Roundup

Simon Winchester recounts life of Sinophile Joseph Needham [video 62min]

Historian Simon Winchester discusses his new book, The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom. This is the story of Joseph Needham (1900-1995), a Cambridge University biochemist who became obsessed with China and wrote Science and Civilization of China, a 24-volume study of Chinese history and culture that assisted in introducing the West to the East. Winchester has written for several publications, inclu

Thurgood Marshall, 100 years after his birth [audio 5min]

Were he still alive, Thurgood Marshall would have turned 100 years old on July 2nd. The first African-American justice to be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, Marshall was known as the Court's liberal conscience for nearly 24 years. Mary Frances Berry reflects on Thurgood Marshall's life, legal career and legacy. Berry is professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania and the former Chair of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.

The Lincolns' marriage [audio 55min]

The Book Guys -- book appraiser Allan Stypeck and Washington DC radio host Mike Cuthbert -- interview Daniel Mark Epstein to discuss his book The Lincolns: Portrait of a Marriage.

The world's greatest libraries [audio 55min]

The Book Guys -- book appraiser Allan Stypeck and Washington DC radio host Mike Cuthbert -- interview Dan De Simone and Mark Dimunation of the Library of Congress to discuss some of the world's greatest libraries.

Summer Solstice tourists again flock to Stonehenge [audio 30min]

Total solar eclipses are extraordinary events which have awed and terrified people throughout history and until the 16th century the only way to experience one was to be in the right place at the right time. More than 20,000 people travelled to Stonehenge on Friday 20th June to experience its atmosphere on the longest day of the year. But how long has this ancient monument been a tourist attraction and what is its significance? Presenter John McCarthy is joined by Rosemary Hill, author of a new

Was the Iraq War about oil after all? [audio 50min]

Saddam Hussein kicked the big western oil companies out of Iraq in 1972. Now they're back, with no-bid service contracts that will put them inside Iraq's redeveloping industry. Will increased Iraqi production help postpone an energy crisis? Will US troops remain for security? Is that what the war in Iraq is really about? Host Warren Olney's guests are David Kirsch, former Energy Analyst for the US State Department; Naomi Klein, activist and author of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster C

James Rosen interviewed by Hugh Hewitt, 2nd of 2 [audio 35min]

Hugh Hewitt interviews Fox News reporter James Rosen, who has written a fascinating new book called The Strong Man, about John Mitchell and the Nixon administration in the 60s and 70s.

James Rosen interviewed by Hugh Hewitt, 1st of 2 [audio 35min]

Hugh Hewitt interviews Fox News reporter James Rosen, who has written a fascinating new book called The Strong Man, about John Mitchell and the Nixon administration in the 60s and 70s.

Rick Perlstein, Patrick Buchanan engage in feisty debate [video 9min]

Jefferson's Library once again complete [audio 5min]

The Library of Congress has managed to re-create — with the help of rare-book collectors — the missing two-thirds of Thomas Jefferson's Library. Mark Dimunation of the Library of Congress discusses Jefferson's tastes and rare-book detectives.

Twin Tower walker tells story [video 6min]

The man who performed a tightrope walk between New York's Twin Towers in 1974 has been immortalised in a documentary. Philippe Petit spoke to BBC Breakfast about his illegal stunt, which is the subject of Man on Wire.

Donald Rumsfeld's legacy [video 6min]

Atlantic correspondent Robert D. Kaplan takes a fresh look at the legacy of Donald Rumsfeld.

Steve Wozniak: How it began [video 10min]

Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple Computer with Steve Jobs in 1976. He remembers how it all began from the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley, California.

HNN's Rick Shenkman on 'Diane Rehm Show' [audio 52min]

Diane Rehm welcomes history professor Rick Shenkman, editor and founder of George Mason University's History News Network, and Boston Globe columnist Maggie Jackson to discuss whether our increasingly mobile, multi-tasking and virtual world may be eroding our willingness and ability to grapple with complex issues, and what this trend could mean for the strength of our democracy. Shenkman is an investigative reporter and author of Just Ho

Early industrialists encouraged female mill workers to breastfeed [audio 1st 9min]

Former mill workers and members of the Tean and Checkley Historical Society in Staffordshire, England, contacted "Making History" to highlight the discovery of a remarkable architectural feature discovered during the re-development of an old weaving mill. Described as a 'breast hole', it was a crude device to allow women to feed their babies whilst still doing a day's work in the mill. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the advent of steam power persuaded John and Nathaniel Phi

French clarets owe debt to English, Scots [audio 6min @ 9:35]

"Making History" listener Bill Cronin was surprised by a plaque he saw whilst visiting Narbonne, France, for a short break. It recalls a riot by wine-growers in May 1907 in which 5 people died. The suggestion is that the protest was about the importing of Algerian wine and it laid the foundations for the Appellation system found in France."Making History" consulted Billy Kay, the co-author of Knee Deep in Claret and the author of The Scottish World. He explained that the disturbanc

Women of the Qur'an: The story of Hajar [audio 4min]

Hajar began her adult life in bondage and became the Prophet Abraham's Egyptian concubine. Revered by contemporary Islamic feminists today as the symbolic mother of Islam, and the archetypal 'single mother', the writer and scholar Asra Nomani tells her story to reporter Angela Robson.

Women's medical history: Early adverts for baby milk [audio 3min]

We've all been told that breast is best, but some recent research into breastfeeding shows that it may be even better for girls than for boys. It’s the first time a gender difference has been identified. But there are still lots of women who want to bottle feed their babies. And in the latest of our series on medical history, it turns out these arguments are nothing new. Claudia Hammond went to the Wellcome Library in London where the archivist Dr Lesley Hall showed her some early adverts for ba

Elizabeth's Armada: 'Treasure trove' raised off Channel Islands [multiple videos]

A treasure trove of artefacts is being recovered from what experts describe as one of the most important English maritime discoveries since the Mary Rose. The raised haul includes a 2m-long (7ft) cannon, which will give archaeologists an insight into Elizabeth I's naval might. Dr Mensun Bound, excavation leader and marine archaeologist from Oxford University, said:"This boat is really grade A in terms of archaeology - it is hard to find anything that really compares with it..

Win Scutt's 'This Week in Archaeology' [audio 15min]

Archaeologist Win Scutt has been visiting an underwater excavation in Israel as part of a two-part series for BBC World Service, to be broadcast in August. A team led by the Leon Racanati Institute from the University of Haifa are excavating a Napoleonic period shipwreck. He also reports that the man who located the wreck of the Titanic has been asked by Egypt's head of archaeology if he can find the wreck of a merchant ship containing important Egyptian artefacts; that a replica of the s