Roundup

One of WWII's Most Secret Diplomatic Missions [audio 30min]

In August 1940, as Hitler prepared to invade Britain, a top secret mission designed to turn the tide of the war was under way. A team of Britain's top scientists and engineers were on their way to America. They carried with them a briefcase containing the UK's most valuable technological secrets -- to give them away. Stephen Phelps tells the story of one of the most secret diplomatic missions of World War II and of the post-War consequences of this extraordinary gamble.

Science, Cities, Modern World Changed by London's 1854 Cholera Epidemic [video 57min]

Steven Johnson bases his new book, The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic-and How it Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World, on a map of a London neighborhood created by pioneering British doctor John Snow in 1854. Graphically marking deaths from a cholera epidemic, the map helped pinpoint the source of the disease outbreak and eventually led to reforms in city sanitation and a better understanding of water bourne illness. Johnson is a Distinguished Writer in

Pop Culture: Old Archives

HereHereHereHere

The Harlem Renaissance, On and Off the Court [audio 8min]

The Harlem Renaissance wasn't just a literary movement. It was also the name of a famous ballroom in New York City's Harlem neighborhood: the Renaissance Casino and Ballroom. The venue boasted a huge dance floor that played host to parties and a famous basketball team: the Harlem Rens, the first all-black basketball team to win a world championship."That was a special aspect of what the Renaissance Casino and Ballroom was all about. They had basketball, sports and music all at the same time," sa

Robert Hanssen: A Brief History [audio 3min]

In 2001, the FBI's Robert Hanssen was charged with selling U.S. secrets to Soviet and Russian sources. Spy Museum historian Dr. Thomas Boghardt reviews the details of a tale of treachery that, in a little over a week, will be re-told on the silver screen in a new film called Breach. Report by Rebecca Roberts.

Delphic Oracle Fueled by Petrochemical Vapors [audio 11min @23:52]

William Broad is the author of several books, including The Oracle: The Lost Secrets and Hidden Message of Ancient Delphi. He tells interviewer Steve Paulson how a multi-disciplinary scientific team recently proved that the secret of the ancient sisterhood of mystics in Greece was that the Temple of Apollo was sitting on top of soil saturated by petrochemical fumes that caused the Oracles to go into trance. And they're finding geological bases to other sacred sites all over the world.

Lincoln, Congress and 'This Mighty Scourge' [audio 5min]

Historian James McPherson examines how Abraham Lincoln overrode the powers of Congress during the Civil War in his new book, This Mighty Scourge. McPherson tells Scott Simon about the repercussions of Lincoln's actions and how they reverberate today.

Irmscher Reveals Longfellow's Domestic Life [audio 55min]

The Book Guys -- book appraiser Allan Stypeck and Washington DC radio host Mike Cuthbert -- interview Christoph Irmscher, author of Longfellow Redux, who discusses the career of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow from most popular poet in the world to being unread.

Iron Curtain Goes Wild, 3rd of 3 [audio 30min]

Writer, historian and television presenter Neil Oliver walks the Iron Curtain from Trieste on the Adriatic to Lubeck on the Baltic. The watchtowers and barbed wire which divided Europe for 40 years have become the world's longest nature reserve. Neil travels through the once divided city of Berlin on the way to Lubeck, where so many East Germans perished attempting the deceptively short swim from East to West.

Remembering Columnist Molly Ivins [audio 19min]

Liberal political columnist Molly Ivins died January 31st 2007 at the age of 62. In her long career, she wrote for newspapers such as The Texas Observer and The New York Times, and her columns were widely syndicated. These interviews originally aired on October 3rd 1991 and October 7th 2003.

