Roundup

Darwin papers reveal surprising modesty [audio 15min]

One of the most extraordinary literary archives in the world is about to be revealed to the public. The John Murray publishing house saved more than 150,000 documents, manuscripts and letters from writers including Walter Scott, Disraeli, Darwin and Livingstone. Part 2 of 5: One of Murray's most famous authors was Charles Darwin, and the archive includes his original letter outlining the chapters of The Origin of Species. It was a book which changed our understanding of the world, but whe

AK-47 changed face of war [video 54min]

In his book AK-47: The Weapon That Changed the Face of War, author Larry Kahaner traces the rifle's role in wars from Vietnam to Iraq. According to the author, no tool has spread so much raw power to so many people in so little time in the history of warfare. Kahaner is the author of eight books, including Competitive Intelligence, which has been translated into seven languages. He was Washington correspondent for BusinessWeek magazine and also a reporter for Knight-Ridder n

Samuel F.B. Morse led 'accursed life' [video 57min]

Lightning Man: The Accursed Life of Samuel F.B. Morse is Kenneth Silverman's biography of the inventor of the electric telegraph. In an interview from 2003, the author describes Morse as an easily depressed man who dabbled in inventing; and explains that, although Morse's first love was painting, in 1843 he secured funds from Congress to construct the first telegraph line in the USA, from Baltimore to Washington DC. Silverman is an English professor at New York University and winner of th

Stoppard reflects on Cold War Czechoslovakia [audio 30min]

Tom Stoppard's brilliant new play, Rock 'n' Roll, has transferred from the Royal Court Theatre to the Duke of York's Theatre in London. In a repeat of a rare interview with BBC journalist Mark Lawson, Stoppard reflects on the reasons that have prevented him from addressing the country of his birth -- Czec

Dean Reed: The Man Who Rocked the Iron Curtain [audio 17min]

In the '70s and '80s, the LPs of rocker Dean Reed went gold in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and parts of Latin America. He made movies and TV specials and played to packed audiences of adoring fans. In 1986, as glasnost created cracks in the Berlin Wall, Reed drowned in East Berlin, a death that was variously ascribed to the East German secret police, the KGB and the CIA.

American singer was 'Red Elvis' of Soviet bloc [audio 60min]

BBC presenter and comedian Mark Lamarr looks at the life of American singer and actor Dean Reed. Often dubbed the Red Elvis, Dean was virtually unknown in the West but became one of the Soviet bloc's biggest stars. [HNN links a shorter, 17min report on Dean Reed from NPR here.]

Ronald Dworkin debates possibility of democracy [audio 30min]

Sociologist Laurie Taylor talks to one of the world's most eminent legal and political philosophers, Ronald Dworkin. Professor Dworkin discusses his concerns on the current state of democracy, liberty and human rights. What role does dignity play in politics? What are the core values that all citizens share? Dworkin is author o

Munich, Yalta or Cambodia: What year is it? [audio 60min]

If war in the Middle East is a battle for the control of images, right now in the US it's a battle for control of the analogy. Ross Douthat, in an August 2006 op-ed in The Wall Street Journal [available free online here], took on the unenviable task of wading through yards of commentary -- on Lebanon, on Iraq, on the UN, on Iran -- to discover not what pundits think we sh

When chef Anthony Bourdain visited Beirut to make TV travel show, bombs started falling [video 60min]

In July 2006, Anthony Bourdain and his Travel Channel crew traveled to Lebanon. They discovered a beautiful country with proud, generous people and delicious food. However, within 24 hours of arrival, they were suddenly stuck in the middle of an intense and uncertain conflict as Hezbollah and Israeli fighters went to war. Bourdain is and has been a professional chef and writer for more than three decades. His quest for the perfect dining experience w

In footsteps of Tocqueville, Bernard-Henri Levy sees USA from French point-of-view [audio 54min]

Travel writer Rick Steves meets French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, a household name in his home country, where they simply call him"BHL." During the height of recent tensions between political factions in the US and"old Europe," BHL traveled across America, to such places as Savannah, Cooperstown New York, and Mount Rushmore. He met with average Americans of all types, and wrote a book

Hobsbawm, Ferguson, Beckford, Colley & Gopal on 'Empire' [audio 45min]

