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Central and South Asia
Walking across the world’s deepest lake
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We’re tracking two Canadian adventurers for our Geo Quiz today. They’re attempting to cross a frozen lake in Siberia. It’s not just any lake – it’s about 400 miles across and its the deepest lake in the world. It’s the planet’s largest reservoir of fresh water. Download MP3
Packing flashcards, Pandas and Polyglotty Olympics
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Our top five language stories this month: why the disappearance of the Bo language is a big deal; the Olympics are being broadcast for the first time in, among other languages, Cree; when pandas move from the U.S. to China, do they have to learn a new language?; lawsuits concerning Arabic flashcards in hand baggage and speaking Spanish in English-only school; and the Pentagon’s latest attempts to equip soldiers with real-time speaking translator-bots.Download MP3
Can genetically modified crops help feed the world?
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Last week India rejected what would have been the country’s first genetically modified food crop, a transgenic eggplant. What does this mean for the future of genetically modified crops in India and other parts of the world? And can such crops help feed the world’s hungry? Talk with biologist Lisa Weazel of Portland State University. She’s the author of Food Fray: Inside the Controversy of Genetically Modified Food, and our guest on the latest The World Science Forum. The discussion is live through February, 19th. Download MP3
Taliban insurgency
Afghan forces will begin taking control of security in some of the country’s provinces by the end of 2010, a key summit on its future has pledged. In a statement at the end of the one-day meeting in London, delegates said the process would be complete within five years. In December, President Obama announced he was sending an additional 30,000 troops to help battle the Taliban insurgency.
Weird words like whiffling, and the elusive meaning of peace
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A conversation with Adam Jacot de Boinod, a seeker of obscure but colorful English expressions. If you read his new book, “The Wonder of Whiffling”, you’ll know whether you prefer to muppet shuffle or dwile flunk. You’ll know if you are a pozzy-wallah. Some of expressions are brand new, others long gone. Also, the meaning of the word peace. Barack Obama was the latest figure to tweak its definition when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize and made the argument for “just war”. Download MP3
Afghan poll hints at growing optimism
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Most Afghans are increasingly optimistic about the state of their country, a poll commissioned by the BBC, ABC News and Germany’s ARD shows. Of more than 1,500 Afghans questioned, 70% said they believed Afghanistan was going in the right direction – a big jump from 40% a year ago. Jeb Sharp talks with the BBC’s Mark Dummett in Kabul. Download MP3 (Photo: Deshakalyan Chowdhury/AFP/Getty Images)
World Books Review: The Birth of Infinity
The contest between French and Russian mathematicians who sought new answers to one of the oldest puzzles in math, the nature of infinity, inspired this intriguing book. The French school chased rationalist solutions, while the Russian mathematicians were reportedly inspired by mystical insights attained through their religious practice, visions into the infinite that led to the founding of descriptive set theory.
Retirement in India
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While retirement homes for the elderly are commonplace in the US, they are a new, and growing, phenomenon in India. Reporter Elliot Hannon visits one of the newly constructed Indian retirement communities to see who’s moving in. Download MP3
Afghan dam project in peril
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Kajaki Dam project in Southern Afghanistan is a symbol of US involvement in the country going back to the 1950s. In recent years, the project has been a priority for international development efforts, but the Taliban insurgency has put the success of the dam at risk. Washington’s foreign aid agency USAID has now put the Kajaki project on hold amid security concerns. Matthew Bell has the story. Download MP3
Fighting the Afghan insurgency
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The commander of foreign troops in Afghanistan, US Army General Stanley McChrystal, says the American military now understands counterinsurgency better than it ever has, and has made it a centerpiece of the new Afghanistan strategy. Reporter Ben Gilbert has been embedded with American forces in Afghanistan. On today’s show he is taking a look at how the counterinsurgency doctrine is being implemented on the ground in Afghanistan. Download MP3 (Photo: Tauseef Mustafa/AFP/Getty Images)World Books: International Reads for the Holidays
“Your Face Tomorrow, Volume Three: Poison, Shadow, and Farewell”: the final volume in Javier Marías’s trio of spy novels extraordinaire is part of World Book’s idiosyncratic round-up of first-rate international literary stocking stuffers.
The voice of North Korea
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Washington’s special North Korea representative, Stephen Bosworth, is in Pyongyang trying to restart stalled denuclearization talks. It’s unlikely that the envoy will meet with reclusive leader Kim Jong-il, as former President Bill Clinton did back in August. But if he does, it is sure to be covered in official North Korean media. And as reporter Jason Strother tells us, there is one anchorwoman whose job it is to report it: Ri Chun-hee. Download MP3 Photo: Reuters
Pakistan mosque attack
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More than 30 people have been killed and dozens injured in a coordinated attack at a mosque in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi, military officials say. Reports suggest there were at least two suicide attacks during Friday prayers followed by a series of explosions. Marco Werman speaks with Saeed Minhas of the State-run PTV News television in Islamabad. Download MP3 (AP Photo: Anjum Naveed)
President Obama’s Afghanistan plan
Special coverage of President Obama’s speech on The World:
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President Barack Obama has ordered 30,000 more US troops to Afghanistan but warned America would begin to withdraw its military forces by 2011. World security was at stake, Mr Obama said in his address to the nation at West Point, calling for more allied troops. Download MP3
Bhopal disaster: 25 years later
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25 years after the world’s worst industrial accident, The World’s Rhitu Chatterjee looks at the legacy in India of the toxic gas release that likely killed more than 20,000 people. Download MP3
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