Archive for 2010
“Rare earth” metals: Supply, demand and recycling
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Host Lisa Mullins speaks with industrial ecologist Thomas Graedel about the sudden interest in “rare earth” metals.China currently controls the global market in the metals, which are crucial for many new high-tech products. Professor Graedel is a co-author of a new U.N. report on recycling of rare earths and other specialty metals. Download MP3
America’s love of “The Nutcracker”
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None of the original artists behind the ballet “The Nutcracker” are American. The music is by a Russian composer. The original choreographers were Russian and French, and the libretto was adapted from a story by a German writer. Yet the US seems to have made “The Nutcracker” its own. Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with Alastair Macaulay, chief dance critic for The New York Times, about the Nutcracker phenomenon in America. Download MP3
Domain name echoes Soviet times
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It has been nearly 20 years since the Soviet Union dissolved, but that hasn’t stopped some Russians from using an Internet domain called .su, which stands for the Soviet Union.The International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has been trying to get it shut down, but to no avail. Jessica Golloher has the details from Moscow. Download MP3
Largest outdoor laundry mat
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Today’s Geo Quiz is for all of you who take your laundry to a laundry mat. We are looking for a place where you will find the largest outdoor laundry mat in the world. Download MP3
Chandrika Tandon’s take on Indian classical music
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Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon is a hugely successful Indian-American business leader who also happens to have a Grammy nominated CD. The World’s Alex Gallafent brings us this profile. Download MP3
Music Heard on Air for December 29, 2010
Tunes spun on The World between our reports for December 29, 2010. Artists featured are Ali Farka Toure, Ry Cooder, Etran Finatawa, Forro in the Dark, Duke Elllington, Rudolph and Blitzen.
Entire program – December 28, 2010
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Regional leaders warn of a possible military intervention to resolve Ivory Coast’s tense post-election stand-off; Also, we hear from former exiles who’ve returned to south Sudan ahead of the referendum there on independence;Plus, why a movie about monks caught in Algeria’s civil war decades ago is a big holiday hit in France. Download MP3
Regional delegation demands Gbagbo step down
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Another day, another attempt to end the tense standoff in Ivory Coast. This time, a delegation of West African leaders traveled to the country’s main city, Abidjan. They told Ivorian strongman Laurent Gbagbo to step down “without delay” or face a regional military intervention. Gbagbo came out the loser in an internationally-certified presidential election but has refused to accept that result. Host Lisa Mullins speaks with former US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Jendayi Frazer. Download MP3
From Somalia to Denver, the long way
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Around the world, people are on the move in search of better lives. That is particularly true in Africa, where a wave of migrants is trying to reach Europe. Despite the dangers, they keep trying – and most do not succeed. Those who do are often on the move for years before they find a place to call home. In the first in a series of reports on nomadic migration to Europe and the United States, Phillip Martin tells the story of one man’s difficult journey to the US. Download MP3Slideshow: Tales of immigration
South Sudan’s returnees
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Decades of civil war in Sudan have driven many people from their homes. But many have returned in recent years,and with an upcoming referendum on the country’s future scheduled for January, more people have headed back so that they can register to vote. Sean Carberry reports on returnees in Juba, the capital of south Sudan, about their lives in exile, and the challenges of going home. Download MP3Slideshow: The Sudanese homecoming
“Of Men and Gods” is French blockbuster
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French audiences are flocking to the cinema this holiday season. The big hit is an art house film that explores religion and spirituality. Of “Men and Gods” won the Grand Prize at this year’s Cannes film festival. It’s since become the most popular French art house film in the last thirty years. More than three million people have seen it. Anita Elash explores why a movie about God is so appealing in a resolutely secular country. Download MP3Video: Watch a scene from the hit movie
Spanair’s media-age marketing coup
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When the Barcelona-based airline Spanair came up with a gift-giving promotion for Christmas Eve, it hoped to gain the loyalty of a few hundred customers. Two days later, more than a hundred thousand people have tuned in to the video, posted on various social networking sites. In marketing terms it’s an undeniable success, and another example of how good luck, good timing and a few adroit online posts can increase publicity exponentially. Download MP3Watch the Spainair video that’s gone viral
Iraq’s sculptor returns
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One of Iraq’s most famous sculptors, Mohammad Ghani Hikmat, has returned to the city where his works from 1001 nights are Baghdad landmarks – the 40 thieves at Kahramana square and the genie emerging from the fountains at the Rasheed Hotel. He left after he was robbed and his son was kidnapped and despite pleas from the city to come back to do new sculptures had been afraid to come back. Jane Arraf has more from Baghdad. Download MP3Best selling book in France
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A political essay by a 93-year-old former diplomat and resistance fighter has been at the top of the best seller list in France for weeks. The essay calls on French citizens to get outraged about social injustices. Anchor Lisa Mullins talks to the author, Stephane Hessel. Download MP3
Remembering Sally Goodrich
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Sally Goodrich has died. She was the mother who lost a son on September 11, the humanitarian who wanted to do good in Afghanistan and the teacher who believed education was the future in that country. Sally Goodrich had been featured on The World, as part of a series reported on by Charles Sennott. Download MP3
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