best of

Since 2010 - Will Herems and Sarah LaDuke have wrapped up the year in music during the waning hours of each calendar year. They missed a couple of years for a couple of different reasons, but are here, this year, to share some songs with you.

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education, and research.This week we’ll celebrate the best of The Best of Our Knowledge in 2025.We’ll learn about a new color that humans normally can’t see, a project that created one of the most advanced maps of the brain, and research that uncovers truths to the extinction of the dinosaurs.

On this week's 51%, we look back on some of our favorite conversations from 2025: Dr. Heather Hirsch discusses the FDA’s decision to remove “black box” warning labels from hormonal therapies used to treat symptoms of menopause; Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson explains how President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” blocks Medicaid funding for its clinics; and former CIA intelligence officer Christina Hillsberg makes the case for why women make better spies.

Will Hermes has been writing about music and culture for nearly 40 years. He writes for Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Pitchfork, and Uncut. He’s a contributor to NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered and he’s the author of “Love Goes To Buildings On Fire: Five Years in New York That Changed Music Forever” and “Lou Reed: The King of New York.”

Will Hermes is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, a longtime contributor to NPR’s All Things Considered and The New York Times, and the author of "Love Goes to Buildings on Fire." This year, FSG released his new book “Lou Reed: The King of New York” - and now - he’s joining us to talk about music he enjoyed in 2023.

Joe Donahue is joined by 4 independent booksellers from our Book Picks rotation and they spend (nearly) an hour talking about the best books they read this year.

Will Hermes is a contributing editor for Rolling Stone, a contributor to NPR’s “All Things Considered” and to The New York Times. He is the author of…

Joe Donahue sat down with Suzanna Hermans of Oblong Books and Music and Matt Tannenbaum from The Bookstore to talk about the best books they read in…

Will Hermes is a contributing editor for Rolling Stone, a contributor to NPR’s “All Things Considered” and to The New York Times. He is the author of…

So much has happened this year in the world of sports. Players and franchises have headed to new cities. Champions have been dethroned. And the underbelly…