Life after Lehman

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The World’s Laura Lynch tells the story of one former Lehman Brothers staffer in London who’s made a new beginning as a designer.

German musings on American capitalism

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Just weeks after the 1929 Wall Street crash, German playwright Bertolt Brecht wrote a poem about the rise and fall New York. It could have been written about last year’s economic crisis. The World’s Alex Gallafent looks at how Brecht’s work hits the mark nearly 80 years later.

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Drought in East Africa

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A lack of rain and political unrest is threatening East Africa with starvation. Kenya is one of the hardest hit areas. Anchor Marco Werman finds out more about the severity of the food crisis there from humanitarian adviser Nicholas Wasunna.

The causes of famine

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Droughts and floods can cause food crises. But so can politics and economics. Reporter David Hecht examines the roots of the 2005 food crisis in the West African nation of Niger and why so many children starved to death despite an adequate harvest.

Norman Borlaug’s life and legacy

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Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Lester Brown, head of the Earth Policy Institute, about the life and career of the late Norman Borlaug. Borlaug was an agricultural scientist whose work developing high-yield crops helped prevent famine in the developing world. That earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. He died this past weekend.

Geo Quiz

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Our daily geography puzzler.

Geo answer

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The answer to today’s Geo Quiz is Queens, New York. That was the location of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s glass furnaces. Anchor Marco Werman speaks with decorative arts specialist Rosalind Pepall about a new exhibit of Tiffany’s stained glass art that’s just opened at the Luxembourg Museum in Paris.

Global Hit

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Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Miami Herald music critic Jordan Levin about Colombian rocker Juanes and his plans for a “Peace without Borders” concert in Havana, Cuba, this weekend.

Music Heard on Air for September 15, 2009

A List of Music Featured Between our reports for September 15, 2009

Stained Glass Extraordinaire

You can see right through today’s Geo Quiz. Your first clue is the artist whose name is synonymous with stained glass lamps. That’s Louis Comfort Tiffany. We want to know where Tiffany crafted his glass art…

Russia’s national lyricist, Canada’s language laws, and the rehabilitation of a code-breaker

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This week, a look back at the career of the late Sergei Mikhalkov. During World War Two, Mikhalkov wrote the lyrics to the Soviet national anthem. Decades later, he composed the words for Russia’s national anthem– to the same piece of music. Also, a conversation with Keith Spicer on Canada’s 40-year-old language laws. Spicer was the country’s first enforcer of bilingualism. Finally, the British government apologizes for its treatment of Alan Turing, who helped break the Nazis’ war codes.

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World Books Podcast: Beautiful Genius

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Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector (1920-1977) looked like a movie star and wrote like James Joyce. Lispector’s face is on postage stamps in Latin America, but her fiction is not as well known around the world. Benjamin Moser wants to change that with his new biography of Lispector, “Why This World.” He argues that Lispector’s Jewishness, along with her concern with the inner world of her characters rather than their politics, has stood in the way of her international reputation. World Books editor Bill Marx talks to Moser about how Lispector’s life influenced her writing, whether she was a magic realist, and why she should be read today. Download MP3

The Reunion: Release of Nelson Mandela

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The BBC reunites the core negotiators and key campaigners involved in the secret talks which ultimately led to the release of Nelson Mandela from prison in 1990. From Archbishop Desmond Tutu to the former head of South Africa’s National Intelligence Service, it’s an encounter which may seem unlikely. But a surprisingly easy-going discussion ensues, in this fascinating piece of radio originally produced for the BBC’s domestic UK audience.Download MP3

Overhauling America’s financial system

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President Barack Obama has called on Congress to approve an overhaul of the US regulatory regime. In a speech marking one year since the collapse of Lehman Brothers bank, he also mounted a vigorous defense of his administration’s economic policies. Marco Werman talked with the BBC’s Economics Correspondent Andrew Walker (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Download MP3

• Latest BBC Coverage
• The BBC’s Aftershock Series
• Audio Slideshow: Lehman’s Last Day

Wall Street still central to global economy

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There’s been speculation that we’re watching the demise of Wall Street dominance, that foreign banks may swoop in and steal business and talent from weakened American banks. Will New York remain the center of banking? The World’s Jason Margolis looked at that question. Download MP3

• Global recession timeline
• Best of the BBC: The Day that Lehman Died
• The World’s Global Economy Podcast