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This is one of the damaged reactors from the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan. During the past week, the plant has been the focus of global attention, as plant operators try to avoid the release of radioactive material, caused by damage wrought by last week’s earthquake and subsequent tsunami. On this week’s Tech Podcast, you’ll hear a variety of viewpoints on the unfolding crisis. (Photo: BBC screengrab) Download MP3 (24:20)
As Japan faces its biggest crisis since World War Two, here are two takes on self-censorship from those war years. A child survivor of Hiroshima explains why she kept quiet about her experiences for so long, through the pain and guilt of survival. And a Japanese examination of the self-censorship of American newspaper reporters and editors in the weeks after Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[...]
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This week, the US Army charged Bradley Manning with 22 counts in connection with the alleged leaking of documents to WikiLeaks. The new charges include one that could carry the death penalty, although prosecutors say they will not ask for it. Find out more in this episode of The World’s Technology Podcast. (Photo: US Army) Download MP3 (19:33)
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Author Kathryn Schulz likes to call herself “the world’s leading ‘wrongologist.’” Her book, Being Wrong, details the role that wrongness plays in our lives, and how different cultures and individuals deal with not getting it right. In this special edition of our technology podcast, you can hear Kathryn discuss her book. Download MP3 (19:33)
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In this week’s World in Words podcast: why did British band Gang of Four name themselves after China’s notorious cultural revolutionaries? Also, was Hosni Mubarak Egypt’s last pharaoh? Or is that just a cute turn of phrase? And is Cantonese, once the lingua franca of Chinatowns around the world., imperiled by the steady march of Mandarin?Audio 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.
Jawbone is your first clue for today’s Geo Quiz. Not just any jawbone, but a donkey’s jawbone. It’s known in Spanish as quijada or carrichacha. It’s actually a traditional percussion instrument.
The donkey jawbone is usually associated with South American or Latin rhythms. We know of at least 3 countries where this instrument shows up. Geo Quiz: Can you name one or all of them? Download MP3
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Ah, a good old-fashioned wedding, organized entirely via Facebook and Twitter. In a special BBC series, we’ll take a look at “The Secret History of Social Networking.” We’ll find out how social networks got started, and where they might be headed. Download MP3 (27:04)
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“Tea. Early Grey. Hot.” That’s what Captain Picard would ask for, and (usually) that’s what the Star Trek replicator gave him. Well, the Thing-o-Matic’s not quite that sophisticated, but it can print 3D objects. On this episode of The World’s Technology Podcast, we’ll find out if the 3D printing revolution has truly come to our desktops. Download MP3 (22:01)
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In this week’s World in Words podcast, we hear about an initiative in Mali to preserve the Tamasheq language, spoken by a dwindling number of the nomadic Tuareg people. Also, a conversation about the literary merits of the King James Bible, which turns 400 in 2011. And, the R word: rationing. which among some Americans is R-rated when it comes to health care. But in Britain, rationing is part of the national psyche: it got the country through two world wars, and its collectivist values are at the core of Britain’s government-run health service. 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.
In this episode of our Technology Podcast, you’ll hear about some amazing new robotic technologies in Japan. Some are designed to help stroke victims walk again. Others are built to help the blind take walks. We’ll also tell you about mobile banking in Haiti, and Cuba’s own homegrown Wikipedia site. Download MP3 (29:54)
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The tributes poured in after Richard Holbrooke’s death on Monday at the age of 69. His career spanned from the Vietnam War to the current war in Afghanistan but it’s probably true that he will be most remembered for his role in brokering the Dayton Peace Accords for Bosnia. We’ll take this episode of How We Got Here (#56) to remember him and his work and to look back at the end of the war in Bosnia. (Photo: Martha Stewart/Harvard’s Institute of Politics)Download MP3
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In this week’s World in Words podcast: With budgets tight at American schools and colleges, and with a growing interest in Chinese, what happens to a language like Italian? Also, Latin America is livid with the Royal Spanish Academy, which has decided to remove two letters from the Spanish alphabet. And the relaunched online version of the Oxford English Dictionary: now with detailed word histories and sources.Audio 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.
In this episode of our weekly Technology Podcast, you’ll get an in-depth look at the past, present and future of the whistle-blowing site Wikileaks. We’ve assembled a group of respected netizens to help us better understand what the Wikileaks phenomenon, and the backlash against it, means. Download MP3 (32:26)
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Independent radio producer Daniel Estrin gives us the backstories to three features he reported from Germany earlier this year, all of them about history and memory in one way or another. The first is a visit to the newly-opened SS quarters at the Ravensbruck concentration camp memorial. The second is a tour of Germany’s “Central Hiding Place,” a national archive of cultural documents buried in a vault under the Black Forest. And the third is a look at the German practice of recycling cemetery plots. Download MP3
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David Rohde and Kristin Mulvihill speak at length about their new book A Rope and a Prayer: A Kidnapping from Two Sides. Rohde is a New York Times reporter who was kidnapped by the Taliban and held for seven months before he escaped. Mulvihill is his wife. She directed the efforts to secure his release throughout the ordeal. They talk about David’s ill-fated decision to set out to interview a Taliban leader, what it was like for Kristen to find out he’d been kidnapped, how they both endured, what he did to escape, what she did to try to find out where he was. Download MP3
