Roundup

The Elizabethan Beauty Law [45min]

A radio comedy by Lizzie Hopley: England 1587, a year before the Spanish Armada. Nervous new bride Florence Whitsheet is terrified that she won't live up to her husband's idealised image of her and has prepared for the wedding night. But when the love-blind (and highly superstitious) Alistair discovers her fake hairpiece, intimate padding, several layers of face-paint and built-up shoes, he collapses in shock, calling for her arrest. The devastated Flo is visited in jail by the Queen's Secretary

A Sound Bite from 'Streetcar' [90sec]

Marlon Brando and Jessica Tandy took to the stage 58 years ago for the Broadway premier of A Streetcar Named Desire. We hear the two actors in an excerpt from the legendary 1947 production of Tennessee Williams' play, voted the best of the 20th century.

Voices in the News [2min]

A sound montage of some of the voices in this past week's news, including: Estes Thompson, witness to Kenneth Lee Boyd's execution; President Bush; Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI); White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan; and Tom Rosenstiel of The Project for Excellence in Journalism.

When Chamberlain and Russell Collided [7min]

When a young Wilt Chamberlain was to face off against Boston Celtics center Bill Russell for the first time in 1959, one magazine billed it"The Big Collision." Author John Taylor writes about that collision's effects and the early days of professional basketball in The Rivalry: Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and the Golden Age of Basketball. Taylor talks with Scott Simon about the book.

Tracking Ancient Footprints, Human and Otherwise [3min]

New evidence contradicts a British team's claim to have found 40,000-year-old human footprints in a quarry last year. But there is less debate about fossil tracks left by an enormous water scorpion.

Orb and Spectre? The Future of Britain's Monarchy [30min]

What is the British monarchy? Since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, scrutiny of this extraordinary institution has been thought to be distasteful and unnecessary. But the need to think imaginatively about the monarchy is more urgent than it has been. In "Analysis", Richard Weight asks how the monarchy can represent us individually and collectively. Our society changed so much -- with the endemic questioning of the legitimacy of elites and those in authority; the veneration of tr

Thomas Mann's War [30min]

In 1938, Thomas Mann, the Nobel Prize-winning author of The Magic Mountain and Death in Venice, was forced to flee the Nazis and seek refuge in America. Between broadcasts to Germany and strolls along the Californian seafront, the grand old man contemplates the evils of fascism, aspects of which -- ironically -- would soon manifest themselves in America itself. 50 years after his death, John Jungclaussen retraces Mann's physical and mental steps.

Help!

A cri de coeur from a man for whom fame wasn't always comfortable. John Lennon wrote intimate accounts of his relationships and put them to music. Robert Sandall talks to friends and family about one such song and what light it sheds on the man. Part of the BBC's John Lennon season.

Jesus the King -- Emperor Constantine and the Holy Roman Empire [28min]

When the Roman Emperor Constantine had a vision of Jesus just before his victorious battle for Rome it was arguably one of the most important moments in the history of the West. It was the start of the process whereby Christianity would go from a persecuted minority to the official religion of the largest Empire the world had seen. But how did that change Jesus and His message?

Thomas Hobbes and the Political Philosophy of 'Leviathan' [45min]

"During the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called war; and such a war as is of every man against every man". Thomas Hobbes, the great seventeenth century philosopher, was principally interested in political philosophy. For Hobbes, the difference between order and disorder was stark. In the state of nature, ungoverned man lived life in" continual fear, and danger of violent death". The only way out of this"solitary, poor, nasty, b

James Reston, Jr., on 'Ethnic Cleansing' by 15c Spain [55min]

James Reston, Jr., discusses Dogs of God, a study of the late 15th century, the Spanish Inquisition and Columbus.

History of the Potato: Peeling the Layers of a Remarkable Success Story [7min]

A survivor of wars, famines and political intrigue... and more recently the low carb diet frenzy, the potato is such a familiar staple, that we tend to forget its history."Woman's Hour" follows its journey from the mountain terraces of the Inca Empire and introduces some varieties you may not have heard -- including one called"makes the daughter-in-law cry". Guest: Lyndsay Mikanowski, coauthor of Potato (Grub Street).

Pierre Seel, Imprisoned for Homosexuality by Nazis [5min]

Pierre Seel, who was imprisoned in a concentration camp during World War II for homosexuality, died last week in Toulouse, France. Filmmaker Rob Epstein interviewed Seel for his film Paragraph 175, a documentary about the Nazis' treatment of gay men during the Holocaust, and discusses Seel's life.

Boycott Commemoration Continues in Montgomery [6min]

Ceremonies marking the 50th anniversary of the start of the bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala. -- a signature event that sparked the civil right movement -- continued Friday in Alabama's state capital. Leoneda Inge reports on a lesser-known civil rights activist, Claudette Colvin, who like Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a public bus.

Unsung Heroes of the Montgomery Bus Boycott [6min]

Professor Charles Payne of Duke University discusses the unsung heroes of the Montgomery bus boycott. Rosa Parks' arrest 50 years ago for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man may have sparked the civil rights movement, but many others worked outside the spotlight to push the movement forward.

Montgomery Bus Boycott Celebrations [6min]

A number of celebrations will mark the 50th anniversary of the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala., including a re-enactment of the arrest of Rosa Parks and a children's march. Reporter Gina Smith of Alabama Public Radio reports.

Masters of Chaos: The Secret History of the Special Forces [60min]

In Masters of Chaos, veteran journalist Linda Robinson provides an exclusive look at America’s most secretive warriors, the U.S. Army Special Forces and describes their missions around the world over the past 15 years, including their current missions in Afghanistan and their largest-ever deployment in Iraq. With privileged accessed to the closed world of the the Army's elite unit, Ms. Robinson illustrates the operating techniques of the Green Berets, and discusses why they are uniquely s

The Shame of America's "Sundown Towns" [28min @15:10]

Anna, Ill., is a Sundown Town. Until the 1970s signs such as: 'Nigger, don't let the sun go down on you in Anna' were commonly posted at the city limits. "Anna," in fact, is said to be an acronym for "Ain't No Niggers Allowed." Laurie Taylor looks at the phenomenon of 'white only' towns in the US, where the informal practice of barring blacks (and sometimes other groups) after nightfall is astonishingly wide.

London-Area Typhoid Outbreak of 1937 [5min @0:50]

Why was there an outbreak of typhoid in a town that was among the first in the UK to adopt the Public Health Act of 1848? Typhoid fever is an infectious feverish disease with severe symptoms in the digestive system in the second phase of the illness. Classic typhoid fever is a serious disease. It can be life-threatening, lasts several weeks and convalescence takes some time. The disease is transmitted from human to human via food or drinking water, and it is therefore mainly hygiene and sanitary

Pleasure Gardens in 18c Bath [8min @14:40]

"Making History" listener Audrey Wood is a guide in Bath, England. She knows a lot about the history of the city, but there is something that has puzzled her for years. In 1795 a Pleasure Garden was opened at what is now Sydney Gardens. One of the attractions was a maze and, according to maps of the gardens, in the middle of the maze was a swing designed by John Joseph Merlin. Audrey wanted to know more about Merlin and this particular swing. "Making History" reveals the stor