South Korean Podcast Mocks President

One of the most popular downloads in South Korea is a podcast that makes fun of the president, Lee Myung-bak.

Podcast: Helping Amputees Fight Phantom-Limb Pain

This week you’ll get to meet Katherine Bomkamp, who at the age of 16 was inspired to find a way to help amputees suffering from phantom limb pain. Now she’s 20, and she tells you about the Pain Free Socket. Also, the changing rules of Cyberwar.

Podcast: The Kiira – Uganda’s Electric Car

Stories this week on Uganda’s electric car, Liberia’s new undersea fiber optic cable, and some Nigerians who are recycling plastic bottles into houses. Also, Syrian web monitoring and an app called Instant WILD.

Tech Podcast: Giant humanoid electricity pylons

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In this week’s podcast, Iceland says “nei” to boring electricity pylons. The country’s sponsoring a contest for innovative new girder designs for holding up electricity lines. We’ll hear from one of the finalists, whose design calls for giant humanoid shaped pylons to stride across the Icelandic landscape. (Photo: Choi Shine)

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World Books Podcast: 100th anniversary of the death of Mark Twain

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April 21st marked the 100th anniversary of the death of Mark Twain, an American icon who made an indelible impression on the world before and after his demise. The Library of America has published two volumes that remind us of Twain’s influence on other countries. One is a collection of Twain’s travel writing, featuring “A Tramp Abroad,” “Following the Equator,” and uncollected pieces. The press is also publishing “The Mark Twain Anthology: Great Writers on His Life and Works,” which contains a selection of international responses to Twain, visual as well as literary. World Books editor Bill Marx spoke to the editor of the latter volume, Stanford University professor Shelley Fisher Fishkin, about Twain’s impressions of the world and the world’s impressions of Twain.

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Travel Podcast: Soccer World Cup in South Africa

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Now that the Winter Olympics are over, sports fans the world over are turning their attention to South Africa, and this summer’s soccer blow-out, the 2010 World Cup. In this episode of Talking Travel, Lonely Planet’s Robert Reid and Tom Hall assess South Africa’s readiness to host soccer’s premiere event, and about the unique prism that sports provide for tourism in general.

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• FIFA World Cup Official Site

Talking Travel: Tourism and Haiti’s recovery

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In this episode of Talking Travel, we talk about Haiti’s past, present and future as a tourist destination. Lonely Planet Haiti guide author Paul Clammer talks about just how much the earthquake has affected the country’s status as an up-and-coming tourist destination, and what role tourism might play in the recovery. (Photo: ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images)

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Talking Travel: New Airline Security Measures

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Episode four of Talking Travel explores the confusion surrounding the new regulations for air travelers in the wake of the attempt to bring down Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day. We also explore the cities chosen by Lonely Planet readers as the world’s worst. Wolverhampton, England anyone? Tom Hall and Robert Reid also share stories from their holiday sojourns.

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The World Science Podcast

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Join podcast host Rhitu Chatterjee as she explores some great science stories. In this episode: the United Nations hosts an international climate summit. Meanwhile, the Indian government pledges to cap its carbon emissions, and a scientist says China should harvest its tremendous wind power potential. And we remember a cave-dwelling Italian scientist, and find out about some interesting new research into how monarch butterflies navigate. Download MP3

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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.

A Successor to Kim Jong-il?, and Two American Journalists on Trial in the DPRK

On this week’s podcast, we focus exclusively on North Korea. There are signs that Kim Jong-il may be paving the way for his third son, Kim Jong-un, to take over power. Also, we hear about two American journalists set to go on trial in Pyongyang for entering North Korea illegally. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be in a North Korean prison, then this is the podcast for you. We speak with a former US Navy Officer who spent more than 11 months in one after the ship he was on was captured in 1968. Read more…