Japan’s Non-Nuclear Principles, Revenge in Nigeria, Sargent and Velazquez at the Prado

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On this week’s history podcast we look at the reality of Japan’s “non-nuclear” policy; we discuss the possible role of revenge in the massacre in Jos, Nigeria on March 7, and we go behind the scenes at the Prado Museum in Madrid to explore the relationship between a 19th century American masterpiece and a 17th century Spanish one.

Here’s a bit more detail: Marco Werman interviews Harvard history professor Andrew Gordon about Japan’s acknowledgement that its ban on nuclear weapons in Japanese waters wasn’t always enforced. David Baron talks revenge with Michele Gelfand, a professor of pyschology at the University of Maryland at College Park. Finally, Erica Hirshler, Croll Senior Curator of Paintings at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, tells us how John Singer Sargent was influenced by Diego Velazquez. She’s the author of Sargent’s Daughters: The Biography of a Painting.

Click here for images of the Sargent and Velazquez paintings Hirshler discusses.Download MP3

Installing the Sargent painting at the Prado.