go to great lengths to find respite from a blaringly loud world. Guests: Erling Kagge, Gordon Hempton, George Michelsen Foy, Kyle Gann, Shawn Wen, Jennifer Egan Interviews: The Contemplative Silence Of A Cold, Lonely Journey , A Nature Preserve For The Quiet Of Nature, The Volume Of Absolute Silence, The Tale of a Mute Piano Performance, A Silent S

Sexism has no boundaries, as we're quickly discovering. But what impact does it have on scientific discovery if sexist behavior drives women out of science entirely? Guests: Jane Willenbring,Erika Marin-Spiotta,Jane Goodall,Birute Galdikas,Emily Temple-Wood,Lauren Gunderson Interviews: Alone in Antarctica, Trapped With Your Harasser,Sexual Harassment, the Open Secret of the Scientific Community,The Women Who Revolutionized Primatology,Turning Wikipedia Into a Weapon Against Misogyny,America's Most Produced Playwright Is Rewriting the History of Female Scientists

This is the story of a lonely, disturbed teenager desperately in need of a friend. His name was Jeff. Or as you know him, Jeffrey Dahmer — the serial killer. Guests: Marc Meyers,Derf Backderf Interviews: Before There Was a Monster, There Was a Boy,Separating Man From Monster

Across professions, half of Americans surveyed say they’re exhausted from work. More and more of us feel scrambled, tired and drained. Are we facing daily lives more prone to burnout? And what can we do about it? Guests: Katrina Onstad,Susan Orlean,Emma Seppala,Anna Katharina Schaffner,Christopher J. Lee Interviews: Sunday Night Blues, Monday Morning (Short) Fuse,What's Your Perfect Saturday Night Tune?,Setting Too High A Bar For Success Is Running Us Ragged,An Exhaustive History Of Being So Very Tired,Jet Lag? More Like Life Lag.

When we hear from politicians and activists that "the West is at risk, that a clash of civilizations threatens Western culture," what does that mean exactly? And who do we think is coming for it? Guests: Victor Davis Hanson,Donna Zuckerberg,Nadia Marzouki,Jenny Erpenbeck,Jerry Brotton Interviews: Does The West Have The Will To Survive?,Since When Are White Supremacists Classics Buffs?,How Free Do Americans Really Want To Be?,A German Writer Confronts the Refugee Crisis, Face To Face,The Long and Complicated Relationship Between Islam and the West

One of the finalists for the National Book Award this year is Min Jin Lee, for her novel "Pachinko." Guests: Min Jin Lee Interviews: What It Means To Be A Permanent Outsider

We live, work and play in Red and Blue tribal bubbles, filling our social media feeds with news sources that affirm our place in that order, rather than challenging it. What is that isolation doing to us? What can we do to escape it? Guests: Charlie Sykes,Ken Stern,Meredith Clark,Nancy MacLean,Jeanne Safer,Richard Brookhiser Interviews: How The Right Lost Its Mind And Charlie Sykes Lost His Faith In The GOP,A Former NPR Executive Leaves His Liberal Bubble Behind,The Blend Of Jokes and Social Justice That Is Black Twitter,What Does An Obscure Economist Have To Do With The Koch Brothers?,You Don't Have To Vote Like Me To Love Me