Roundup

David Ruiz, Ex-Con and Prison Reform Activist [4min]

Prison reform activist David Ruiz died recently at age 63. Ben Philpott of member station KUT in Austin, Texas, has a remembrance of Ruiz, who went to prison multiple times for aggravated robbery but spent his years in prison educating himself and advocating prison reform.

The Hollywood Sign Gets a Makeover [3min]

The Hollywood Sign was originally constructed in 1923. After several incarnations, the most recent version has become an unmistakable American landmark. This year the Los Angeles icon is getting a makeover. NPR’s Melissa Jaeger-Miller reports from the precarious hillside scene.

'How did you manage? Well, sometimes I didn't manage' [4min]

"They couldn't take away my dignity, and that's what I held on to," says Moazzam Begg, a British man who was held at Guantánamo bay and who says he saw two people beaten to death by guards.

'We weren't criminals, we haven't done anything wrong' [3min]

Former detainee Ustad Badrauzzaman Badr describes harsh treatment in Guantánamo Bay, saying it would be "intellectual dishonesty" not to tell the world what happened.

David Irving [3min]

The historian David Irving is being held in Austria, where holocaust denial is a criminal offence.

MI6 [4min]

Stephen Dorril, author of a critical history of MI6, discusses the momentous decision to auction the only copy of the letter which led to the foundation of the Secret Intelligence Service, in aid of Children in Need tonight.

Go Tell It on the Mountain [29min]

It was born in the oral culture of African slaves in the American south. It was embraced by the civil rights movement in the 1960's. Today it is a perennial favorite at Christmas concerts and church services across North America. The spiritual "Go Tell It on the Mountain" has come to mean many things depending on the time and place in which it is sung -- freedom anthem, hymn of faith, a simple song of Christmas. As is the case with most spirituals, its music and lyrics cannot be attrib

Living History in Colonial Williamsburg [29min]

Step back in time to the eve of the American Revolution, following a woman whose job it is to play an 18th slave character in Colonial Williamsburg; a woman who must learn, in 2004, to interpret and recreate 1770 slave culture for a tourist audience. The story is told through this character's own narration and reflection, her interaction with other historical characters and with the tourist public in Williamsburg, and through documentation of her daily tasks. As she steps in and out of character

Current Status of US-Turkish Relations [28min]

His Excellency Faruk Logoglu, Ambassador of the Turkish Republic to the United States speaks with host Carol Castiel and Hulya Polat, senior editor in VOA's Turkish Service, about U.S.-Turkish relations, Turkey's bid to join the European Union, the fight against global terrorism, Iraq and Turkey's relationship with its Kurdish population.

Bull Run Regional Library [55min]

The second of two programs from Bull Run Regional Library.

Evangelicals and the New Global Mission: History [13min]

"America Abroad" explores the influence of evangelicals on America’s foreign policy and their efforts to promote an international development and human rights agenda. In Segment 3, Garrick Utley narrates an archival audio tour of the history of evangelicals' involvement in American foreign policy and international affairs, with reflections from Professor John Green of the University of Akron.

Radio Ramadan [29min]

For British Muslims, an increasingly important part of Ramadan is the ability to tune in to local religious radio stations. These stations are given a temporary licence to broadcast 24 hours a day during the holy month. This year there were 36 'Radio Ramadans' around the country - a far cry from when the first service appeared in Bradford in the early 1990s. Mark Whitaker meets the men and women who staffed stations in Bradford, Rochdale and Edinburgh during October, and reports on what Britain'

Biography of a Bomber [29min]

What turns a British-born Muslim into a suicide bomber? Nasreen Suleaman talks to those who knew Mohammad Sidique Khan, the eldest of the July 7 bombers. He tries to unravel the mystery of what turned this well integrated, popular and intelligent young man into a terrorist.

Isabella: The She-Wolf of France, Queen of England, 5th of 5 [15min]

Isabella's son, the young Edward III, is gaining in maturity and influence. But there are rumours that his father, the deposed King Edward II, may not be dead after all. Alison Weir's biography is abridged by Miranda Davies and read by Janet McTeer.

Daughters of Britannia, 4th of 20 [15min]

Looking at the romantic expectations that the Daughters of Britannia had of the countries they went to, in Katie Hickman's Daughters of Britannia: The Lives and Times of Diplomatic Wives.

Family Secrets: Armenian Orphans Raised by Turkish Families after the Genocide [9min @ 1:29]

90 years ago, more than a million Armenians died during forced marches and massacres in Turkey. The dead left many children behind. And now some Turks are starting to discover that people they've known -- close friends, even relatives -- were in fact Armenian orphans who'd been saved and protected by Turkish families. Dorian Jones has the story of a filmmaker searching for the story of one of those orphans: her grandmother.

Gone, in Six Seconds: The Pakistan Earthquake Claimed Hundreds of Years of Glorious History [7min @ 22:15]

In the mountains surrounding the earthquake zone in Pakistan, snow is beginning to settle. In the sprawling tent camps pitched amid the ruins of the October disaster, disease is beginning to settle. The quake wiped out an untold number of lives. That we know. But it also wiped out some history. The Red Fort of Muzaffarabad, for one, stood like a sentinel over the city for nearly 500 years; a testament to the enduring character of those who once lived there. CBC correspondent Laura Lynch walked t

Wax Cylinder Collection [9min @ 14:23]

If you reach back in your memory, you just might be able to remember the L.P. You know, those large discs that people used to listen to recorded music. But the University of California wants to take you back even further in recording history, to the era of cylinders. Wax cylinders were the first commercially-produced sound recordings, and they were popular at the turn of the 20th century. Now, the university's library has digitized more than 5,000 such recordings and made them available on the i

Rumors of Trade of Sacred Spaces [5min]

There is a rumor in Israel that there are discussions underway for a trade of sacred spaces between Jews and Christians. Israel would get a former synagogue in Toledo, Spain, in exchange for the room in Jerusalem where Jesus is said to have held the Last Supper. Whether or not the rumor is true, it's created a furor among Jews, Christians, and Muslims. The World's Aaron Schachter reports.

'Beyond the Mirror' Theater Production [4min]

A joint American-Afghan theater production opens tonight in New York City. It's called Beyond the Mirror. It's billed as a journey through years of war -- portrayed through the myths, memories and first-hand accounts of ordinary Afghans. But the production also has its light moments. The World's William Troop has more.