Roundup

Shelby Steele on 'White Guilt' [12min]

Author and race relations scholar Shelby Steele talks about his provocative new book, White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era. Steele says since the civil rights movement, the pendulum has swung all the way from white supremacy to white guilt -- a condition he says has been just as harmful to black America.

African Americans Have Longstanding Ties to Derby [4min]

African Americans have a long and sometimes complicated history with the Kentucky Derby says Betty Baye, a columnist for The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky.

Book Examines African-American Derby Winner [9min]

Author Joe Drape discusses Jimmy Winkfield, a black jockey who won the Kentucky Derby in 1901 and 1902. Drape's new book is Black Maestro: The Epic Life of an American Legend.

Madeleine Albright on 'The Mighty and The Almighty' [51min]

The former Secretary of State from the Clinton administration explains why she believes a partnership between religion and politics can be a force for justice and peace. Her new book ie entitled The Mighty and The Almighty (Harper Collins).

Lady Betty, Legendary Executioner [8min]

Did the legendary executioner really exist? The Encyclopaedia of Ireland is an ambitious new publication that offers facts on everything from Bono to the Battle of the Boyne. One of the more unexpected entries is the eighteenth century female executioner, Lady Betty who lived in Roscommon Jail. There are few sources on the life of Lady Betty; the most reliable is Sir William Wilde -- father of Oscar. Lady Betty was known as a cruel and fearful hangwoman who sketched her victims as they we

The Lost Archive of Kim Philby [15min]

Rick Gekoski tells the remarkable stories behind five missing art works. Part 5: Following the death of Britain's most famous spy, Rick sets off to acquire Philby's diaries and effects -- not altogether successfully.

Tennessee Williams Box Set [4min]

Blanche depending on the kindness of strangers; Maggie and Brick trying to get on Big Daddy's good side. Those moments and others are now available in a DVD box set of films based on the plays of Tennessee Williams. NPR's Bob Mondello says the collection is a reminder of the impact that one of America's great playwrights had on Hollywood.

America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq [28min]

Author and foreign correspondent Stephen Kinzer talks about his provocative new book Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq. He asserts that the US-led invasion of Iraq is not an isolated event, but part of a long-standing American tradition of regime change that began more than 100 years ago. Stephen Kinzer talks with VOA senior correspondent Gary Thomas and host Carol Castiel about why and how the United States has deposed more than 14 governments around the w

5 May -- On This Day [multiple clips]

Video and audio from the BBC news archive, WWII and 1950-2004 include 1980: SAS rescue ends Iran embassy siege; 1981: Bobby Sands dies in prison; 1961: Shepard becomes first US astronaut; 2005: Blair secures historic third term; 2001: Sun shines on foot-and-mouth crisis; 1955: Dr Salk promotes polio vaccine in UK; 1967: First all-British satellite 'Ariel 3' launched.

Brunel Bridge [11min @16:40]

The civil engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel was undoubtedly a brilliant designer and fearless entrepreneur. He won the commission in 1831 to build the Clifton Suspension Bridge across the Avon Gorge in Bristol. Critics doubted it would ever be built, but the result was a triumph. Now the Clifton Crossing Competition is being re-staged to celebrate Brunel's bicentenary. Host Quentin Cooper is joined this week by Professor Colin Taylor from the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of B

Soraidh Leis An Ait -- Farewell to the Place [30min]

"Farewell to the Place" is a beautiful lament written in the 19th century by Mairi Mhor Nan Oran -- Big Mary of the Songs. A strong, politically-motivated crofting woman, her influence still resonates today, particularly on her home of Skye. Over the years, "Soraidh Leis An Ait" has become an anthem for the island. John Cavanagh finds out why.

Debating Freud on His Sesquicentennial [4min]

Sigmund Freud was born 150 years ago this week. One of his greatest contributions -- the talking cure -- is used less these days in favor of psychiatric drugs. Commentator Lennard Davis would like to defend Freud, and talk therapy. Lennard Davis is a professor of Literature, Medical Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where is also the director of Project Biocultures.

One Decade Later, Has Welfare Reform Worked? [3min]

It has been 10 years since the Clinton administration, prodded by a Republican-dominated Congress, signed a bill to radically revamp the nation's welfare system. Ed Gordon talks with Diane Dujon, a former welfare recipient and current welfare activist, and Jeffrey Jones, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, about welfare today.

Women in the Life and Work of Samuel Beckett [10min]

Few writers are remembered quite so warmly as Samuel Beckett. The celebrations of his centenary have seen any number of commentators attest to the near-saintliness of his character. But Beckett's relationship with women -- both on and off the page -- was complicated and often very difficult. He had an intense and troubled relationship with his mother, which he described as 'savage loving'. He had numerous extra-marital affairs and as a young man regularly paid to sleep with prostitutes, despite

Judge Sends Moussaoui to Prison for Life [multiple clips]

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema sentences Zacarias Moussaoui to prison for life, to "die with a whimper," for his role in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In response, Moussaoui declared: "God save Osama bin Laden -- you will never get him." ...Visit website for print AP story and more audio reports.

The Lady Vanishes [15min]

Rick Gekoski tells the remarkable stories behind five missing art works. Part 4: How the most famous painting in the world was stolen in 1911, and how the Mona Lisa was eventually recovered.

Muslim Prisoners [30min]

Is prison really the fertile ground for radical beliefs that some would have us conclude? Simon Cox goes inside the British prison system to find out what is really happening to Muslim prisoners.

War & Peace [30min]

If ever a book qualified for the title of being a classic or landmark work of art, then Leo Tolstoy's War & Peace surely fits the bill. his vast novel begins in St Petersburg in 1805 and goes on to describe Russia before and during the war with Napoleon. It has more chapters than there are days in the year and introduces some 500 different characters, including those much loved names -- Pierre, Natasha and Andre. This is a book not only about the lives of these people but about grand idea

4 May -- On This Day [multiple clips]

1979: Election victory for Margaret Thatcher. The Conservative Party wins the general election making Margaret Thatcher Britain's first woman prime minister. Other video and audio from the BBC news archive, WWII and 1950-2004, includes 1982: Argentines destroy HMS Sheffield; 2000: Ken Livingstone voted London mayor; 1966: Doctors and dentists get huge pay rise; 1953: Duke of Edinburgh gets his wings.

Congressmen Look to Extend Voting Rights Act [12min]

Lawmakers introduce legislation to renew the landmark Voting Rights Act for another 25 years. Certain parts of the law are due to expire on Aug. 6, 2007. Ed Gordon talks with Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) and Rep. Congressman John Lewis (D-GA).