Roundup

Islam and science [audio 30min]

A recent United Nations Report, written by Arab intellectuals, suggested that in the last thousand years the Arabs have published as many books as Spain publishes in one year. And yet, from the 8th to the 15th centuries, it was the Muslim world that took the lead in the development of scientific exploration. So what went wrong? Is the contemporary Muslim world really lagging behind the West in scientific research, or is there something inherent in Islam that is holding scientists back? Each week

Retracing Tank Busters' European tracks [audio 1st 20min]

Sandi Toksvig -- traveller, barrister, raconteur, novelist -- is joined by barrister and writer John Gimlette and US veteran Putnam Flint to hear of a profound war experience and a recent personal return journey. Gimlette is the author of a new book entitled Panther Soup -- a reference to the mud created by tanks and trucks -- chronicling his journey from Marseilles to Austria in the tyre tracks of US Army veteran Flint, formerly of

Living in 'the suspect society' [audio 54min]

The Surveillance Society. The New Authoritarianism. The Age of Paranoid Politics. These terms, and many others, have been used to describe how the political ground has been shifting under us, particularly since 9/11. Terrorism and national security have become obsessive anxieties. Fear and suspicion have become the order of the day. A world-wide initiative has developed that combines a growing machinery of surveillance, assaults on civil liberties and increasing censorship.

European artists in WWII 'exile' in America [audio 51min]

Joseph Horowitz looks at how refugees from 20th century war and revolution in Europe helped transform the performing arts in the U.S. He is author of seven previous books, including Understanding Toscanini and Classical Music in America. His is a former New York Times music critic and executive director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra.

40 years later: Hersh on My Lai [audio 13min]

On March 16, 1968, U.S. soldiers entered the South Vietnamese village of My Lai and killed hundreds of unarmed civilians in what became the most notorious atrocity of the war. Forty years later, New Yorker correspondent Seymour Hersh walks us through the on-the-ground reporting behind his Pulitzer Prize winning scoop.

Gurkhas seek right to retire in UK [audio 14min]

BBC Kathmandu correspondent Charles Haviland examines the history and culture of the Gurkhas, who are recruited from four ethnic groups in the Nepalese Himalayas. He explores their combat record in the British army and their reputation around the world. Next Wednesday some three thousand Gurkhas are expected to gather outside Parliament to demand the right to stay in the United Kingdom after retirement from the army.

Examining origins of America's 'Founding Faith' [audio 39min]

Was America meant to be a Christian nation? Author Steven Waldman attempts to answer this and other questions related to America's religious history in his new book, Founding Faith: Providence, Politics, and the Birth of Religious Freedom in America. Waldman is the co-founder of Beliefnet.com, a website devoted to spirituality and faith issues. In tandem with his book, Beliefnet has opened an online archive of historical documents related to the separation of church and state, and religio

History, scope of modern torture [video 17min]

Darius Rejali has been described as “one of the world’s leading thinkers and writers on the subject of torture and the consequences of its use for modern society.” Rejali is a professor of political science at Reed College and author of the new book Torture and Democracy. He is professor of political science at Reed College, and his other books include Torture and Modernity: Self, Society and State in Modern Iran.

Artist inspired by Negro Leagues [audio 8min]

Kadir Nelson's We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball is an illustrated history of Negro League baseball. Kadir wrote the book and created all of the artwork. The award-winning artist talks with Farai Chideya about being inspired by the league's greatest athletes, some of whom he interviewed for the book.

David McCullough: Adams Family Values [video 4min]

The historian behind HBO's mini-series "John Adams" talks about the man and his legacy. David McCullough helped raise John Adams out of the long shadow cast by America's other Founding Fathers by penning his biography which became one of the best selling biographies of all time and won McCullough the Pulitzer Prize. In these clips, McCullough traces his own history from Pittsburgh to New York and tells us why John and Abigial Adams are important enough to get their own HBO mini-series.

