Roundup

Scotland independence [audio 1st 18min]

Laurie Taylor is joined by Professor Murray Pittock, the author of a new book, The Road To Independence? Scotland Since the Sixties (Reaktion Books), and Vernon Bogdanor, Professor of Government at Oxford University and author of Devolution in the United Kingdom (Oxford Paperbacks), to consider the reasons behind the rise of Scottish nationalism since the end of World War Two and to find out if the next step on the road will be a vote for full independence.

Eric Lane & 'The Genius of America' [video 57min]

Public policy expert Eric Lane talks about his new book, The Genius of America: How the Constitution Saved our Country - and Why it Can Again. Although his book has a contemporary outlook, Lane does consider the historical trends in the developing relationship between the Constitution and the government that it established in 1787. During the question-and-answer session, Lane is prompted to respond to the suggestion that the government as established by the Constitution has similarity to

McGuinness to lead White House delegation [video 2min]

Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness will lead a delegation to the US for St Patrick's Day celebrations at the White House. Junior Minister Jeffrey Donaldson will be joining him in place of the First Minister Ian Paisley. Meanwhile, Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg has confirmed he will attend a major economic investment conference in Belfast. Earlier this month, Dr Paisley announced that he would step down as First Minister and DUP leader after the conference in May.

Ireland celebrates St Patrick's Day [audio 4min]

Parades are taking place at home and around the world to mark St Patrick's Day. For marchers and spectators in Ireland, the weather is forecast to be generally dry though with some rain in the east. The biggest march in Ireland will be broadcast live from Dublin on RTÉ One Television. Up to 3,000 marchers will take part and as many as 500,000 people are expected to turn out to see it. Lead by Grand Marshall Eamon Coughlan, marchers began their 3km journey through the city centre at midday, leavi

St Patrick's Day looms large in US consciousness [audio 5min]

Boston Globe journalist Kevin Cullen tells RTÉ the event still has importance for many Irish Americans.

High-tech hunt aims to find missing Da Vinci mural [audio 6min]

It's one of the great mysteries of the history of Western art: A mural by Leonardo da Vinci that has not been seen for 500 years. The vast painting of the fury of war is said to have been one of the landmarks of Renaissance art. Now, an Italian engineer has joined his scientific knowledge with his passion for art in an Indiana Jones-type quest. He believes the mural is hidden behind another frescoed wall, and he says he can prove it. Da Vinci left copious notebooks and, in 1505, he

Retracing Tank Busters' European tracks [audio 1st 20min]

Sandi Toksvig -- traveller, barrister, raconteur, novelist -- is joined by barrister and writer John Gimlette and US veteran Putnam Flint to hear of a profound war experience and a recent personal return journey. Gimlette is the author of a new book entitled Panther Soup -- a reference to the mud created by tanks and trucks -- chronicling his journey from Marseilles to Austria in the tyre tracks of US Army veteran Flint, formerly of

Living in 'the suspect society' [audio 54min]

The Surveillance Society. The New Authoritarianism. The Age of Paranoid Politics. These terms, and many others, have been used to describe how the political ground has been shifting under us, particularly since 9/11. Terrorism and national security have become obsessive anxieties. Fear and suspicion have become the order of the day. A world-wide initiative has developed that combines a growing machinery of surveillance, assaults on civil liberties and increasing censorship.

European artists in WWII 'exile' in America [audio 51min]

Joseph Horowitz looks at how refugees from 20th century war and revolution in Europe helped transform the performing arts in the U.S. He is author of seven previous books, including Understanding Toscanini and Classical Music in America. His is a former New York Times music critic and executive director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra.

40 years later: Hersh on My Lai [audio 13min]

On March 16, 1968, U.S. soldiers entered the South Vietnamese village of My Lai and killed hundreds of unarmed civilians in what became the most notorious atrocity of the war. Forty years later, New Yorker correspondent Seymour Hersh walks us through the on-the-ground reporting behind his Pulitzer Prize winning scoop.

