Roundup

North Africa is tumultuous place where the past echoes [audio 30min]

Chris Stewart, once drummer in the band Genesis, now a sheep farmer and best-selling author -- travels from his home in Andalucía along the length of the North Africa shore -- the forgotten coastline of the Maghreb, which has become the focus of European attention once again. Chris begins his travels, crossing the Straits of Gibraltar to Tangier to visit the Pillars of Hercules, pay tribute at the tomb of a great traveller, hear stories of fish that speak and meet people who risk their lives to

U.S. museums cope with art tainted by Nazi looting [audio 6min]

More than 600,000 pieces of artwork are believed to have been looted from private European collections by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945. Some of that art is in the United States. NPR's Guy Raz reports on the quandaries museums face as they investigate claims. Recently, Yale University reached a creative solution with an elderly man over a Courbet landscape valued in the millions.

Ohio State Univ houses nation's biggest cartoon library [audio 10min]

Lucy Shelton Caswell is curator of The Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library -- the nation's largest collection of cartoons -- whose mission is to develop and provide access to a comprehensive collection of materials documenting American printed cartoon art. This includes editorial cartoons, comic strips, comic books, graphic novels, sports and magazine cartoons, but not animation.

History of gambling stretches from prehistoric divination rituals to today's global gaming culture [audio 7min]

Gambling can be found across cultures. David Schwartz, author of Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling talks to Tony Cox about the innate human need to take a risk.

Ex-slave Blanche Bruce was first African-American to serve full term as US Senator [video 55min]

Lawrence Otis Graham, author of The Senator and the Socialite: The True Story of America’s First Black Dynasty is interviewed by Adam Clayton Powell III, director of the Integrated Media Systems Center at the University of Southern California. In The Senator and the Socialite, Graham tells the story of Blanche Bruce, who went from being a slave to becoming the first African-American to serve a full term in the US Senate. The book provides a 3-generation, 130-year view of race and p

WWII French Jewish spy recounts operations inside Nazi Germany [video 83min]

As a member of the French First Army intelligence service during WWII, Marthe Cohn made many covert trips inside Nazi Germany. During this video presentation, she recounts her missions as a French Jewish spy and describes how she disguised herself as a young nurse searching for her fiancé in order to find information about German troop movements. After the presentation, the author answers questions from members of an audience from the Washington DC Jewish Community Center. Cohn lives in Palo Ver

Josephine Baker centenary fêted by Britain's NFT [audio 12min]

This year sees the centenary of the birth of the black American star, Josephine Baker. She was known as the 'The Dark Diva', 'The Black Venus' and 'The Black Pearl', and was notorious for her wild, uninhibited dancing in the skimpiest of exotic costumes -- famously little more than a skirt made from a string of bananas. Born into poverty in the ghettoes of St Louis, USA, she began her career playing to all-black audiences in travelling tent shows. In New York, she was considered 'too skinny and

How did women's lives change in the Renaissance? [audio 9min]

The home played a key part in shaping Renaissance art and culture that equalled that of the court, city and church. And yet the role of the household has, until now, been overlooked by historians. The Italian Renaissance house was a place of powerful aesthetic innovation and cultural change -- especially in the lives of women. From the development of portraiture to glass mirrors, and etiquette manuals to the table fork -- domestic life became much more complicated, and much more beautiful. But h

'Yugonostalgia' takes hold in Slovenia [audio 8min]

This year, Slovenia celebrated the 15th anniversary of its secession from Yugoslavia. The economy is good, and the country will adopt the euro next year. Slovenia has been hailed as the great Balkan success story. But many look back longingly toward the days when Slovenia was still part of Yugoslavia. For those who feel "Yugonostalgia," life felt better in the days of Josip Broz Tito. Visit webnsite for extended report by Amy Standen, photo, extra audio clips.

In 1906, Bronx Zoo displayed Congolese pygmy in cage with orangutan [audio 9min]

A century ago, a Belgian Congo pygmy named Ota Benga was displayed in the Bronx Zoo's monkey cage, an exhibition that outraged black Americans. Producer Joe Richman has this profile.

