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Saturday, April 02, 2005
Vatican Radio on the death of the Pope
At 9.37pm tonight, Italian time, Karol Jozef Wojtyla died at the age of 84, after 26 years as Pope John-Paul II. Here it is from the horse's mouth.
Friday, April 01, 2005
Prince Charles' gaff
Here's the comment by Prince Charles on the Klosters ski slopes that provoked further comment on how out of touch he is these days. 'I hate doing this. Bloody people. I can't bear that man anyway. He's so awful, he really is. I hate these people', he said about Nicholas Witchell. Charles then muttered: "What do we do?" - son William replied: "Keep smiling, keep smiling."
Thursday, March 31, 2005
A white Mugabe supporter
It's election day in Zimbabwe. Here's an unusual viewpoint from a white farmer on the telephone to BBC Radio 2's Jeremy Vine show (this week hosted by Fi Glover).Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Yoko Ono at 72
Yoko Ono, widow of Beatle John Lennon, gives her side of the story about the break-up of the group and the claims that she was to blame. She talks to Heather Payton on Outlook, from the BBC World Service.
Marianne Faithfull, Baron Masoch & The Velvet Underground
Marianne Faithfull is the great neice of Baron Leopold Ritter Von Sacher-Masoch. His masochistic classic, Venus in Furs inspired the The Velvet Underground's song. Here she is reminiscing with Terri Gross on WHYY's Fresh AirMonday, March 28, 2005
Neurotheology
About 10% of people who have been resussitated report some kind of Near Death Experience, typically involving some kind of tunnel with light at the end of it. On the ABC's Easter Monday edition of Late Night Live, Prof. Susan Blackmore describes her experiences as a subject in a Michael Persinger experiment, in which he uses electromagnetic brain stimulation to simulate religious expereinces.
Failure - an American story
These days being a 'failure' suggests under-achievement , laziness and weak character. Yet it didn't always mean this. In his new book, Born Losers, Scott Sandage tells Diane Rehm that the meaning changed in the early 19th century, when it simply meant financial failure, usually as a result of over-reaching and over-ambition.
Michael Jackson and black pedophilia
Watching the Michael Jackson trial feels strangely familiar to Kathy Y. Wilson, author of the book Your Negro Tour Guide, commentating on NPR's All Things Considered. She says the Jackson case is particularly uncomfortable for many African-Americans, who have held to a belief that pedophilia only occurs in white families.
Sunday, March 27, 2005
The most popular book in Iran
What's the most popular book in Iran? Not the Koran, as you might think, but rather The Divan of Hafiz Sharazi (c. 1320-1389), many of whose sensuous rhyming couplets concern love, wine, and nature. It's said even Queen Victoria consulted the great sufi before making any major decisions. On the ABC's Sunday Morning, Julie Copeland talked to poet and translator Paul Smith. Iranian scholar Dr Elahi Ghomshei reads.