Roundup

Elisabeth Roudinesco, historian and psychoanalyst, discusses her new book "Back to the 'Jewish Question'" [video 12 minutes, 15 seconds]

Historian and psychoanalyst Elisabeth Roudinesco publishes "Retour sur la question juive" (Back to the ‘Jewish Question’), an inquiry into anti-Semitism, anti-Judaism, and Zionism’s supporters and opponents.

"When FDR Tried - And Failed - To Move Thanksgiving" [audio 3 min 48 sec]

In 1939, the nation was thrown into confusion when Franklin Roosevelt tried to move Thanksgiving back a week, hoping to boost Christmas shopping sales. The move didn't work and Congress moved the holiday to the fourth Thursday in November permanently in 1941. Melanie Kirkpatrick, author of Happy Franksgiving: How FDR tried, and failed, to change a national holiday, published in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal, shares the story.

The History of Splurging [video 4 minutes 32 seconds]

Lee Eisenburg, the author of Shoptimism, thinks even the earliest days of shopping left people feeling guilty.

"Stalin's Legacy" debate stirs strong emotions [video 1 minute, 25 seconds]

Over 100 people attended a public debate on “Stalin’s Legacy for Russia”, which was hosted by independent English-language weekly newspaper The Moscow News on November 16. Strong points of view, both criticizing and praising the Soviet-era dictator, were expressed by speakers and members of the audience, in a passionate, yet civilized discussion – which took place at RIA Novosti’s press center. While some participants argued that Russia would have been better off under the Tsars, others said tha

"Rare Darwin Book Found In Guest Bathroom" [audio 28 sec]

Charles Darwin's revolutionary book On the Origin of Species turns 150 on Tuesday. It's the book where Darwin introduced the theory of natural selection and survival of the fittest. To mark the publishing milestone, Christie's will be auctioning a recently discovered treasure: a rare first edition. It had been on a shelf in the guest bathroom of a family in Oxford, England.

"American as Pumpkin Pie: A History of Thanksgiving" [audio 54 min 55 sec]

When we sit down to Thanksgiving dinner, we think we know what we’re commemorating. But if an actual Pilgrim were to attend your Thanksgiving, chances are he’d be stunned by what he saw there. In this episode, historian James McWilliams discusses why the Puritans would have turned up their noses at our "traditional" Thanksgiving foods. Religion scholar Anne Blue Wills reveals the Victorian origins of our modern holiday, and one woman's campaign to fix it on the national calendar. An a

(The Intervention of) Traditional Family Values [podcast 53 min 00 sec]

California's recent passage of a gay marriage ban suggests that many Americans subscribe to the idea of the “traditional” family — caregiver mom, breadwinner dad, and 2.5 children. But whose tradition is it, really? In this hour, the Guys hear dueling viewpoints — first from Focus on the Family, and then from a Columbia University historian of families. Historian Marie Jenkins Schwartz discusses the pressures and triumphs of enslaved families, and Stephen Talbot, who played Gilbert on Leave it t

US protest by 9/11 responders [2minutes, 34 seconds]

Hundreds of emergency workers who responded to the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States have been protesting in the capital, Washington, DC. They say they are angry that it has taken eight years for the US Congress to discuss healthcare needed for those who have fallen ill as a result of working in the skyscrapers' ruins. Many of those first responders are slowly dying from illnesses contracted at Ground Zero. John Terrett reports from Washingto

"Parking Garages: A Multilevel History" [audio 5 min 48 sec]

Henry Ford was the father of automobile assembly lines. President Eisenhower was the father of the interstate highway system. But the paternity of the parking garage is less clear. Like most inventions, its mother, of course, was necessity. An exhibit at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., traces the history of these ever-present structures that dot the American landscape. While the exhibit doesn't pinpoint the actual birth of the first parking garage, it

Leahy Rubs Sessions' Nose in Civil War Defeat [video 1 minute, 13 seconds]

Sen. Leahy rubs Sen. Sessions' nose in South's Civil War defeat.

Sweden sends back Maori remains [video 48 seconds]

Officials from two museums in Sweden have handed over the remains of five indigenous Maori people to their New Zealand counterparts. The remains include one almost complete skeleton, a skull, and three other skeleton parts. The ceremony was held at the Natural History Museum in Gothenburg. Museums across Europe have been repatriating human remains taken from indigenous burial grounds during colonial times.