Righteous Warrior: Jesse Helms and Modern American Conservatism [video 57min]

In forum at the University of Virginia, William Link presents on his new book, Righteous Warrior: Jesse Helms and Modern American Conservatism. During his career as a U.S. Senator, Helms identifies himself, according to Link, as a key figure in this political revolution. In the outbreak of the Civil Rights movement, this change in the nature of conservatism becomes more defined, as evident in Helms' reaction to the 1954 decision of Brown v. the Board of Education. Following Helms' career throug

Tomorrow's FBI [audio 15min]

Can the FBI meet the challenges of cyber crime, new intelligence threats, and the never-ending war on terror? Award-winning investigative journalist and author Tom Mangold concludes his 10-part series looking at the first 100 years of the FBI. See March 3rd 2008 posting for more details on this series.

9/11 was catastrophe for FBI [audio 15min]

The FBI failed to anticipate or prevent the biggest attack on America of all time, in Part 9 of Tom Mangold's 10-part series looking at the first 100 years of the FBI. Mangold is an award-winning investigative journalist and author. See March 3rd 2008 posting for more details on this series.

The Federal Bureau of Incompetence [audio 15min]

The FBI fails to cope with the high-tech computer age and discovers that one of its own is a traitor in Part 8 of Tom Mangold's 10-part series looking at the first 100 years of the FBI. Mangold is an award-winning investigative journalist and author. See March 3rd 2008 posting for more details on this series.

Modern day sea pirates [audio 23min]

From Black Beard to bandits who trail the coasts of Somalia, Nick Rankin takes a journey through history looking at pirates of the past, present and future. Rankin is Chief Producer, Arts, at the BBC World Service. He also looks at the issue of modern-day piracy, from illegal downloads of music and software to counterfeit DVDs. You could even be a pirate without realising. In Part One - Modern day sea pirates - Rankin travels to Africa to find out how modern day pirates are ruling the high seas.

Iraq war re-inforcing growing Islamisation in Arab world, fostering divisions between Sunni, Shia [audio 23min]

Four leading voices of the BBC's coverage in the last five years (Jim Muir; Magdi Abdelhadi; Lyse Doucet; John Simpson) give their varying assessments of how the Iraq invasion and subsequent insurgency developed, charting the missed opportunities and faulty assessments by the Coalition, and the murderous exploitation of Iraq's post-war frailty by Saddam loyalists and foreign Islamists. They also look at how the ripples begun in the Sunni triangle have since spread globally, affecting the politic

David Levering-Lewis on Euro-Islamaphobia [audio 1st 14min]

NYU Professor of History and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Levering-Lewis talks about his new book, God's Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe, 570-1215, focusing on a period during which"Islam and Christianity uneasily co-existed on the continent just beginning to be known as Europe".

The Mafia and the Mob on Wheels [audio 15min]

With Hoover gone, the FBI finally takes on the Mafia and confronts another mob, the Hell's Angels in Part 7 of Tom Mangold's 10-part series looking at the first 100 years of the FBI. Mangold is an award-winning investigative journalist and author. See March 3rd 2008 posting for more details on this series.

Win Scutt: This Week in the World of Archaeology [audio 15min]

Archaeologist Win Scutt discusses a treasure dredged up from the seabed, which tells the story of early humans living in what was once land off England's Suffolk coast 100,000 years ago; discovery of a Bronze Age tomb, 3000 years old, on a Greek island; archaeologists' discovery of a site under the 4th century BC city of Pella, capital of Alexander's Macedonia, and 1000 years older still; new finds still being made in Rome; and the uncovering of well-preserved remains of the medieval castle in B

London pea-souper kills thousands in 1952 [audio 15min]

Helen Young presents another series of unpredictable weather with its often tragic consequences. In December 1952, a deathly smog descended over London for 69 hours. Over 4,000 people were killed. Young was formerly the Lead Presenter at the BBC Weather Centre.