Roundup

In Remembering Milk, Let's Not Forget Moscone [audio 16 min 8 sec]

Thirty years ago this week, former San Francisco city supervisor Dan White walked into City Hall and shot Mayor George Moscone four times, then ran down a hall and gunned down city supervisor and gay activist Harvey Milk. Since then, Milk has become a martyr for gay rights — remembered in books, documentaries, and now a new feature film starring Sean Penn. Josh Getlin was the deputy press secretary and speech writer for Moscone. He says it's important to remember that two people wer

Titian campaign: 'Titian began to understand this as autobiography' [audio 3 min 50 sec]

Colin Wiggins of the National Gallery tells Jon Dennis about the campaign to save the Titian painting Diana and Actaeon.

Anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss Turns 100 [audio 6 min 20 sec]

This week in Paris, one of the last icons of 20th century French intellectual life turns 100. Claude Levi-Strauss, a painter's son, not only reshaped the nature of how anthropologists do their work: He changed the world's perception of so-called "primitive" tribes in Asia, Africa and America.

Museum Of American History: A Gem Gets Polished [audio 3 min 19 sec]

The National Mall in Washington, D.C., is set to regain a star attraction Friday, as the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History reopens after a two-year renovation. It took $85 million and a horde of curators, builders, architects and advisers to reframe space for the museum's 3 million historic objects.

Reel Review: Waltz With Bashir [video 1 min 57 sec]

'This may be the most thought-provoking film I've seen all year,' Xan Brooks says of Ari Folman's inventive animated documentary about the Sabra and Shatila massacre of 1982.

Nation's Oldest Existing Bike Maker Keeps On Rolling [audio 6 min 19 sec]

The legendary names in U.S. bicycle manufacturing have all but disappeared. But at a factory in a residential part of Queens, N.Y., there's a bike maker that's been around for more than a century. You've probably never heard of them, but Worksman Cycles is the oldest existing bicycle manufacturer in the country.

Forbidden "Paradise" Revealed [video 2 min 38 sec]

Built as a "paradise on Earth" in Beijing for a Chinese emperor, the Forbidden City's newly restored garden quarters have been sealed off for nearly a century.

Book Gives 'New York Times' Take On Historic Times [audio 5 min 7 sec]

A weighty new tome chronicles 157 years of history as recorded by one of America's most prominent newspapers. The New York Times: The Complete Front Pages features 300 front pages highlighting events since 1851.

Who Murdered China's Emperor 100 Years Ago? [audio 5 min 2 sec]

One hundred years ago Friday, a crime was committed behind the imposing oxblood-red walls of Beijing's Forbidden City. It was the ultimate crime: the murder of an emperor. But it remained a rumor or had been covered up. Until now.

How A-Bomb Testing Changed Our Trees [audio 4 min 24 sec]

Back in the 1950s, the Americans, the British, the French and the Russians tried to impress each other by "testing" atomic weapons. This involved blowing up multi-megaton bombs in the air in remote places, but the explosions didn't stay local.

In 'Wonderland', Scenes Of Soviet Dissolution [audio 4 min 34 sec]

When Jason Eskenazi was growing up in Queens, N.Y., during the Reagan era, he kept hearing about this mysterious thing — "The Evil Empire." He became so curious about it that once the Berlin Wall fell, he decided to visit and to document what he saw.

Discover Darwin - a new exhibition [video 1 min 55 sec]

Darwin - Big Idea Big Exhibition, has opened at the Natural History Museum, London. Alex Gaffikin, the exhibition's developer takes a tour of Darwin's voyage of discovery.

Capitol Visitor Center Opens Dec. 2 [audio 3 min 56 sec]

The long-awaited, $621 million underground Capitol Visitor Center opens to the public in three weeks. It's lush — made out of Pennsylvania sandstone, Tennessee marble and Virginia granite. It's also behind schedule and way over budget. It's the biggest expansion in the Capitol's history.

Beliefs Born On The Battlefield [audio 6 min 17 sec]

There is perhaps no time that belief is more emphatically tested, and acted upon, than in war. For this Veterans Day, five essayists who served in battle from World War I through the Iraq war describe how the violence of combat shaped their beliefs.

Lost Painting Found After 300 Years [video 18 sec]

A Dallas-based gallery will put painting on auction block this month.

Famous WWII Picture Recreated [video 27 sec]

Nurse in WWII picture stages picture with "South Pacific" cast.

Australia's First Visitors? [video 2 min 11 sec]

Newfound rock art paintings in northern Australia may reveal that peoples from neighboring Indonesia traded with Aborigines centuries before the arrival of the British.

Remembering Ballerina Rosella Hightower [audio 1 min 35 sec]

Ballerina Rosella Hightower died last week at the age of 88. She was of Choctaw Indian ancestry, one of several famous Native American ballerinas from her home state of Oklahoma.

Remembering Gracie Allen's White House Run [audio 6 min 14 sec]

In 1940, the United States was just emerging from the shadow of the Great Depression and war loomed in Europe. Into these serious times stepped Gracie Allen, part of the popular comic duo Burns and Allen, who launched a campaign for president. Allen's Surprise Party began as a publicity stunt, but during a whistle-stop tour across the country the campaign took on a life of its own.

Proof of Bible's King David [video 1 min 44 sec]

The oldest known Hebrew inscription has reportedly been found where David and Goliath are said to have fought in Israel. If the controversial claim is true, it bolsters biblical accounts.