To mark the end of BBC Radio 4's"This Sceptred Isle: Empire" series, some of Britain's best-known historians examined how Britain and other countries around the world have been changed by their experience of empire. They discussed whether Britain should apologise and make reparation for its imperial past or glory in it, and asked whether the 21st century will see the birth of new empires. Eric Hobsbawm,

To hell in a handbasket -- An 'adult language' lecture on political cartooning, sponsored by the Thomas Friedman Metaphor Illustration Service [video 70min]

This is an unedited video of a lecture given in October 2005 at Columbia University by David Rees -- creator of the clip-art comics Get Your War On and My New Fighting Technique Is Unstoppable -- where"all the gaffes, pretentious vocabulary errors, and moments of naked self-loathing have been left intact." T

The Abbasid caliphs -- When Baghdad ruled the Muslim world [45min]

The Abbasid caliphs were the dynastic rulers of the Islamic world between the middle of the 8th and the 10th centuries. They headed a Muslim empire that extended from Tunisia through Egypt, Syria, Arabia, and Persia to Uzbekistan and the frontiers of India. But unlike previous conquerors, the Abbasid caliphs presided over a multicultural empire where conversion was a relatively peaceful business. As Vikings raided the shores of Britain, the Abbasids were developing sophisticated systems of gover

Henry II's Laudibiliter was as 'sexed-up' as Blair's 'dodgy dossier' [audio 30min]

In the 12th century, England's King Henry II set out for Ireland with a mission to conquer the country and bring it firmly within Christendom. In his hand he held a piece of paper signed by the Pope -- an Englishman -- giving Henry the equivalent of a UN Mandate to invade. Journalist Mike Thomson takes an historical document -- Henry II's Laudibiliter -- as a starting-point to shed new light on events past and present. Thomson investigates claims that this piece of paper was in fact a for

Writer Charles Johnson focuses on what history teaches us [audio 3min]

Charles Johnson is a renowned novelist, essayist and writer of short stories. His novel Middle Passage won the 1990 National Book Award. He is also a cartoonist and a Buddhist (his article"Dharma for a Dangerous Time" appears in the September issue of the Buddhist publication Shambala Sun.) Lately, his own reading has been focused again on what history has to teach us: A Study of History by Arnold J. Toynbee; The Decline of the West by Oswald Spengler; An Outline o

100,000 mementos left at Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall [audio 2min]

The National Park Service has now collected 100,000 mementos left at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. Most have a touching story behind them.

Jimmy Carter's book stirs criticism, complaint [audio 5min]

A new book by former president Jimmy Carter is generating wide controversy. Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid charts the Arab-Israeli peace process from President Carter's time in the White House in the late 1970s to present day. Pro-Israel groups are offended, and say the book is unworthy of a former U.S. president. Webpage includes extended report by Jackie Northam, link to book excerpt.

Music has dominated cultural battleground of America's airwaves [audio 60min]

A century ago, the first radio broadcasts sent music out into the air. Since then, music has dominated America's airwaves and it's been a cultural battleground. Radio's golden age started in the late 1920s. Big networks like CBS, NBC and Mutual armed themselves with the best on-air talent and finest musicians, had powerful allies in Washington, and pushed smaller radio operations out of business. And then in the late 1940s, they just walked away, which left radio wide open for other voices. Duri

War devastates culture; i.e., Iraq, Afghanistan [45min]

On "Night Waves" tonight Isabel Hilton will be presenting a special programme looking at the cultural devastation caused by war. Among her guests will be Donny George, the former Chairman of the Iraq State Board of Antiquities, who was in charge of the museum in Baghdad when it was sacked by looters three and a half years ago. Although many of the antiquities stolen have now been recovered many of the country's archaeological sites are still being devastated by looters. This is even mo

Spies' wives often joined in espionage [audio 45min]

The story of one of Britain’s most unlikely spies is told in a Radio 4 play called Mother Spy. Janet Chisholm was a British Embassy wife and mother in Moscow at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. She was persuaded to use her young children and their trips to the park as cover for her contact with the Cold War's most influential informant. Former MI6 controller, Baroness Park, and former Foreign Office historian, Gill Bennett, join presenter Jenni Murray to discuss the role of wives i