Roundup

Building work keeps Dublin archaeologists busy [1st 5:30]

Dublin City Council are the first in Ireland to hire a fulltime city archaeologist. Now there can be several digs going on in the city at any one time. New buildings, however, mean that another fraction of our history is lost forever.

Morehouse College to Get MLK Collection [audio 12min]

Nearly a week before its scheduled auction at Sotheby's auction house, the collected personal correspondence of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., was bought by a group of investors and philanthropic leaders to be given to King's alma mater, Morehouse College. Ed Gordon talks to Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and King family attorney Phil Jones about the sale.

The Legacy of TV Hitmaker Aaron Spelling [audio 11min]

Writer Matt Roush remembers Aaron Spelling, who produced a long string of television hits and redefined the way TV is produced.

In 1809 Capt Barclay walked 1000 miles in 1000 hours for 1000 guineas [audio 15min]

Is our current obsession with sporting prowess really such a modern phenomenon? William G Stewart argues that the Georgians were just as likely to sing the praises of men like Tom Cribb, John Gulley and Jem Belcher as they were Nelson, Wellington or William Pitt. Prize-fighters in particular were enormously popular and crowds measured in thousands would turn up to see them in action. The subject of the first programme is Captain Rob

Nina Lugovskaya was the Russian Anne Frank [audio 13min]

Nina Lugovskaya was a Moscow teenager who lived under Stalin in the 1930's. Her diaries, which have recently been discovered in KGB files, are being likened to those of Anne Frank. There's a tragic reason for their preservation. When Stalin's secret police ransacked Nina's home and discovered the journals, they were deemed to be evidence enough to convict her whole family of treason and they were all sent to a Siberian gulag for seven years. Nina's diaries have just been published in English and

Rome revives pagan past with Solstice festival [audio 4min]

A Summer Solstice festival on the Tiber River in Rome revived the spirit of the city's ancient, pagan past. The dusk-to-dawn celebration included a sound-and-light show created by Italian and American composers and artists. Sylvia Poggioli reports.

Arthur Frommer recalls 50 years of international travel [audio 54min]

It's been almost 50 years since Arthur Frommer first published his groundbreaking travel guidebook "Europe on Five Dollars a Day." In the 1970s, Frommer's books helped instruct a young Rick Steves how to travel light, on a tight budget, and "through the back door" to interact with the people and authentic cultures overseas. Arthur Frommer is Rick's special guest as they reminisce and chat about how much international travel has changed over the past half-century.

In footsteps of Tocqueville, Bernard-Henri Levy sees USA from French point-of-view [audio 54min]

Travel writer Rick Steves meets French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, a household name in his home country, where they simply call him"BHL." During the height of recent tensions between political factions in the US and"old Europe," BHL traveled across America, to such places as Savannah, Cooperstown New York, and Mount Rushmore. He met with average Americans of all types, and wrote a book

What it was like to grow up under Communism [audio 54min]

We'll visit with three of Rick Steves' tour guide friends from Eastern Europe. We'll find out what it was like being raised in different types of Communist countries, and how their lives have changed since capitalism was introduced to Poland and the republics of the former Yugoslavia.

For 100 years, Summer Solstice has meant midnight baseball in Alaska [audio 6min @19:33]

For many, the summer solstice signals the start of warm weather and daytime fun. In Alaska, the solstice brings nighttime fun in cold weather. For one hundred years, our national past-time has been played at midnight in Fairbanks, Alaska. But only in Alaska is this possible. Libby Casey of KUAC tells us why.

Dealer stole rare maps [audio 1min]

Rare map dealer Edward Smiley admits to stealing millions of dollars worth of rare maps from libraries around the country. Scott Simon reports.

The Who are 'Live at Leeds' again [audio 30min]

Andy Kershaw takes us exclusively behind the scenes of The Who's return to Leeds University, where their seminal live album was recorded in 1970.

American Lives, American Promise ~ Thomas Paine, Mark Twain, Studs Terkel [audio 60min]

1) Harvey Kaye talks with Steve Paulson about visionary founding father Thomas Paine. Kaye's book is Thomas Paine and the Promise of America. Kaye asserts that Paine made the case for a new egalitarian kind of government. Also, Charles Monroe-Kane prepared a profile of singer/songwriter Neko Case, a country singer who's haunted by the American Dream. Her latest solo album is called The Tigers Have Spoken. 2) Ron Powers is the author of Mark Twain: A Life. He tells Jim Flemin

Sandra Day O'Connor Interview [audio 51min]

Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first female justice, discusses her life on and after the court, and recent comments on threats to judicial independence.

Bank Deal Includes Archive of National History [audio 4min]

When Pittsburgh-based PNC purchased Washington, D.C.'s, Riggs Bank last year, it acquired more than it was after. That's because Riggs Bank was "the bank of presidents," and its assets included an extensive historical archive. Left behind in the Riggs archive are a treasure trove of old ledgers, signature books and personal checks written by some of the 23 presidents who banked there, as well as a number of other men and women who shaped American history. Mary Beth Corrigan is the PNC/

Evangelical: Religious Right Has Distorted the Faith [audio 4min]

President Bush and the Republican Party find strong support among evangelical voters. But in his new book, Thy Kingdom Come, religious historian Randall Balmer says that allegiance is misplaced."I don't find much that I recognize as Christian" in the religious right, says Balmer, a professor of religion at Barnard College, Columbia University and contributing editor to Christianity Today. He says blind allegiance to the Republican Party has distorted the faith of politically active

Springsteen Hits Coulter, Defends Right to Take a Stand on Political Issues [video 2min]

In a recent interview, CNN’s Soledad O’Brien asked Bruce Springsteen about criticism he has received for taking a stand on political issues. Springsteen responded sarcastically, “Yeah, they should let Ann Coulter do it instead.” He added that, "Present company [ie, O'Brien] included, the idiots rambling on on cable television on any given night of the week, and you’re saying that musicians shouldn’t speak up? It’s insane. It’s funny." The Boss's dig at O'Brien went right over her head.

Shell Necklace a Sign of 100,000-Year-Old Culture [audio 3min]

Scientists have found evidence that modern human culture dates back at least 100,000 years. The evidence is in the form of ancient shells collected at sites in Israel and Algeria. The shells were perforated, apparently for use as personal decorations. Archeologists say that suggests people were expressing themselves with symbols - something associated with modern human culture. Jon Hamilton reports.

Bush Sees Parallels: 1956 Hungary and 2006 Iraq [audio 6min]

In Budapest, Hungary, President Bush compares Hungary's struggles under Communist rule to Iraq's recent history. At a speech with a dramatic outdoor backdrop of the Danube River, Buda and Pest, Bush began by commemorating the Hungarian uprising, which took place nearly 50 years ago."In 1956, the Hungarian people suffered under a Communist dictatorship and domination by a foreign power," President Bush said."They called for an end to dictatorship, to censorship, and to the secret police." Robert

Bush Visits Hungary to Commemorate 1956 Uprising [audio 4min]

President Bush is marking the 50th anniversary of Hungary's 1956 uprising against Soviet rule with a visit to the former Soviet satellite.