Roundup

The Death of Queen Victoria [audio 15min]

"Empire" 72nd of 90: Queen Victoria, Empress of India, died on 22 January 1901. The empire was, as one sermon preached ex cathedra in South Africa, reflected, "burying the Great White Queen beloved and revered by races, diverse from our own, within the sway of her sceptre." When mourning finished, that same empire contemplated its own mortality. "This Sceptred Isle: Empire" is a narrative history of the British Empire from Ireland in the 12th century to the independ

New Contender for The Bayeux Tapestry? [audio 12min]

The Bayeux Tapestry is one of Europe's greatest treasures but it has never been proven who actually commissioned the work. Originally it was thought to have been William the Conqueror or his wife Mathilda, though for many years the most likely candidate has been Bishop Odo of Bayeux, William's half brother, who is still favoured today. But now there is a new contender. The art historian Carola Hicks believes that Edith Godwinson, wife of Edward the Confessor and sister of Harold, could ha

Woad • Nova Scotia • Arthur Mee's 'Children's Newspaper' • Oldest Operating Theatre in Europe • Anglo-Norman Dictionary [audio 28min]

Sue Cook and the team answer listeners' historical queries and celebrate the way in which we all 'make' history. 1)"Making History" visited Ian and Bernadette Howard on their farm in Norfolk to find out about the rediscovery of an old industry - the production of woad. 2) Listener Andy Alston contacted the programme to find out more about the wife of an ancestor who was born around 1820 on Sable Island, a crescent-shaped island of shifting sand

Arcadia Publishing: Acquisitions Editor

Arcadia Publishing, the nation's leading publisher of local and regional histories, seeks an Acquisitions Editor to join its Southern Team and work from the Mount Pleasant office. The position entails researching potential new authors/titles, acquiring approximately 30-40 new titles per year for our publishing program, and shepherding authors through the process of compiling a book. Experience in the publishing industry is preferred; strong editing and research skills, a confident phone manner,

Murrow, the Blitz and the Race to War [audio 37min]

Author Philip Seib talks about his new book, Broadcasts from the Blitz: How Edward R. Murrow Helped Lead America into War. The book raises serious questions about ethics, objectivity and detachment. Considering the alternative, was there really a choice? And, given Rwanda, Darfur and the Balkans, what does Murrow's example say about taking sides in journalism?

Elaine Pagels on 'Da Vinci Code' Truths [audio 18min]

Religious historian Elaine Pagels says what is important about The Da Vinci Code is not what the movie got wrong, but what it got right.

Book Chronicles History of Government and Torture [audio 5min]

Alfred W. McCoy's new book, A Question of Torture, chronicles the CIA's development and use of torture since the Cold War. He speaks with Steve Inskeep about the past, present and effectiveness of torture.

Famed Medical Test 'ELISA' Celebrates Its 35th [audio 5min]

Every so often, a new technology completely changes the medical practice. It's impossible to imagine an internist without a stethoscope, or an orthopedist without an X-ray machine. In 1971, two Swedish scientists, Eva Engvall and Peter Perlman, who died in 2005, invented a test that revolutionized medicine. Called the ELISA test, the method uses antibodies to seek out the presence of hormones or viruses. In the past, testing for these was cumbersome and time-consuming. But ELISA tests can be don

IRA Hunger Strike Report [audio 7min]

The World's Matthew Bell looks back on the 1981 prison hunger strikes staged by Irish Republican Army members 25 years ago this month. 10 IRA members who were serving time on criminal convictions died as a result of the strikes. They were trying to force Britain to recognize them as political prisoners.

The Man Behind Hitler Documentary Interview [audio 5min]

Host Lisa Mullins speaks with Michael Kloft, a producer of a new PBS documentary about Joseph Goebbels. It's called The Man Behind Hitler.

Empire (71st of 90) -- The Second Boer War and the Concentration Camps [audio 15min]

By January 1900 the Afrikaners had beaten the British at four battles and had Ladysmith, Kimberley and Mafeking under siege. A new British command under Roberts and his chief of staff Kitchener reversed the defeats and relieved the besieged towns and garrisons but the Boers continued a successful guerrilla war. Kitchener applied a scorched earth policy so that the Boers and local people had no cover and no food. The British also set up some 50 concentration camps. More than 26,000 women and chil

China and Japan [audio 30min]

No country is watching China's phenomenal economic growth more closely than Japan. The most intimate of friends, then enemies, over the centuries, Allan Little analyses the ways in which both countries have manipulated their historical narratives to fulfil their different destinies. With the end of the Cold War, China can no longer rely on Communism alone to connect its vast population. It is turning to nationalism to provide a unifying force. And within that story, Japan has assumed centre stag

Robert Darnton on the Media in 18c Paris [audio 12min @39:20]

Princeton historian Robert Darnton is the author of many books, including George Washington's False Teeth: An Unconventional Guide to the Eighteenth Century. Darnton tells Steve Paulson that people in 18th century Paris spread the news by making up topical songs to familiar melodies, and that the police kept records on everybody.

Jaroslav Pelikan, Christian Scholar, Dies at 82 [audio 3min]

Cancer claims religious historian Jaroslav Pelikan at 82. The Yale University professor wrote more than 30 books and was one of the world's foremost authorities on the history of Christianity.

Occupation of Dublin's St Patrick's Cathedral Ends [audio 7min & 6min]

Authorities at St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin are making preparations for the re-opening of the cathedral after a 6-day hunger strike by 41 Afghan men came to an end last night. The men had refused to leave the cathedral until they were granted asylum. However, discussions between the men and negotiators led to the voluntary removal of all juvenille hunger strikers. Clip 1: Michael McDowell, Minister for Justice, speaks about an end to an emotive and difficult week. Clip 2: Rev David Pierpoint

25th Anniversary of the Discovery of HIV/AIDS [audio 28min]

On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the discovery of the HIV/AIDS virus, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government's top infectious disease researcher, talks with host Carol Castiel and VOA senior science correspondent David McAlary about progress made and challenges ahead in curbing the HIV/AIDS pandemic and how to confront the global threat of Avian Flu.

Should We Think of Them as Clark and Lewis? [audio 6min]

The Lewis and Clark National Bicentennial Exhibition makes its final stop this summer at the Smithsonian Institution's Natural History Museum. Author Landon Jones says Lewis gets the most attention, but Clark shaped the voyage... and the West.

Revisiting Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl' at 50 [audio 7min]

Allen Ginsberg said in a 1985 interview that "Howl" began with another poem. Ginsberg, who had studied at Columbia University, sent a poem called "Dream Record, 1955" to poet and essayist Kenneth Rexroth. "It still sounds like you're wearing Columbia University Brooks Brothers ties," Rexroth told Ginsberg. "You know, it's too formal." So, Ginsberg says, "I sat down and just started writing what I thought about." The resulting rush of violent, des

0º Longitude [audio 15min]

Explorer Benedict Allen heads to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich - 0º longitude - to try to solve the riddles of the world time-zone map. Over 100 years of international political intrigue and manoeuvring have left us with an oddly jagged vast jigsaw puzzle. In 1884 The Greenwich Meridian was agreed on as the prime meridian, centre of the world time zone map, as the globe was divided into 24 convenient, equal-size segments. Who could argue with the logic? But it wasn't long before the map beg

John Stuart Mill Bicentennial [audio 45min]

This Saturday, the 20th May, marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of John Stuart Mill, the philosopher who is perhaps best known for arguing that the state should only interfere in the life of the individual when harm is threatened to others. Paul Allen examines the relevance of this position in an age where some of our greatest problems involve the harm individuals do to themselves.