Heads-up for 6 August 2010

Russian Rulers History Podcast
Episode 14 - Ivan IV - The Early Years, Part One
Young Ivan IV, Grand Prince of Moscow, serves as a figurehead ruler with his mother as Regent.
(review, feed)

Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett (APM)
The moral math of climate change
A conversation about climate change and moral imagination with Bill McKibben, a leading environmentalist and writer who has been ahead of the curve on this issue since he wrote The End of Nature in 1989. We explore his evolving perspective on human responsibility in a changing natural world.
(review, feed)

Endless cloth - Mahabharata Podcast

After a summer break the Mahabharata Podcast has returned to publishing again. For a moment I wish to draw your attention to last episode before the break: The first dice game. There is a scene in here that was mentioned also by Vinay Lal at UCLA in of his courses on Indian History.

The dice game is a high point in one of the many story-lines within the Mahabharata. It brings together the rivaling cousins, the Pandavas and the Kauravas. And it features the beautiful Draupadi who is married to the five Pandava brothers. The professional dice player Shakuni plays on behalf of the Kauravas and wins everything, also Draupadi. Draupadi tries to make a legal case against the outcome of the game, but this is ignored.

The whole point of the affair is to publicly humiliate the innocent Draupadi. She is brought in front of the court wrapped in merely a cloth, but when they try to strip her by ripping of the drapery, they fail. As they pull the cloth, more and more of it comes off Draupadi, but she remains dressed as if she were wearing a sari of eternal length - a sure sign of here innocence of course.

More Mahabharata:
The Mahabharata Podcast,
The earliest history - A Story of India (1),
History of India - the search goes on,
History of India or Europe?