Roundup

India: Dominion or not Dominion [audio 15min]

"Empire" 86th of 90: 1931 is one of the most important dates in the later British Empire. It is the year of the Statute of Westminster, the constitutional instrument by which the self-governing dominions were given legislative independence from the British. India, was excluded because there was an active independence movement, because she shunned dominion status and because Britain had a different relationship with India than she did with the rest of the empire. "This Sceptred Isl

Mesopot: Britain's Post-WWI Nation-Building of Iraq [audio 15min]

"Empire" 84th of 90: Until 1947, the biggest single grouping of Muslims in the world was the British Empire. Parts of the Middle East including Egypt, Sudan, some sub-Saharan African and the Indian sub-continent were all British-controlled territories. India's (then) 80 million or so Muslims recognized the Turkish Sultan of the Ottoman Empire as the Caliph of the Faithful. So millions of Indians served one imperial emperor while spiritually acknowledging the religious lordship of another. During

Tracking Eichmann [audio 3min]

"News Analysis" by Daniel Schorr: In 1960, Nazi official Adolph Eichmann was captured in Argentina by Israeli agents and put on trial. Newly released information shows the CIA knew Eichmann's whereabouts at least two years earlier.

Papers Show CIA Knew of Eichmann's Escape [audio 5min]

Newly released CIA documents show that the spy agency knew the whereabouts of Adolph Eichmann, as early as 1958. Eichmann, who managed the Nazi extermination of the Jews, had fled to Argentina. In 1960, Israeli agents abducted Eichmann and took him to Israel, where he was tried and executed. Robert Siegel talks with historian Timothy Naftali, who has examined the documents. They were among thousands of pages of CIA documents released this week.

La Granja [audio 15min]

A series celebrating visionary gardens of the world. 3/5. Susan Marling travels to Segovia where, in its mountain setting, Spain's most splendid formal garden, La Granja, has been beautifully restored. The garden is now a focus for summer pleasures - music, open air cinema and a great ritual of jumping in all the fountains on feast days.

Humble Cincinnatus, Roman Statesman [audio 4min]

A simple farmer turned general, then dictator of Rome, Cincinnatus was revered for his humility. As legend has it, he gave up all that power to return home. Classics scholar Elaine Fantham discusses the Roman hero with Scott Simon.

Caverns Hold Key to Indian Trust Fund Case [audio 5min]

Ten years ago a lawsuit by a group of Native Americans prompted a judge to order the Interior Department to investigate nearly a century of financial dealings involving Indian Trust Funds. As Frank Morris of member station KCUR reports, the setting for the investigation is a well-guarded cavern beneath the Kansas prairie. The closely guarded entrance to the cavern protects records essential to the trust funds case.

Recovering Literature's 'Lost Books' [audio 6min]

Some of the world's greatest prose and poetry may lie in the ash heap of history, according to Stuart Kelly. In The Book of Lost Books, he describes works by Jane Austen, Aristophanes, Sylvia Plath and others whose bibliographies may be incomplete. ~Website offers book excerpt.

Martin Luther King's Personal Papers to be Auctioned [audio 4min]

Madeleine Brand talks to Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., biographer Taylor Branch about the upcoming auction of thousands of the civil rights icon's personal papers. Many historians worry the documents will become less accessible to the public if they are auctioned off to a private bidder.

High Street Durbars [audio 15min]

"Empire" 85th of 90: After WWI, the colour coding of the globe changed. The Ottoman Empire was dismantled and the rich cultural and economic swathe that stretched from Turkey down through the Levant, Syria, Mesopotamia - what is now Iraq - Palestine, Jordan to the Persian Gulf, was no longer Turkish. The British seemed more conscious than ever that 440 million people were part of the widest spread and most powerful empire the world had seen. Colonies were places from which the British

The Rise and Fall of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi [audio 7min]

Who was Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi -- and what does his death mean for al-Qaida in Iraq? For detailed answers to those questions, Robert Siegel talks with Loretta Napoleoni, author of Insurgent Iraq: Al-Zarqawi and al-Qaida's New Generation and Terror Inc.: Tracing the Money Behind Global Terrorism. According to Napoleoni, the Jordanian gained international attention when Colin Powell mentioned his name before a U.N. Assembly in 2003. At the time he was not a member of al-Qaeda, but it w

The Banned History of Rock'n'Roll [audio 30min]

Pete Seeger and his Weavers allegedly suffered at the hands of McCarthy, The Sex Pistols tried to overshadow the Queen's Silver Jubilee and the Dixie Chicks spoke out against Bush's war on terrorism. Given the fine line between social commentary and propaganda, can music and politics come together without a backlash?

Somalia: Decades of Unintended Consequences [audio 3min]

"Koppel on NPR": President Bush is beginning to discover what his father learned while he was in the White House. Somalia is -- and has been for decades -- a case study in the law of unintended consequences. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union, jockeying for influence on the Horn of Africa, poured weapons into Somalia and Ethiopia. Washington and Moscow now have different strategic interests; but the weapons are still being profitably employed, killing and maimi

Musician Billy Preston Dies of Kidney Failure [audio 4min]

Singer-songwriter Billy Preston has died in an Arizona hospital, ending a long fight against chronic kidney failure. The Grammy-winning performer gained fame working with artists such as The Beatles, which earned him an album credit for the Fab Four's "Get Back." He also played with the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton. Neda Ulaby reports.

Iran and Progress in U.S.-Russia Relations [audio 3min]

"News Analysis" by Daniel Schorr: Observing the recent interaction of the United States and Russia, NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr concludes that relations may have improved somewhat. He says that's especially important with regard to negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.

Rumspringa: Amish Teens Venture into Modern Vices [audio 30min]

When Amish children turn 16, the rules change. They're encouraged to experiment and explore. The idea is that teens will come back to the church after tasting the modern world. For most, this means a tentative foray -- a trip to the local movie theater, or driving lessons. But for some, the experience, called rumspringa, is all about sex, parties and fast cars. Tom Shachtman's new book, Rumspringa: To Be or Not To Be Amish, had its beginnings in the research done for the documentary film

Zenobia [audio 8min]

Zenobia was a 3rd-century warrior queen. She claimed to be a descendant of Cleopatra and, like Boudicca, led her people in a war against Rome. After the death of her husband, Zenobia became regent for her young son, ruling the city of Palmyra, which stood at a strategic point on trade routes between east and west. During her reign, she expanded her domain to encompass Egypt and most of Syria. Renowned for her intellectual ability and physical exploits, she was also a passionate mother. So, what

Amritsar [audio 15min]

"Empire" 83rd of 90: In April 1919 brigadier general Edward Dyer ordered his troops to kill unarmed men, women and children close by one of the holiest shrines in India. The event is still known as the Amritsar Massacre. Hundreds dead. More than 1000 wounded. The Massacre was a British response to the growing sense of revolution in India. The anti-British feeling among Indians extended from the Indian communities abroad - for example, those in California where the Ghadr Party was found

Museums' Storage Problems • Motorcycle Speedways • Domesday & Northumbria [audio 30min]

Sue Cook and the "Making History" team examine listeners' historical queries and gets to the bottom of historical mysteries, local legends, family curiosities and architectural oddities. 1) "Making History" visited Saffron Walden Museum in North Essex to find out more about some of the artefacts held there and the problems the museum has in storing everything, and also consulted Hedley Swain, Head of the Early Department at the Museum of London. 2) Dylan Winter travelled to P

Views of Empire: A View from Jamaica [audio 15min]

In a series examining the colonial experience from the receiving end, poet Valerie Bloom looks at how Jamaicans remember being part of the British Empire.