2009 October | PRI's The World - Part 16

Archive for October, 2009

Middle East Madoff

By The World ⋅ October 12, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment ⋅ Transcript

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The Lebanese have been riveted for the past few weeks by the arrest of a man people are calling the Middle East Bernie Madoff. Authorities say he ran a pyramid scheme that bilked investors out of a billion dollars. The World’s Aaron Schachter reports from southern Lebanon.

London newspaper free of charge

By The World ⋅ October 12, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment ⋅ Transcript

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It was a big day for “The London Evening Standard” today. The newspaper is now free. And that’s changing what commuters hear from newspaper vendors. The World’s Alex Collins spoke with one vendor named Christine at the Temple underground station in central London.

Geo Quiz

By The World ⋅ October 12, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment ⋅ Transcript

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Our daily geography puzzler.

Global Hit

By The World ⋅ October 12, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment ⋅ Transcript

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Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya fronts the trio The Very Best. The band members met in London and first shot to fame via the internet. They remixed versions of cover tunes. Now they’ve put out their first CD of original music. Anchor Marco Werman speaks with singer Esau Mwamwaya.

The Very Best

By The World ⋅ October 12, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment ⋅ Transcript

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We’re saving The Very Best for last with today’s Global Hit. And I’m sure the band would agree. Their name is in fact…The Very Best. The globally minded-pop trio first gained some buzz on the internet.

Pakistan’s reluctant war on terrorism

By Matthew Bell ⋅ October 12, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment ⋅ Transcript

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South Asia expert Christine Fair on Pakistan’s “partial war against terrorism.” Insurgent groups in Pakistan with ties to Al Qaeda and the Taliban are a threat to the government of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and a huge problem for Washington.Download MP3

Music Heard on Air for October 12, 2009

By Ann Lopez ⋅ October 12, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment ⋅ Transcript

Tunes Spun On The Word Between our reports for October 12, 2009. Artists featured are Femi Kuti, Jack de Johnette, Foday Musa Suso, Moriba Koita, John Bilezikjian

Gaddafi’s translator and Nazi slogans in English

By Patrick Cox ⋅ October 12, 2009 ⋅ 2 comments ⋅ Transcript

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In the latest World in Words podcast, the top five language-related stories from the past month. Among them: the sad tale of Muammar Gaddafi’s translator at the United Nations; the quixotic tale of the real estate mogul who is trying to export Korean Hangul script to Indonesia; and a German court’s decision to permit Nazi hate speech, so long as it’s not in German.

Warren Harding’s Love Letters

By Jeb Sharp ⋅ October 12, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment ⋅ Transcript

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wh3 On this week’s history podcast you get the uncut version of Marco Werman’s quite riveting interview with James David Robenalt, author of the new book The Harding Affair: Love and Espionage during the Great War. It’s about President Warren Harding and his long affair with his friend and neighbor Carrie Phillips. One reason the story is so intriguing is that Phillips had strong pro-German sympathies in the runup to World War One and may well have been a spy for Germany during the war itself. The affair is documented in a series of love letters between the two. Harding’s letters are under seal in the Library of Congress but Robenalt, a Cleveland lawyer, got his hands on a microfiche copy. Download MP3

WTP 262: Moon crash, Peruvian fog nets, Nobel Prize in physics, and Trongs!

By Clark Boyd ⋅ October 9, 2009 ⋅ 2 comments ⋅ Transcript

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A listener-centered episode this week. Tech Podcast listener and inventor Eric Zimmerman shares his low-tech solution to a high-tech problem; namely, how do manage to answer your cell phone when you’re eating buffalo wings and your fingers are covered in sauce? Trongs. Also, NASA crashes into the moon (on purpose), and Peru tries to harvest water with fog nets. And, we have a technological nod to the winners of this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics.

Entire program – October 9, 2009

By The World ⋅ October 9, 2009 ⋅ 3 comments ⋅ Transcript

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Today on The World: International reaction to President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize; Also, how city living could help the world’s honeybees make a comeback; And the plight of those people around the globe who are displaced from their land in the name of conservation.

Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize

By The World ⋅ October 9, 2009 ⋅ 30 comments ⋅ Transcript

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Today, Barack Obama became the third sitting U.S. President to win the Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised Obama for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” The announcement drew both warm praise and sharp criticism. We’ll gauge international reaction to the announcement and the World’s Jeb Sharp puts it into historical perspective. What do you think of Obama’s win? Leave a comment below. Download MP3 Photo: White House

Obama win a surprise for bookmaker Ladbrokes

By The World ⋅ October 9, 2009 ⋅ 2 comments ⋅ Transcript

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Obama’s win certainly surprised Britain’s Ladbrokes betting company. They had set the odds for the various Nobel candidates, and Obama was a long shot compared to favorites like Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Colombian senator Piedad Cordoba and Chinese dissident Hu Jia. So what was the pay-out on Obama’s Nobel win? We ask Robin Hutchinson, a spokesman for Ladbrokes. Download MP3

Ladbrokes homepage

Conservation Refugees: An interview with Mark Dowie

By The World ⋅ October 9, 2009 ⋅ 3 comments ⋅ Transcript

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The Mountain gorilla (pictured) is one of the endangered species protected in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. But what about the Batwa people native to that protected land? In his new book Conservation Refugees, journalist Mark Dowie explores how land conservation affects the lives of the people on and near the preserves. Download MP3 Photo: Sabine’s Sunshine

Urban beekeeping

By The World ⋅ October 9, 2009 ⋅ 2 comments ⋅ Transcript

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honey

It’s been rough going for honeybees in recent years. A phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder has been killing them off en masse. It’s still not clear what’s causing the bee deaths. Though there are some suspected culprits: pesticides, parasites and lack of biodiversity. Yet bee colonies are thriving in unexpected places like French cities. Genevieve Oger has more from Paris.Download MP3

Photos
Wikipedia: Colony Collapse Disorder