'I Wish I'd Been There...' [audio 39min]

Pick a day in history -- the day Lincoln was shot, the day Meriweather Lewis stood on the divide, any significant moment -- and imagine you were there. That's what historians were asked to do in the new book, Wish I'd Been There. The book's editor, along with three of its contributors, join us to talk about the question,"What event would you like to have witnessed?" Guests: Byron Hollinshead, editor of I Wish I'd Been There and president of American Historical Publications; Caroly

Foundlings were visible phenomenon in 18c Britain [audio 15min]

"Invention of Childhood" is major 30-part narrative history series exploring British childhood and the experience of British children over the last thousand years, with one 15-minute programme each weekday from Mon 25th Sept for 6 weeks. Each programme may be streamed online for 7 days after broadcast. Week Three -- 9 to 13 Oct: Children in the 18th Century. Episode 11: "Like an Angelic Choir". Michael Morpurgo traces the story of two 18th-century Thomases: Tom Grenville, a b

What is Israeli lobby's influence on US foreign policy? [multiple video clips]

In March this year, the London Review of Books published John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt's essay"The Israel Lobby". The response to the article prompted the LRB to hold a debate under the heading 'The Israel lobby: Does it have too much influence on American foreign policy?'. The debate took place in New York on 28 September in the Great Hall of the Cooper Union. The panellists were Shlomo Ben-Ami, Martin Indyk, Tony Judt, Rashid K

Spanish Civil War volunteers revisit battlegrounds [audio 5min]

Five aging American veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigades are expected at a reunion of the International Brigades who fought in the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s. They will revisit the battlegrounds where they made their ill-fated stand against Fascism. Thousands of foreign volunteers -- or brigadistas -- fought in the civil war, a conflict that presaged the great battles of the 20th century. Only a few hundred brigadistas are still alive, and only a few dozen will be able to make the reunio

Movie recalls north Africans' role in WWII [audio 6min]

A new movie in France tells the story of a long neglected aspect of World War II: the role that North African soldiers played in liberating France from Nazi occupation. The movie has even inspired French President Jacques Chirac to restore full veterans benefits North African soldiers who fought alongside French troops. Report by Eleanor Beardsley.

Luang Prabang is World Heritage Site undiscovered by tourists [audio 1st 14min]

Luang Prabang, is a province of Laos, located in the north of the country. Although it has just two main streets, it contains 33 Buddhist temples, a royal palace and a number of buildings from the French colonial period. The hills around have caves filled with Buddha statues and villages where people have continued to live a very traditional life. Presenter Peter Curran welcomes Denise Heywood, author of Ancient Luang Prabang (River Books, Thailand). She explains why, despite having been

Slave narratives, then and now [audio 17min]

Author David Reynolds talks about the manuscript written by former slave, Harriet Jacobs. Also, Mende Nazer tells her personal story of slavery. As a child, she was abducted from her village in Sudan. Guests: David Reynolds, Distinguished Professor of English, Baruch College, and author of John Brown, Abolitionist: The Man Who Killed Slavery, Sparked the Civil War, and Seeded Civil Rights. Mende Nazer, abducted as a child from her village in Sudan, sold into slavery, and kept hostage in K

Documenting evolution of South Central L.A. [audio 8min]

An upcoming photo exhibition in Los Angeles captures the city's multi-ethnic South Central neighborhood during its transformation over the last century. Farai Chideya visits South Central with Chris Jimenez y West, history curator at the California African American Museum, where the exhibition opens next month. They're joined by Los Angeles Times writer Lynell George, whose article on growing up in South Central will appear in the newspaper's weekend magazine supplement, West.

Thomas Paine biography restores stature of misunderstood man [audio 55min]

The Book Guys -- book appraiser Allan Stypeck and Washington DC radio host Mike Cuthbert -- interview Craig Nelson about his new biography, Thomas Paine: Enlightenment, Revolution, and the Birth of Modern Nations.

Marcus Garvey inspired future black leaders [audio 26min]

What do you know about Marcus Garvey? 1Xtra's Robbo Ranx looks at how he inspired future black leaders like Malcolm X as well as faith groups like the Nation of Islam and the Rastafarian faith.