Ian Rosser
A Musical Take on the Tube: A Dark Song That Shines With Brilliance
There’s a song that perfectly encapsulates the darker side of traveling on the London Underground, The Jam’s 1978 classic “Down in the Tube Station at Midnight.” [...]
New Monkey Species Found in Central Africa
The answer to today’s Geo Quiz is the Lomami Forest, an African lowland rainforest in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) where a new species of monkey called Lesula has been discovered. Conservation biologist John Hart with the Lukuru Wildlife Research Project talks about the discovery.
In London, A Bus That Did Push-Ups
Seeing a big red double-decker bus doing push-ups recently as I wound my way through the London borough of Islington by bike seemed like some sort of weird hallucination.
Is London Heading for ‘Cyclegeddon’?
London hasn’t degenerated into pitched battle between motorists and cyclists as in Toronto. Yet [...]
Best of the BBC: An ex-child soldier in Sudan
Deng Chan, a 15-year-old Sudanese boy, has dreams and aspirations like most other teenagers. But he has a past that that most of us couldn’t begin to imagine. From being stolen by Arab raiders, gaining his freedom and then joining the rebel army, he returned home to care for his large family. Listen to Deng tell his story in this audio slideshow, with photographs highlighting the difficult conditions and environment he lives in every day.
Actor George Takei remembers his internment
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The Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbour led, on February 19th, 1942, to Executive Order 9066 being issued by President Roosevelt. It consigned over 100,000 Japanese-Americans to internment camps. Star Trek actor and Japanese-American George Takei was just four-years-old when he, along with his parents and siblings, was removed from the family home. BBC World Service programme Witness interviewed Takei about the experience. Download MP3
Berlin film festival presents restored masterpiece
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Fritz Lang’s classic sci-fi movie ‘Metropolis’ from 1927 is being shown at the Berlin International Film Festival. And it won’t be just any old showing as The World’s London office discovered. The historic Brandenburg Gate will be transformed into a cinema and the newly restored version played out on a giant screen. The new part of the film had been missing for decades, presumed destroyed, but was then found halfway around the world. Listen to Steve Rosenberg’s radio report and click below to see the tv version. Download MP3
BBC interview with Gil Scott Heron
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American poet, singer, songwriter, author: Gil Scott Heron has worn many hats in his creative career, and ruffled the feathers of many. In the 1970′s he blazed the musical trail with his timeless classic ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ and went on to record and write numerous albums and texts, much of it critical of mainstream culture and society. Heron has a new album out today. Listen to the BBC World Service arts and culture program ‘The Strand’ interview here. Download MP3
‘I was expelled from Afghanistan’
Our senior producer in London heard this BBC Radio 4 interview by Fergal Keane from his ‘Taking a Stand’ series. Keane talks to Michael Semple (pictured), whose ideas while working in Afghanistan, including reintegrating moderate Taliban into society, saw him expelled in 2007 by President Karzai’s government.
BBC launches radio service in Haitian Creole
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The earthquake in Haiti has left much of the population needing access to vital information. Here you can read about the BBC’s newest language section, BBC Haitian Creole, a radio service designed to provide exactly that. Listen to the show’s intro above… Download MP3
BBC slideshow: African elders
The BBC recently asked online visitors from Africa to send in pictures of elders. The result is a stunning slideshow full of pictures like this one. Here, an Ethiopian man meditates by the rock-hewn churches in Lalibela. The photo was sent in to the BBC by Eugene Prahin. Follow the link below to see the entire slideshow.
‘I boarded a plane with an aerosol can’
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After the foiled attempt on Christmas Day to bring down transatlantic flight 253 bound for Detroit, there have been many calls for better safety measures. More careful screening of passengers and their belongings passing through airports was immediately implemented. But as this BBC report from Colette Hume shows, security is still not exactly where it should be. Download MP3
What became of Romanian neglected orphans?
A BBC investigation has uncovered appalling conditions and abuse in adult institutions in Romania, 20 years after the fall of Nicolai Ceausescu exposed conditions in the country’s orphanages.
Death and denial in Nigeria
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A harrowing report has been filed by Caroline Duffield, the BBC’s correspondent in Lagos, Nigeria. The bodies of young men are literally piling up in a hospital in the town of Enugu, and have been for months, it has been alleged. Nigerian police say the men, many of whom are untraceable, were thiefs and armed robbers. But the family members of some who can be identified are disputing the claims. Download MP3
Chile mourns celebrated folksinger Jara
Chilean folksinger and songwriter Victor Jara was reburied in Chile on Saturday – 36 years after his death. Thousands of people joined the procession in Santiago to celebrate the life of this national icon. Jara was an activist and supporter of deposed socialist president Salvadore Allende. He was killed in 1973 following General Pinochet’s coup. His body was exhumed in an effort to piece together the details of his death.
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