Roundup

Ayn Rand died in 1982 – but Ayn Rand lives! [audio 14min]

Think you know reality? Ayn Rand did, and through her novels and nonfiction she gave legions of followers a practical philosophy by which to live. Brooke looks at the enduring legacy of the original Objectivist.

Can writers save Israel? [audio 1st 40min]

The state of Israel turns Sixty this year, but what is its future as a Jewish democracy? The Arab population in Israel will soon outnumber the Jews. Even diehard Zionists are calling for the creation of a Palestinian state. In this hour of"To the Best of Our Knowledge," a look at the role Israeli writers play in the Middle East Peace Process. Also, America's role in the area, which goes back to the 18th century. Jeffrey Goldberg, writer of the cover story for the May issue of the Atlantic

Michael Oren on the Barbary Pirates [audio 10min @41:00]

Historian Michael Oren is the author of an exhaustively researched book called Power, Faith and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present. Oren talks with executive producer Steve Paulson about how the Barbary Pirates brought the Marines to the shores of Tripoli and why they went into the Middle East six times during the 19th century.

Rajmohan Gandhi on his grandfather, Mahatma Gandhi [video 53min]

Rajmohan Gandhi talks about his grandfather, Mohandas K. Gandhi, at an event held at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. During the event, Prof. Gandhi reads selections from his book Gandhi: The Man, His People, and the Empire and answers questions from audience members. Rajmohan Gandhi is a research professor at the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign). He is a former member of the upper house of the Indian parliament a

Max Hastings on WWII's Battle for Japan [video 89min]

Historian Max Hastings recounts the final year of World War II in the Pacific theater, 1944 to 1945. He profiles several of the key military and political figures, including Chiang Kai-Shek, Winston Churchill, Douglas MacArthur, and Franklin D. Roosevelt and examines the decision-making process that lead to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagaski. Hastings is the author of several books, including Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945 and Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Norman

'Nixonland' explores America in flux [audio 25min]

In 1964, Democrat Lyndon Johnson won the presidency in a landslide victory; eight years later, Republican president Richard Nixon was reelected in an equally lopsided race. In his new book, Nixonland, historian Rick Perlstein looks at the chaotic years between those elections, a time marked by protests, social upheaval, assassinations and an unpopular war. Perlstein is a senior fellow at the Campaign for America's Future, where he writes the blog The Big Con. He has written for The Ne

Are Chinese Leaders opening up? [audio 2min]

What does response to the earthquake in Sichuan province and other newsworthy events tell us about the direction of China's political leadership? Jeff Wasserstrom, a professor at the University of California Irvine, says China is trying to seize a chance to present a more open face to its people and the world.

Rana Mitter & Robert Kagan discuss 'The Return of History' [audio 15min @13:15]

Rana Mitter talks to American writer and neoconservative thinker Robert Kagan about his new book The Return of History and the End of Dreams (Knopf [USA]; Atlantic Books [UK]), which debates the issues facing liberal democracies today. Rather than entering an era of international convergence, Kagan argues that we have entered an age of divergence, that the 'end of history' is an illusion. Mitter is University Lecturer in Modern Chinese History and Politics at St Cross College, Oxford, whe

Tony Judt on our forgetful age [audio 15min @24:50]

Historian Tony Judt discusses his theory that we have entered an age of forgetting and sacrificed much of the West's post-war history in favour of myth-making over understanding, and denial over memory. Reappraisals, Reflections on the Forgotten Twentieth Century is published by Heinemann. Interviewer Philip Dodd is a broadcaster, writer and curator who has won numerous awards in the fields of broadcasting, publishing and cultural entrepreneurship.

Rosemary Sweet, Murray Pittock & Mark Overton on the enclosures of the 18th Century - Dividing Britain's countryside [audio 43min]

In the early 19th century, the Northamptonshire poet John Clare took a good look at the British countryside and didn't like what he saw. He wrote: Fence meeting fence in owners little bounds Of field and meadow, large as garden-grounds, In little parcels little minds to please, With men and flocks imprisoned, ill at ease. He was referring to the effects of the Enclosures--literally the fencing in of land to stop others from using it. This apparentl

Bluestocking Circle - The women founders of Britain's Royal Academy of Arts [audio 6min]

