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No, this is not an exclusive screenshot from the new iPad. In fact, this episode has absolutely nothing in it about Apple’s shiny new gadget. This is, in fact, the first “screengrab” from John Logie Baird’s “televisor.” Find out all about it in this week’s episode. Also, we hear about Internet connectivity in Nigeria and Finland.
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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
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The U.S. recession is over! (Technically speaking by one measure.) That’s because the nation’s gross domestic product is back in positive territory. But for the 10 percent of Americans who are out looking for work, it sure doesn’t feel like much of an economic recovery. Should GDP be the bar by which we judge economic health? And what about measuring a nation’s economic prowess by Big Mac sales? Many have argued that the mark of economic progress, or the triumph of American capitalism depending on your vantage, is when a nation serves up McDonald’s. By that argument, what does it say about a nation when its golden arches disappear?
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Mr. Bigg’s is the largest fast food chain in Africa’s most populous country. This Nigerian chain, loosely modeled on McDonald’s, offers hamburgers and French fries as well as local fare. But running a fast food operation is no easy feat in a country beset by mismanagement, corruption, and a lack of infrastructure. David Hecht reports. (Photo: David Hecht) Download MP3
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Famines often occur during times of drought, but their causes go much deeper than a lack of rain. With East Africa now facing widespread hunger, we look back at a major food crisis that struck the Western African nation of Niger in 2005. Reporter David Hecht examines the roots of that crisis and finds some of them stretching across Niger’s border, to the neighboring country of Nigeria. Download MP3Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
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This week’s podcast features a geek’s audio tribute to John Hughes, the late director of “Weird Science.” Also, we talk about a project to make thousand mile sand dunes with the help of bacteria. And we hear about the solar suitcase, a toolbox designed to greatly improve maternal care in the developing world.
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The oil company Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to settle a lawsuit accusing the company of human rights abuses in Nigeria. Shell is paying out 15.5 million dollars to relatives of the Nigerian writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and others executed in 1995. The lawsuit claimed Shell was complicit in their deaths, though Shell did not admit responsibility. Anchor Marco Werman finds out more from Darren Kew, Assistant Professor in the Department of Conflict Resolution at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. Listen
We’re heading for the streets of an African mega-city.
People there refer to the perennial traffic jams as “go-slows.”
This is a chaotic city with a population of somewhere between 12 and 18 million people.
It’s in Nigeria, but it’s not Nigeria’s capital. That would be Abuja.

Finally today, Nigeria’s biggest city is a good place to be if you’re into music. The World’s Marco Werman is there to visit some of the city’s famous music venues. Which means he’s perfectly placed to give us the answer to our Geo Quiz today.
You are listening to a concert at the famous New Afrika Shrine in the large subcity of Ikeja in Lagos, Nigeria. I actually went back to the shrine on Saturday night for a concert by Fela’s youngest son, Seun, performing with his father’s band, the Egypt 80. We can hear what that sounds like if you want, this is an excerpt of a song that Seun wrote called Na Oil. Listen to the intro, and you’ll hear the political content and how Seun doesn’t fall far at all from the tree that was his father.
Basically, Seun’s song is bemoaning how oil production in Nigeria benefits few of the millions of people here…corruption is rampant. Things his father used to sing about, although the oil issues have become more acute.
The shrine not very crowded, the audience is even falling asleep. Most of the music is either r&b, hip hop or religious, evangelical themed stuff and it’s hard to imagine why the millions of poor in Lagos don’t want