Boxes of Irish history

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Women and the U.N., comparing economic crises, Bertolt Brecht

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The U.N. General Assembly authorized a new U.N. agency for women last week. We’ll look at the years of advocacy that led to it. The World’s Jason Margolis helps answer a listener’s question about how this economic crisis compares to past ones, especially in terms of U.S. debt. And The World’s Alex Gallafent rereads Bertolt Brecht on the Crash of 1929.

Commemorating the beginning of WW2

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This week’s podcast explores clashing interpretations of what went wrong in 1939. We talk to Holocaust survivors too. And Marco Werman has a musical footnote to our coverage of the history and politics of the African country of Gabon.

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Mikhail Gorbachev sings

He’s been sampled in dance tracks and he’s recorded an introduction to Peter and the Wolf. But former Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev has never sung on an album. Until now. The World’s Marco Werman tells us about Gorbachev’s CD for his late wife Raisa.Listen

Drug cartels and corruption in Mexico

The World’s Lorne Matalon reports on the Mexican government’s battle against drug traffickers and official corruption in the central state of Michoacan. Listen

Gabon’s Omar Bongo

Africa’s longest-serving leader died this week. Omar Bongo ruled for more than four decades and the small country of Gabon must now figure out how to go on without him. He’s credited with Gabon’s relatively stability and yet tainted by all-too-familiar allegations of corruption and abuse. Listen

President Obama in Germany

President Obama was in Germany today where he met with Chancellor Angela Merkel and visited Buchenwald, the site of a Nazi concentration camp. The World’s Jane Little reports from Dresden. Listen

Jobs that women can’t do in Russia

Despite Russia’s constitutional guarantee of equal employment for men and women, there is a list of 460 jobs that are legally off limits to women. Correspondent Jessica Golloher tells us about some of them. Listen

British car history, forgetting Tiananmen and Bohemian National Hall

Journalist and car aficionado Giles Chapman tells the tale of what Britain did to try to stave off disaster in its own auto industry in the 60’s and 70’s; The World’s Mary Kay Magistad explores China’s silence on Tiananmen Square and The World’s Alex Gallafent takes us to a bastion of Czech immigrant culture in New York City. Listen

Green Homes in Canada, and New Fuel Efficiency Standards in the U.S.

Jason Margolis assumes command of the podcast this week. We take you north to Canada to hear about an effort to “green” a million wartime-era homes. Then, we offer a global assessment of the new fuel efficiency standards announced by the Obama Administration. Listen

The Lost Voices of Tiananmen Square

Revisit the events of 20 years ago with James Miles. He was the BBC’s China correspondent back then. He’s put together a documentary that weaves archival tape with present-day interviews. The audio brings back the intensity of the protests and the shock of the subsequent crackdown, and the contemporary reporting puts it in historical perspective. Listen