Roundup

Cold War reactor still active [video 2 min 34 sec]

Many countries which became independent when the Soviet Union collapsed were left with old military bases and weapons. Humphrey Hawksley reports from Estonia.

Foreclosures Hit Rural America, But Quietly [audio 3 min 39 sec]

U.S. policymakers who hope to address the nation's housing crisis may have a blind spot: rural counties.

Tolstoy translator: 'This was a mammoth task' [audio 16 min 52 sec]

Alison Flood speaks to 98-year-old Tolstoy translator Kyril Zinovieff about the newly published version of Anna Karenina he began work on 60 years ago.

Alan Greenspan: Black Monday [video 1 min 55 sec]

One day in 1987, the stock market fell hard and fast, the likes of which hadn't been seen since 1929. Using his new position as chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan helped the market quickly bounce back from Black Monday.

Ken Burns on the Emotional Potency of Interviewing [video 6 min 6 sec]

Ken Burns talks about what makes the interviews in The War so emotionally potent and his method of choosing veterans to interview who were not only willing to tell their stories but who would otherwise have remained unnoticed within the fabric of their small home towns.

Thomas Jefferson's Love Affair — With Wine [audio 2 min 57 sec]

Thomas Jefferson was the nation's third president, our first ambassador to France, an inventor and master gardener. He may also have been America's first wine connoisseur — something historians are learning more about as they renovate Jefferson's wine cellar.

'Grapes Of Wrath' And The Politics of Book Burning [audio 7 min 21 sec]

Sept. 29 marks the beginning of the American Library Association's annual "Banned Books Week," a commemoration of all the books that have ever been removed from library shelves and classrooms. Politics, religion, sex, witchcraft — people give a lot of reasons for wanting to ban books, says Judith Krug of the ALA, but most often the bannings are about fear.

Gurkha court win: 'The court erupted in a battle cry' [audio 3 min 29 sec]

Audrey Gillan reports from the high court on the gurkhas winning their right to apply for residence visas

The Hurricane Ike of 1900 [video 1 min 2 sec]

Hurricane Ike isn't the first epic storm to slam Galveston, Texas. See scenes of the devastation from what is still called the worst natural disaster history in U.S. history.

Why was US bail-out plan rejected? [video 2 min 37 sec]

Financial markets have been thrown into turmoil after the US rejected a bail-out plan to rescue Wall Street. The unexpected vote by members of the House of Representatives has left politicians at an impasse. Justin Webb reports.

A New Contender For Earth's Oldest Rock [audio 2 min 42 sec]

It's hard to find rocks from the earliest days of the planet because the Earth's surface is constantly changing. But exposed bedrock on the eastern shore of the Hudson Bay in Quebec may be 4.3 billion years old.

Ancient Babylon Damaged [video 2 min 24 sec]

After years of deterioration, the ancient Iraqi city of Babylon is suffering anew in the wake of war.

Yellowstone Preservation A Balancing Act [audio 6 min 46 sec]

The greatest threat to Yellowstone in the coming years is development in surrounding areas where animals head in the winter, experts say. Park officials also face another challenge: striking a balance between preserving the ecosystem and allowing visitors to get the most from their trip.

Hidden murals rediscovered [video 1 min 42 sec]

Murals showing Goole's maritime history have been uncovered during a restoration project in the town.

'Boogie Man': The Paradox Of Lee Atwater [audio 16 min 57 sec]

Lee Atwater, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, is remembered for being a ruthless political operative. But in a new documentary about Atwater's controversial life and legacy, filmmaker Stefan Forbes shows that despite his reputation as "Darth Vader," Atwater won the respect of many, including political enemies. In Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story, Forbes details Atwater's indelible impact on the American political landscape. As Forbes notes, he is accused

Professor: Current Crisis, Great Depression Differ [audio 4 min 50 sec]

As the country struggles with the current financial crisis, there have been the inevitable comparisons with the Great Depression. Marvin Goodfriend, an economics professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business in Pittsburgh, tells Linda Wertheimer that while people are comparing this financial crisis to the 1930s, there are some big differences.

Unseen royal footage found [video 1 min 38 sec]

Unseen colour footage of the Queen in Kent, before she came to the throne, has been uncovered in Yorkshire.

From Cold War to consumer world [video 3 min 10 sec]

A new exhibition, opening this week at London's Victoria and Albert Museum, reveals how the period of icy relations between the Soviet Union and the West stimulated a feverish creativity which propelled us forward toward the modern era, generating much of the technology that dominates everyday life. But could a new Cold War be round the corner? Russia's recent military intervention in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, wresting control of two separatist enclaves as the country

Dig pinpoints Stonehenge origins [video 2 min 51 sec]

Archaeologists have pinpointed the construction of Stonehenge to 2300 BC - a key step to discovering how and why the mysterious temple was built. The radiocarbon date is said to be the most accurate yet and means the ring's original bluestones were put up 300 years later than previously thought. The dating is the major finding from an excavation inside the henge by Profs Tim Darvill and Geoff Wainwright. The duo found evidence suggesting Stonehenge was a

Winston Churchill: Secret conversations reveal views on Stalin and Gandhi [video 3 min 22 sec]

While researching his new book, Andrew Roberts discovered extraordinary secret documents recording every Cabinet conversation of our wartime prime minister. His views on 'jocular’ Stalin and 'bad man’ Gandhi force us to reassess history.