"* Share this page using one of the following services: * Facebook * Twitter * Stumble Upon * Yahoo! Buzz * Reddit * Digg What is this? An Unlikely African-American Music Historian" [audio 4 min 45 sec]

One hundred years ago this past Friday, a bandleader named Polk Miller put together an unusual recording session. Miller — who was white — recorded seven songs with a black vocal quartet. These groundbreaking records have been reissued, offering a rare chance to hear an almost unknown part of African-American musical history. But the man who led these sessions was no civil rights activist. Engineers from the Edison company hauled their equipment from New Jersey to Richmond, Va., whi

Harlem vs. Columbia University [video 1 hour, 53 minutes, and 39 seconds]

Stefan Bradley, history and African American studies professor at Saint Louis University, recalls the efforts by African-American students and the residents of Harlem to stop Columbia University from building a private gymnasium and expanding the University's footprint in 1968-69. Mr. Bradley focuses on the residents of Harlem's protest and the radicalization of portions of Columbia's student body, including the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) led by Mark Rudd and the SAS (Students' Af

"The Man Who Made You Put Away Your Pen" [audio 4 min 3 sec]

When was the last time you actually set pen to paper and mailed off a personal letter to someone? It's probably been awhile — and the man to blame is Ray Tomlinson. Back in 1971, Tomlinson was a young engineer at the Boston firm of Bolt, Beranek and Newman — known today as BBN Technologies. He'd been given a task: Figure out something interesting to do with ARPANET, the newborn computer network that was the predecessor of the modern-day Internet.

UK child migrants apology planned [video 1 minute, 29 seconds]

Child migration historian Dr Stephen Constantine says that the Child Migrants Programme was" considered beneficial" at the time but was a serious"misjudgement". Gordon Brown is to apologise for the UK's role in sending thousands of its children to former colonies in the 20th century. The Child Migrants Programme - which ended just 40 years ago - poor children were sent to a"better life" in Australia, Canada and elsewhere. But many were abused and ended up i

Terra Cotta Warriors March Through Washington [audio 4 minutes 58 seconds]

In 1974, a group of farmers digging a well in central China stumbled upon a buried figure. It turned out to be one of an estimated 7,000 life-sized terra cotta warriors in an underground tomb complex. The warriors and a host of other figures were created for China's first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi. Host Guy Raz drops by the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C., to see an exhibit of the figures.

WWI-Era Mass Grave Rediscovered In France [audio 3 minutes 47 seconds]

About 7,000 British and Australian soldiers died in the muddy fields around the French village of Fromelles during the first World War. A mass grave of 250 of those killed in 1916 was recently found near the town. Experts are now trying to identify the bodies and prepare them for burial in a new war cemetery in the heart of Fromelles.

The Silent Generation: From Saipan to Tokyo [audio 58 minutes 16 seconds]

Yesterday was Veterans Day. Today, we bring you Peabody Award-winning producer Helen Borten's superb documentary on the last year of World War II in the Pacific. Here is her description of the piece: "Eugene "Bud" Clark, a pint-sized scrapper from Macon, GA, mowed down Banzai warriors, watched mass suicide on Saipan, and was severely wounded on Iwo Jima. Howard Terry was traumatized by his accidental killing of an Okinawan boy, returned home angry, belligerent and unable to hold a

Corruption Mars Romania's Post-Communist Progress [audio 7 minutes 48 seconds]

The uprisings that marked the end of communism in Eastern Europe two decades ago were largely peaceful in every country except the last regime to fall: Romania. Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's iron-fisted rule ended in a bloody revolt that left more than 1,000 Romanians dead. Today, the country is a member of the European Union, with a solid economy and a passionate, if hectic, democratic life. But Romania continues to be dogged by rampant corruption that some believe is thre

How Did Your Folks Look Before They Were Parents? [audio 3 minutes 48 seconds]

Eliot Glazer, the creator of the popular photo blog myparentswereawesome.com, speaks to host Michele Norris about his blog's mission to highlight the time "before the fanny packs and Andrea Bocelli concerts," when parents "were once free-wheeling, fashion-forward and super-awesome."