Panda-monium (52min)

In 1936 Ruth Harkness, a widowed young socialite, took on her late husband's planned expedition to China in search of a live panda. Diane Rehm and Vicki Constantine Croke, author of The Lady and the Panda, talk about the panda-monium set off when Harkness returned with a baby panda cradled in her arms.

Croke is"Animal Beat" columnist for the Boston Globe, contributing reporter for NPR's"Living on Earth," and author of"The Modern Ark: The Story of Zoos -- Past Present, and Future."

The full title of her book is The Lady and the Panda: The True Adventures of the First American Explorer to Bring Back China's Most Exotic Animal.