Roundup

A Symbol of Britishness [30min]

What is Britishness? What are the ingredients that bind the inhabitants of these islands together? It's a question that's taken on a new political urgency recently with Gordon Brown speaking out about a need to find new symbols for our national identity, while the London bombings last year cast a shadow over the comfortable belief in a contentedly multi-cultural Britain. Jonathan Freedland discovers that agonising over Britishness is as old as Britain itself, and trying to pin down a symbol for

Report: Bush Determined to Go to War, Despite Evidence [5min]

How long was the Bush administration planning on war with Iraq, and how much did weapons of mass destruction matter? The New York Times reports Monday that a confidential memo detailing a conversation between President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair shows the president was determined to go to war with Iraq even without evidence of weapons of mass destruction. Madeleine Brand speaks with British lawyer Phillipe Sands, who wrote about the memo in his book, Lawless World.

Vichy Collaborators [9min @22:10]

Writer and critic Carmen Callil, founder of Virago Press, joins a 45min roundtable discussion on gender politics, Paul Gauguin and Vincent Van Gogh, and the legacy of Modernism, to discuss Nazi collaborators in the Vichy government. Her book Bad Faith: A Forgotten History of Family and Fatherland (Jonathan Cape) tells the story of the Nazi collaborator Louis Darquier, a villain and conman who managed the Vichy government's dirty work, 'controlling' its Jewish population as 'Commissioner f

Early Christian Texts [9min @13:20]

Karen King is a historian at the Harvard Divinity School. Her books include The Secret Revelation of John and What Is Gnosticism? Kind tells Anne Strainchamps that there are many early Christian texts that didn't make it into the Bible and that they give us a much fuller understanding of what it means to be a Christian.

Buck Owens Stayed True to His 'Bakersfield Sound' [3min]

Buck Owens had an impact on country music that goes beyond his many hits or his TV time on Hee Haw. He created the "Bakersfield Sound," challenging Nashville's dominance on the country landscape.

Robert Fisk [54min]

He is controversial, outspoken and always draws a crowd. Journalist Robert Fisk has spent over 30 years in the Middle East. He's covered the Lebanese civil war, the Iranian Revolution, Iran-Iraq wars, the Gulf Wars, Afghanistan and the current conflict in Iraq. He says he's met Osama Bin Laden three times. Fisk is more determined than ever to prosecute a case against the injustices of the west against the Arab and Muslim world. Agree with him or not, his presentations are suffused with passionat

'Federal Register' Marks 70th Anniversary [4min]

When the federal government lost a lawsuit because it couldn't find a law on the books, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis took action. The Federal Register was born, 70 years ago this month. Register director Ray Mosley chats with Debbie Elliott.

The Royal Society -- The First Club for Experimental Science [45min]

The natural philosopher Francis Bacon heralded the new age of science. The frontispiece to his 1620 edition of the Instauratio Magna depicted a galleon travelling between the metaphorical pillars of Hercules thought to lie at the Strait of Gibraltar and believed to mark the end of the known world. The image encapsulated Bacon's desire to sail beyond the limits set by Aristotle and the curriculum of the Ancient universities towards the new continent of science. Bacon imagined practical sci

The New Enlightenment [30min]

The role of religion in society has emerged as one of the key political issues of the beginning of the 21st century. From Islamist terror attacks to religious hatred laws in the UK, from the increased visibility of the Christian right in the US to the riots in Paris this summer, the question of the changing relationship between the secular state and faith has become central to political debate. Laurie Taylor is joined by Stephen Bronner, Professor of Political Science, Rutgers University, and Jo

Kevin Phillips: 'American Theocracy' [51min]

In American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century, former Republican strategist Kevin Phillips writes about the intersection of religion, oil, politics and money and what it means for the future of the country. Phillips is author of American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush (Viking) and Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich (Broadway).

Radical Islam Is the New Totalitarianism [4min]

The third anniversary of the U.S.-led war in Iraq has focused attention on postwar planning, the withdrawal of U.S. troops, and the possibilities of civil war. Commentator Joe Loconte says these issues shouldn't distract our attention from the horrifying vision of radical Islam.

POWs of WWII Japan [30min]

Andy Coogan was a Japanese POW for over three years, and Harry Duffus was an officer in the Canadian centre that received the men who survived the camps. Moving stories of fortitude, brutality and towering humanity. Billy Kay traces the often surprising roots and history of Scotland's local communities.

Knights Templar Inspires Trio of Best-Selling Books [4min]

The Knights Templar, a Crusades-era group of Christian monks turned soldiers, have inspired a trio of current best-selling books -- The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury, The Templar Legacy by Steve Barry and the ubiquitous best-seller The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Alex Chadwick discusses the literary fascination with the Knights Templar with Laura Miller, book critic for Salon.com.

Georgia Eyes High-School Bible-History Classes [4min]

Georgia lawmakers are expected to pass a bill authorizing a Bible literacy class in public high schools. The class, "History and Literature of the Old and New Testament," will be taught with the Bible as the text. The bill does not require that schools teach the course, or that students take it. Emily Kopp of Georgia Public Broadcasting reports.

Roller Derby Queen was Best Bad Girl in Sports [4min]

Commentator Frank Deford remembers one of his favorite athletes: roller derby legend Ann Calvello. Calvello was known as the bad girl of the roller derby circuit. She died last week of cancer.

Historic Recordings Tell Clawhammer Banjo History [9min]

Forty years ago, a young man named Charles Faurot traveled from New York City to southwestern Virginia looking for older traditional banjo players to record for a tiny country-music record label. He found them and eventually produced three LPs of raw, intense mountain music. The records became the subjects of near cult-like devotion among a generation of younger players from around the world. One of them was NPR newscaster and reporter Paul Brown. The records are back out, on CD, with additional

A Short History of Presidential Censure [11min]

A look at the political history of efforts to censure the president. Guest: H.W. Brands, Dickson Allen Anderson Centennial professor of history at the University of Texas.

Exploring Broadway's Early Irish Period [21min]

Singer, musician and folklorist Mick Moloney's new album, McNally's Row of Flats, centers on theater songs by an Irish songwriting team from the late 1800s. In those days, Vaudeville and minstrelsy were giving way to American Musical Theater in New York City. The Irish team consisted of actor and writer Ed Harrigan and musician David Braham, both acclaimed performers of the early Great White Way. The songs on Moloney's CD range from"Dad's Dinner Pail" to"I Never Drink Behind the Bar." It

A Political Warning Shot: 'American Theocracy' [21min]

Kevin Phillips rose to prominence on the heels of Richard Nixon's political triumphs. His 1969 book The Emerging Republican Majority was hailed as a visionary work of political analysis. But his new book, American Theocracy, argues that the Republican Party -- and the country -- is headed for disaster. Subtitled"The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century," American Theocracy puts the trials of modern America into the context of other gre

History of American Vaudeville 3rd of 3 [30min]

A look at how some of the finest vaudeville theatres reinvented themselves in order to survive after vaudeville itself withered and died in the 1930s. The Boston Opera House, the Orpheum in Memphis, and the Pantages in Minneapolis are now flourishing theatrical and musical venues, but it took millions of dollars of investment and many long years of painstaking restoration and rebuilding, as well as a change of attitude towards the preservation of the past. Geoffrey Wheeler's series about the his