Listening ideas for 15 March 2011

Inspired Minds
Guy Nattiv- Filmmaker
The Israeli director's debut film "Strangers" participated in the 2008 official selection competition at the Sundance Film Festival. Guy Nattiv has completed three shorts and two feature films. "Offside" and" Mabul" received several awards at international film festivals including Berlin International Film Festival's "Crystal Bear" and Best Short at Sundance Film festival.
(review, feed)

London School of Economics
Philosophy in the Public World
Philosophy has an important role in public life. Anthony Grayling is one of the most prominent public faces of philosophy in the UK. He is professor of philosophy at Birkbeck College and a supernumerary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford.
(review, feed)

KQED's Forum
Cokie and Steve Roberts: 'Our Haggadah'
When Cokie and Steve Roberts tied the knot 45 years ago, they vowed that they would continue to observe both their Roman Catholic and Jewish faiths as a couple. The renowned journalists have just written a book, "Our Haggadah," in which they present their interfaith approach to the Seder, part of Jewish holiday Passover, as well as discuss what they have learned over the years as an interfaith couple. They join us in the studio.
(review, feed)



Engines Of Our Ingenuity
Winged Words
Episode #2696: The Homeric Epics as Oral Poetry
(review, feed)

The Biography Podcast
Joe DiMaggio
Chris Gondek interviews Jerome Charyn about his new biography, Joe DiMaggio: The Long Vigil.
(review, feed)

Mahabharata Podcast
War by other means
Episode 48 - The Pandavas have come out of hiding and are demanding their lands back from the Kauravas. Duryodhana has already indicated that he has no interest in giving these back, so it would be best to negotiate from a position of strength. An arms race ensues, with both sides scrambling to get commitments from their allies across India and beyond.
(review, feed)

Notes on history

The amateur podcast Notes on History which comes out infrequently, has begun a series about American Presidents which looks quite promising. At this opportunity I would like to turn your attention to a much older issue in the series which I found particularly good and originally executed. (feed)

Host Paul Stoetzel took on the challenge of retelling the historic events of 1066, William the Conqueror's taking over of England. In a two-part production he turns the story into a veritable drama, complete with suspense and surprise turns of events and a touch of comedy. In the process he manages to bring clarity in the facts and keep track of the multitude of characters involved including their confusing names (three Harolds to name but a few of those challenges). 1066, part 1 ; 1066 part 2.

Duke Ellington

The great Jazz Musician Duke Ellington had a career that already started in the 1930's and while it went on until his death in 1974, as of the 1950's new musical trends began to compete with Ellington and his popularity dipped.

In the New York Review of Books podcast Geoffrey O'Brien talks with Chris Carroll about Duke Ellington's mid-career crisis and stunning comeback, revisiting his often-overlooked albums of the 1960s and 1970s. Caroll gives a lively account of how Ellington underwent the crisis and struggled to find a way out. He plays splendid audio fragments to illustrate the new musical compositions Ellington came up with and induces a great appreciation of the later Ellington sound. (feed)

More NYRB podcast:
Changing medical profession
David Cole,
Amateur Science - Freeman Dyson,
Roger Cohen in Tehran,
Ronald Dworkin.