Gurkhas seek right to retire in UK [audio 14min]

BBC Kathmandu correspondent Charles Haviland examines the history and culture of the Gurkhas, who are recruited from four ethnic groups in the Nepalese Himalayas. He explores their combat record in the British army and their reputation around the world. Next Wednesday some three thousand Gurkhas are expected to gather outside Parliament to demand the right to stay in the United Kingdom after retirement from the army.

History, scope of modern torture [video 17min]

Darius Rejali has been described as “one of the world’s leading thinkers and writers on the subject of torture and the consequences of its use for modern society.” Rejali is a professor of political science at Reed College and author of the new book Torture and Democracy. He is professor of political science at Reed College, and his other books include Torture and Modernity: Self, Society and State in Modern Iran.

Examining origins of America's 'Founding Faith' [audio 39min]

Was America meant to be a Christian nation? Author Steven Waldman attempts to answer this and other questions related to America's religious history in his new book, Founding Faith: Providence, Politics, and the Birth of Religious Freedom in America. Waldman is the co-founder of Beliefnet.com, a website devoted to spirituality and faith issues. In tandem with his book, Beliefnet has opened an online archive of historical documents related to the separation of church and state, and religio

Artist inspired by Negro Leagues [audio 8min]

Kadir Nelson's We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball is an illustrated history of Negro League baseball. Kadir wrote the book and created all of the artwork. The award-winning artist talks with Farai Chideya about being inspired by the league's greatest athletes, some of whom he interviewed for the book.

David McCullough: Adams Family Values [video 4min]

The historian behind HBO's mini-series "John Adams" talks about the man and his legacy. David McCullough helped raise John Adams out of the long shadow cast by America's other Founding Fathers by penning his biography which became one of the best selling biographies of all time and won McCullough the Pulitzer Prize. In these clips, McCullough traces his own history from Pittsburgh to New York and tells us why John and Abigial Adams are important enough to get their own HBO mini-series.

Tomorrow's FBI [audio 15min]

Can the FBI meet the challenges of cyber crime, new intelligence threats, and the never-ending war on terror? Award-winning investigative journalist and author Tom Mangold concludes his 10-part series looking at the first 100 years of the FBI. See March 3rd 2008 posting for more details on this series.

The Greek myths: Soap opera of the gods [audio 43min]

Are you a touch narcissistic? Do you have the body of an Adonis? Are you willing to undertake Herculean tasks or Promethean ventures? Perhaps you have an Oedipus complex? If you answer to any or perhaps all of these, you owe something to the Greek myths, a collection of weird and wonderful stories that, like Penelope’s shroud or the needlework of Arachne, was constantly woven and unpicked across centuries of Greek and Roman civilisation. The myths have a cast of thousands, including mighty Zeus,

9/11 was catastrophe for FBI [audio 15min]

The FBI failed to anticipate or prevent the biggest attack on America of all time, in Part 9 of Tom Mangold's 10-part series looking at the first 100 years of the FBI. Mangold is an award-winning investigative journalist and author. See March 3rd 2008 posting for more details on this series.

Modern day sea pirates [audio 23min]

From Black Beard to bandits who trail the coasts of Somalia, Nick Rankin takes a journey through history looking at pirates of the past, present and future. Rankin is Chief Producer, Arts, at the BBC World Service. He also looks at the issue of modern-day piracy, from illegal downloads of music and software to counterfeit DVDs. You could even be a pirate without realising. In Part One - Modern day sea pirates - Rankin travels to Africa to find out how modern day pirates are ruling the high seas.

Iraq war re-inforcing growing Islamisation in Arab world, fostering divisions between Sunni, Shia [audio 23min]

Four leading voices of the BBC's coverage in the last five years (Jim Muir; Magdi Abdelhadi; Lyse Doucet; John Simpson) give their varying assessments of how the Iraq invasion and subsequent insurgency developed, charting the missed opportunities and faulty assessments by the Coalition, and the murderous exploitation of Iraq's post-war frailty by Saddam loyalists and foreign Islamists. They also look at how the ripples begun in the Sunni triangle have since spread globally, affecting the politic