Genghis Khan Founded One of the World's Largest Ever Land-Based Empires [audio 45min]

Genghis Khan -- born Temujin in the 12th Century -- was cast out by his tribe when he was just a child and left to struggle for survival on the harsh Steppes of what is now Mongolia. From these humble beginnings he went on to become Genghis Khan, leader of the greatest continuous land-based empire the world has ever seen. His conquered territories stretched from the Caspian Sea to the borders of Manchuria, from the Siberian forest to what is now Afghanistan. He was a charismatic commander and a

Guatemalan Archives May Help Locate Missing [audio 9min]

In rural areas of Guatemala, work is under way to recover and identify remains from mass graves dug during the country's civil war. But in the country's capital city, thousands of people also disappeared. The answers to their fates may lie buried in a massive police archive -- one that wasn't supposed to exist. At a police compound in Guatemala City, each dark room overflows with documents, some as old as 100 years. The national police were believed to be responsible for so many atrocities durin

'Something in the Air' and the Rise of Radio [audio 35min]

In the early 1950s, a young Nebraskan reinvented radio by hiring charismatic DJs to spin the same 40 hits. Radio has never been the same. Washington Post columnist Marc Fisher talks about his book, Something in the Air: Radio, Rock, and the Revolution That Shaped a Generation.

Ancient Village Lifts Some of Stonehenge's Mystery [audio 6min]

One of the most enduring and mysterious monuments in the British Isles is Stonehenge, a circle of some 30 huge stones located 100 miles southwest of London. Until recently, very little was known about the site, except that it was built about 4,500 years ago, at the time of the Egyptian pyramids. Now, new evidence has made Stonehenge's origins much clearer. Funded by the National Geographic Society, archaeologists have uncovered a nearby ancient settlement that once housed hundreds of people -- p

Arrests Resurrect 1971 S.F. Murder Case [audio 5min]

Arrests in a decades-old murder have resurrected memories of turbulent times in San Francisco. In 1971, members of the Black Liberation Army, an offshoot of the Black Panthers, allegedly gunned down a police officer there. Report by Richard Gonzales.

Princess Beatrice 'Suffocated' by Queen Victoria's Grief [audio 9min]

Born in 1857, Princess Beatrice was Queen Victoria's youngest child and her favourite. Beatrice was only 4 when her father Prince Albert died. Despite being so young, she soon became her mother's constant companion. Beatrice spent the rest of her life helping her mother to carry out her royal duties. And, desperate not to lose her, Victoria determined that her daughter should never marry. Matthew Dennison is the author of the first biography of Princess Beatrice, The Last Princess (Weiden

Remembering Fr Robert Drinan [audio 10min]

For 10 years in the 1970s, Father Robert Drinan was a Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts. He left his seat when the Pope ordered priests to leave elected office. Drinan went on to teach law at Georgetown University and write a book about human rights. This interview originally aired on February 4th 1988.

Robert Frost Notebooks Published for First Time [audio 6min]

For much of his long life, Robert Frost kept notes. He jotted down thoughts, both mundane and profound, on pocket-sized pads and in school composition notebooks. One of the foremost Frost scholars, Robert Faggen, has sifted through 48 notebooks that once belonged to the famed poet. He meticulously catalogued and cross-referenced Frost's thoughts on everything from Ty Cobb to Cicero and from poetics to Marxism. Faggen has published many of these insights in a single 800-page volume called The

Kengor Celebrates Reagan's Role in 'Fall of Communism' [video 60min]

Paul Kengor chronicles Ronald Reagan's career-long campaign against communism. The Crusader traces the former president's anticommunist activism back to his days as president of the Screen Actors Guild. The author details Ronald Reagan's role in the fall of communism in a talk at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC. Kengor is a political science professor and director of the Center for Vision and Values at Grove City College in Pennsylvania. He is the author of God and Ronald Rea

Ferguson on 20th Century Conflicts [video 69min]

In The War of the World, historian Niall Ferguson examines the conflicts of World War I through the Cold War and how they influenced the 20th century. He argues that globalization, wealth, and technological breakthroughs led to much of the violence, genocide and fanaticism of the 20th century. Ferguson is the author of several books including Paper and Iron, The Cash Nexus, and The Pity of War. He currently is a history professor at Harvard University, Senior Research Fello