The word 'Bluestocking' has often been used pejoratively to describe spinster-like, bookish women, but it originated as a term that celebrated a group of talented and educated women from the 18th Century. Britain's National Portrait Gallery is holding a major exhibition until June 15th to celebrate these cultivated women. Anna McNamee visited the gallery to find out about two painters who were among the founding members of the Royal Academy of Art: Mary Moser and Angelica Kauffmann. Anna was joi

Vivian Nutton, Jonathan Sawday & Marina Wallace on the brain: A history - Food for thought [audio 43min]

In the 5th century BC the Greek physician Hippocrates confidently asserted:"Men ought to know that from the brain and from the brain only arise our pleasures, joys, laughter and jests, as well as our sorrows, pains, grieves and tears." This might suggest that people have never doubted the importance of the brain, but for Aristotle the heart was the ruler of the body and the seat of the soul. Despite dissections of brains both human and animal throughout the following centuries, in 1669 the Danis

Eleanor Robson, Karen Radner & Andrew George on the Library at Nineveh - Treasure trove of Assyrian ideas [audio 43min]

In 1849 a young English adventurer called Henry Layard started digging into a small hill. It was on the banks of the River Tigris in Northern Iraq and underneath it was the ancient city of Nineveh. Layard found extraordinary things--wonderful carved reliefs, ancient palace rooms and great statues of winged bulls. He also found a collection of clay tablets, broken up, jumbled around and sitting on the floor of a toilet. It was the remnants of a library and, although Layard didn’t know it at the t

Miri Rubin, Samuel Cohn & Paul Binski on the Black Death - A plague on all our houses [audio 43min]

In October 1347, a Genoese trading ship arrived at the busy port of Messina in Sicily. Readying to dock, it would have nosed in among many similar ships doing similar things. But this ship was special because this ship had rats and the rats had fleas and the fleas had plague. Within four years, over a third of the population of Europe lay dead. This was the Black Death, and its terrible progress was captured by the Florentine writer Giovanni Boccaccio who declared"In those years a dead man was t

Chairman Mao's public image detached from reality [audio 11min @14:10]

Andy Warhol's prints of Chairman Mao both commented on and contributed to the propagation of the Communist leader's image cult. Now one of them, a 14-foot silkscreen print, is going on sale in Hong Kong and may fetch over $100 million. The artist and sculptor David Mach and Jonathan Fenby look at how the image of Mao has become detached from the reality of the man and his barbarous treatment of the Chinese people. Penguin History of Modern China by Jonathan Fenby is published by Penguin a

Mildred Loving tribute [audio 5min@39:40]

Rupert Cornwall pays tribute to a quiet hero of the struggle for civil rights in America, who died earlier this month. American woman who fought the ban on interracial marriage who has died aged 86. Mildred Loving was a reluctant heroine. In 1967 the young black woman’s marriage to a white man led to a landmark ruling by the United States Supreme Court. She died May 2nd 2008. Cornwall is US correspondent for Britain's Independent newspaper.

The history of torture in modern democracy [audio 12min @16:00]

Does the need for security justify the increasing use of 'clean torture', torture such as sleep deprivation, electro-torture and the infamous water-boarding? Despite a number of international condemnations of torture from bodies like the United Nations, the Council of Europe and Amnesty International, some argue in favour of torture as an efficient way of detecting plots that might otherwise lead to the deaths of a great number of innocent citizens. Professor Darius Rejali's monumental new work,

How Madison and Hamilton wrote the Federalist Papers, defined the Constitution, and made democracy safe for the world [video 46min]

Michael Meyerson recounts the writing of the Federalist Papers in his new book Liberty's Blueprint (Perseus Publishing). In it, he profiles the essayists, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, and contends that their writings were widely read and assisted in the understanding of the U.S. Constitution. Meyerson is a law professor at the University of Baltimore. He is the author of Political Numeracy: Mathematical Perspectives on Our Chaotic Constitution. This event was hosted by Ol

Juan Cole and the BBC Doha Debates [video 47min]

The Doha Debates have a local audience and a big student following. They also sponsor a Qatari student debating team. Among the aims of the enterprise is to foster a tradition of Oxford-style debating in the Gulf and the Arab world. Given that Qatar is emerging as a major educational hub in the region, with its innovative Education City Complex, the Doha Debates have taken on an important pedagogical role.

Gore Vidal on the Bush presidency, history and the 'United States of Amnesia' [video 34min]

With a career spanning more than six decades, Gore Vidal is one of America's most respected writers and thinkers. He has authored more than twenty novels and five plays. His latest book is Point to Point Navigation: A Memoir.