Roundup

What King Really Dreamed [17min]

In this week's opinion page, writer Rich Benjamin explains why he believes the Martin Luther King, Jr. we celebrate today is a diluted version of the man and his words. Guest: Rich Benjamin, Senior Fellow at Demos, a think tank based in New York City focusing on democratic and economic issues in America.

Martin Luther King Jr., Anti-War Activist [4min]

Kristal Brent Zook talks about a little-known aspect of Martin Luther King Jr's persona: his public condemnation of the war in Vietnam.

Manning Marable: 'Living Black History' [7min]

Ed Gordon talks with historian Manning Marable about his new book Living Black History, a look at black history's continuing importance to modern-day activism. Marable is a professor of history, political science and public policy at Columbia University.

King Family in Dispute Over Atlanta Center [4min]

There is dispute at the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta. The board of directors has proposed selling several buildings that make up the center to the National Park Service. Members of Martin Luther King Jr.'s family are divided over the sale.

Georgina, Duchess of Bedford: A Life of Luxury and Passion [8min]

Endsleigh House, deep in the Devon countryside, was built in 1810 by some of England's wealthiest aristocrats, the Duke and Duchess of Bedford. The Duchess, Georgina, lived a life of luxury and prestige at the centre of Regency society. She was doted upon by her husband, who left his family heaped in debt to indulge her whims. But she risked it all for a passionate affair with Edwin Landseer, the most famous artist of the day and twenty years her junior. Rachel Trethewey, Georgina's biographer,

Puppets Through America 2nd of 5 -- On the Air with Martha Deane [15min]

Puppeteer Walter Wilkinson's 1938 account of his adventures in America with his travelling peep-show in the 1930s, read by David Timson and abridged by Roy Apps. 2/5. Wilkinson describes being interviewed, while in New York, by WOR-AM radio chat show host Martha Deane.

The Harry Belafonte Story 4th of 4 [30min]

A new four part series presented by Whoopi Goldberg telling the life and times of the singer, actor, political activist and social historian -- the first person to sell a million albums, the first ever black television producer and the man behind the American Band Aid.

The Peopling of the Americas [30min]

The Americas represented a New World not only to Christopher Columbus but also to his Stone Age predecessors, the first humans to colonise the continent. Until a few years ago, the story seemed clear: native Americans are descended from people who crossed from Siberia at the end of the last ice age, when melting ice opened a route 11 or 12,000 years ago. But there is an increasing body of evidence to show that there were people there before that time, reaching South America 12,500 years ago and

David Starkey on the Emperor Constantine [15min]

Dr David Starkey argues that five major Christian figures distorted, even betrayed, the Christian faith as envisaged by Jesus. Defenders argue back. 2/5. Emperor Constantine.

Puppets Through America 1st of 5 -- Let Us Go To America! [15min]

Puppeteer Walter Wilkinson's 1938 account of his adventures in America with his travelling peep-show in the 1930s, read by David Timson and abridged by Roy Apps. 80 or so years ago it was common to see an itinerant Punch and Judy man performing in the streets, or else pushing his show on a truck, looking for a likely place to set up his little theatre. Such a man was Walter Wilkinson, who travelled about the British Isles with his Peep-Show in the first half of the last century. But Wilkinson's

Queen Victoria's Illegitimate Grandson? [30min]

"The Locock Baby". Following the trail of a possible British royal scandal in a graveyard in Sevenoaks in Kent. Does a family tomb in the graveyard hold the remains of an illegitimate royal child? The answer to the riddle that "Document" explores this week lies in a tomb in a graveyard in Sevenoaks. For two decades, one man has struggled to prove a family legend that his grandfather Henry -- the body within -- was the love child of Queen Victoria's daughter. Nick Locock's att

Partition [29min]

"Sunday Best" rebroadcasts Programme 1 of "Sleeping with the Enemy" from From November 2004. In the bloody carnage that accompanied the Partition of India in 1947, women -- Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims -- were the most vulnerable. As the entire region of Punjab fragmented along religious lines, women were abducted in their thousands by the 'enemy' community. Many others endured extreme forms of sexual violence. Scores of women committed suicide or were killed by their own menfol

Voices in the News [3min]

A sound montage of some of the voices in this past week's news, including President Bush; John Beckman, New Orleans planner; Harvey Bender of New Orleans Ninth Ward district; British Prime Minister Tony Blair; U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice; Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA); Judge Samuel Alito; Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA); Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY).

Martin Luther King, 'At Canaan's Edge' [14min]

In Taylor Branch's history At Canaan's Edge, Martin Luther King Jr. is a citizen of his time. The Alabama peace marches; the Watts riots of 1965; the Vietnam conflict that dominated the late '60s -- King dealt with them all. The first book in Branch's trilogy, Parting the Waters, won the Pulitzer Prize for history. Pillar of Fire, his second installment, was published in 1998 -- it follows the path the movement and its leaders from President John F. Kennedy in the White Hous

Willard Hotel Marks 20 Years Since Reopening [3min]

This week, the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., begins a year-long celebration marking 20 years since the legendary hotel reopened. The hotel has housed generations of Washington politicians, including Abraham Lincoln. Liane Hansen speaks with Barbara Bahny, the hotel's public relations director.

The History of Blacksmithing 2nd of 5 -- Weapons for War [15min]

From the soft metal lances used by Roman soldiers to the hardness of a Samurai sword, artist/blacksmith David Petersen explores one of the blacksmith's main roles in early history the making of weapons.

Hollywood Takes a Trip Down 'Glory Road' [8min]

It's been 40 years since unheralded Texas Western beat powerhouse Kentucky for the championship of men's college basketball. Coach Don Haskins' underdog team started five black players against Adolph Rupp's all-white Kentucky squad. The outcome of the game proved to be an important moment in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Now the story of a coach who won a title and broke down racial barriers in the process is a major motion picture. Glory Road is in theaters around the country t

Oscar-Winner Shelley Winters Dies at 85 [4min]

Actress Shelley Winters, who won Academy Awards for her roles in The Diary of Anne Frank and A Patch of Blue, has died. She was 85. Winters sustained her long career by repeatedly reinventing herself, from chorus girl to character actress. A Short List of Winters' Memorable Films: The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Wild in the Streets (1968), Alfie (1966), A Patch of Blue (1965), Lolita (1962), The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), The Night of the H

The Dream Boats [58min]

This is the story of Liverpool's 'Cunard Yanks', the young men who worked for the Cunard line in the glory years of the transatlantic liners, the 1940s and 1950s. They sailed to New York and came back dressed like film stars, laden with exotic consumer goods and music unknown in ration-book Britain.

Salute to the Armonica [8min @41:00]

Benjamin Franklin invented many fascinating things during his life, including a musical instrument called the armonica. As we prepare to celebrate his 300th birthday this coming week, independent producer Peter Crimmins gives us a primer on Franklin's unique instrument. Followed by Franklin trivia and part of a Mozart piece written for the armonica.