2009 July | PRI's The World - Part 4

Archive for July, 2009

Geo answer

By The World ⋅ July 29, 2009 ⋅ 2 comments ⋅ Transcript

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
The answer to our quiz is the Venetian trader and traveller, Marco Polo. His descriptions of Central Asia and China enthralled readers from the 13th century to the present day.

Write to us

By The World ⋅ July 29, 2009 ⋅ One comment ⋅ Transcript

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
Anchor Katy Clark reads letters from our listeners.

Global Hit

By The World ⋅ July 29, 2009 ⋅ 3 comments ⋅ Transcript

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
The theater piece “Aurelia’s Oratorio” has been staged — and well-received — all over the world since 2003. The World’s Adeline Sire speaks with the star and co-creator, Aurelia Thierree. For more information

Aurelia’s Oratorio

By The World ⋅ July 29, 2009 ⋅ 3 comments ⋅ Transcript

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
A theater performance with few words, magic, and global appeal. It’s called “Aurelia’s Oratorio.” Since 2003, it’s been staged — and well-received — all over the world. Now it’s showing in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The World’s Adeline Sire spoke to the French star and co-creator of “Aurelia’s Oratorio.”

Venetian merchant

By The World ⋅ July 29, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment ⋅ Transcript

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
New York City bookstore owner David Del Vecchio came up with today’s Geo Quiz. And not surprisingly, his puzzler is a literary one.

Banning Hungarian, swearing for pain relief, and dog barks translated

By Patrick Cox ⋅ July 29, 2009 ⋅ 5 comments ⋅ Transcript

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

swear In the latest World in Words podcast, Patrick Cox and Clark Boyd select their top five language-related stories from July. Among them: Slovakia passes a law banning Hungarian in official communications in some of its Hungarian-speaking regions; new research seeks to show why babies and toddlers are so adept at learning two languages simultaneously; the trangressive nature of swearing helps when it comes to tolerating pain; and Japanese toy maker Takara Tomy has come up with a device that claims to translate dog noises into human language. But do we ready want to know what pooch is saying? Plus, our favorite hated words! Download MP3

The life and death of Sitara Achakzai

By The World ⋅ July 29, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment ⋅ Transcript

We hear about the remarkable life of Sitara Achakzai. She was born and raised in Kandahar, Afghanistan, the city known as the birthplace of the Taliban. Sitara served as a local legislator in Kandahar, where she was a vocal proponent of women’s rights. In April 2009, she was shot and killed outsider her home. Photographer Paula Lerner produced this audio slideshow about Sitara Achakzai. >>> Click here to view the audio slideshow

Apollo 11 computers, net cables for Africa, and bamboo bicycles

By Clark Boyd ⋅ July 29, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment ⋅ Transcript

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Finally, Technology Podcast 251 is ready for your earbuds. We have a great line-up. First, we hear about the “beatniks and little old ladies” who, quite literally, wove together the Apollo 11 computer systems 40 years ago. We’ll also take an in-depth look at the undersea fiber-optic cables that went live in East Africa, and how it might affect Internet access on the continent. And we’ll end with bamboo bicycles from Zambia.

Music Heard on Air for July 29, 2009

By Ann Lopez ⋅ July 29, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment ⋅ Transcript

A List of Music Featured Between our reports for July 29, 2009

Albinism worldwide

By Clark Boyd ⋅ July 28, 2009 ⋅ 18 comments ⋅ Transcript

Albinos lack pigmentation in their skin and their hair. It is for this reason alone that albinos have been the victims of mutilations and ritual crimes, especially in Africa. Human rights advocates have documented the slaughter of more than 40 albinos in Tanzania, Burundi, and Kenya. Phillip Martin reports on global efforts to show albinos in a more favorable light. (Photo by Rick Guidotti of Positive Exposure.)

Entire program – July 28, 2009

By The World ⋅ July 28, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment ⋅ Transcript

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
Today on The World: With troops returning from Iraq, the Pentagon struggles with what to do with all the military equipment there; What some human right groups are doing to help fight discrimination against Albinos around the world; and the story behind a massive European project aimed at harnessing Africa’s solar power.

Equipment sale in Iraq?

By The World ⋅ July 28, 2009 ⋅ One comment ⋅ Transcript

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
As security improves in Iraq, the next challenge facing the Pentagon is what to do with all the military equipment the US has shipped to Iraq in the past 6 years. The World’s Katy Clark reports.

New technology in Afghanistan

By The World ⋅ July 28, 2009 ⋅ One comment ⋅ Transcript

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
The American troops in Afghanistan’s Helmand province are employing some new military technology in their counter-insurgency efforts. The World’s Aaron Schachter reports on two examples of the updated technology the Stryker and something called “the land warrior.”

Mourning Britain’s war dead

By The World ⋅ July 28, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment ⋅ Transcript

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
Main Street in the English town of Wootton Bassett, England has become a focal point for mourning British war dead. One of the town’s councillors tells host Lisa Mullins about the ritual that locals observe when the coffins of fallen soldiers are driven through the town.

Fighting discrimination against albinos

By The World ⋅ July 28, 2009 ⋅ 3 comments ⋅ Transcript

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
Correspondent Phillip Martin continues his series on the plight of albinos across many races and cultures. Yesterday he reported on the sometimes deadly prejudice against albinos in West Africa. Today, he surveys global efforts to combat discrimination against albinos.