Heads-up for 26 December 2010

The Kamla Show
Anglo-Indians 0f India: Glenda Michelle Singh
You probably have heard of Russell Peters, the Canadian comedian. But, did you know he is an Anglo-Indian? He is perhaps the best known Anglo-Indian in the world today. Famous Anglo-Indians include Hollywood actress Merle Oberon and singer Engelbert Humperdinck The Anglo-Indians are a diminishing minority of India.
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Big Ideas
Craig Kaplan on Mathematical Art and Artistic Mathematicians
Craig Kaplan discusses origami, tiling patterns and other areas of art where mathematics and computers have had a significant impact. The lecture, entitled Mathematical Art and Artistic Mathematicians, was deliverd at the Quantum to Cosmos Festival.
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Zencast
Winter Solstice
Winter Solstice; Dharma teaching by Jack Kornfield
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Tapestry
Art & Soul
Today we're exploring the intricate relationship between art and soul. Mary Hynes speaks with the world-renowned wildlife artist Robert Bateman. We also hear from Rosemary Phelan a former nurse who witnessed a healing influence of music on her patients. And Rev. Jennie Hogan talks about how art galleries are replacing traditional places of worship for those seeking spiritual inspiration.
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Heads-up for 25 December 2010

Philosophy Bites
Martha Nussbaum on the Value of the Humanities
Why bother studying the Humanities? Surely when resources are limited we should be concentrating on subjects that have clear economic benefits, shouldn't we? Not necessarily. Martha Nussbaum, author of Not For Profit, argues for the continuing importance of Humanities subjects, particularly Philosophy, in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. Philosophy Bites is made in association with the Institute of Philosophy.
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Namaste Stories
"Baba Ji"
"Teachers are many, masters few." Osho Music is, first, "Broadway Boogie Woogie" by Dave Frank and, second, "Blue in Green" by Sameer Gupta, both available at iodapromonet.com. Thank you, listener, for your patience, and thank you Dave and Sameer.
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Celtic Myth Podshow
Christmas Wish 2010
This is our Christmas wish to you for 2010. It is only a short episode with three pieces of music and a little story, but we thought it important to let you all know where we were with the show, what was and has been going on and that we are still here! We have had so much wonderful support and feedback over the last year that it has made our job of Gary getting better and Ruthie looking after him much easier.
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Argos Podcast
Opkomst en ondergang van het Nationaal Historisch Museum
Deze Eerste Kerstdag staat Argos stil bij de geschiedenis. Het afgelopen jaar zou het Nationaal Historisch Museum definitief zijn vorm krijgen. Dat is ook gebeurd. Maar totaal anders dan iedereen aan het begin van dit jaar nog dacht. Het is geen gebouw meer, maar een idee, een lezing, een voorstelling op internet. Er is nog wel een directie en die maakt plannen.
Over hoe het allemaal zo gekomen is spraken we in mei met alle hoofdrolspelers in dit kleine Nederlandse drama. Maar daarna is er veel gebeurd. Tijd om opnieuw de balans op te maken.
Luister naar een bijgewerkte reconstructie van de opkomst en ondergang van het Nationaal Historisch Museum.
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Veertien Achttien
Raspoetin en de bloederziekte van Victoria (zondag 24 december 1916)
Een duistere monnik, voortgestuwd door seks en alcohol, dicteert de gang van zaken aan het Russisch hof. December 1916 is het genoeg. Vergiftigd, neergeschoten, verzopen: zo eindigt Raspoetin.
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Heads-up for 24 December 2010

Being [APM]
Joe Carter the the Legacy of the African-American Spiritual
The African-American spiritual is the source from which gospel, jazz, blues, and hip-hop evolved. We celebrate the life of Joe Carter, who explored the meaning of the Negro spiritual in word and song -- through its hidden meanings, as well as its beauty, lament, and hope.
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What is the Stars?
Monday December 20th
The Blue of the Night's resident astronomer Francis McCarthy from Blackrock Observatory in Cork marks the 15th anniversary since the first deep field image was obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope.
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Shrink Rap Radio
A Psychiatrist’s Most Bizarre Cases with Gary Small, MD
Gary Small, M.D. is co-author (along with his wife, Gigi Vorgan) of the 2010 book, The Naked Lady Who Stood on Her Head: A Psychiatrist’s Stories of His Most Bizzare Cases. I interviewed Dr. Small two years ago on episode #188 about their earlier 2008 book, iBrain: Surviving The Technological Alteration of The Modern Mind. Dr. Small is a professor of psychiatry at the UCLA Semel Institute and directs the Memory and Aging Research Center and the UCLA Center on Aging. He is one of the world’s leading experts on brain science and has published numerous books and articles. Scientific American magazine named him one of the world’s top innovators in science and technology, and he frequently appears on The Today Show, Good Morning America, 20/20 and CNN. Dr. Small has invented the first brain scan that allows doctors to see the physical evidence of brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease in living people. Among his numerous breakthrough research studies, he now leads a team of neuroscientists who are demonstrating that exposure to computer technology causes rapid and profound changes in brain neural circuitry.
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Witness
Christmas Truce 1914
Christmas 1914, WW1 - and soldiers from both sides lay down their arms, climb out of their trenches and talk to their enemies. Witness brings you testimonies from the BBC archive, and the records of the Imperial War Museum.
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Norman Centuries - The Great Count

What is Sicily? Part of Italy - right? A month ago I saw a movie that took place on Sicily and I noticed how the language sounded so different from the Italian I know. Now let us get back in history. The Middle Ages. A lot of the people who live on the island are Greeks, they are ruled by Arab Muslims and those have brought Berber troops to maintain order. The Arabs and the Berbers begin to compete for influence and some Italian lords from the main land also show interest. But then the Normans arrive.

This is but a rough and inaccurate way of describing, but it gives in a nut shell what I learned from Lars Brownworth's podcast Norman Centuries. Over the last episodes, the Normans have begun arriving in Italy and Sicily and expanded their influence. The last episode, #11 - The Great Count, tells the tale of the Norman Roger de Hauteville, who over the 11th century eventually wrestled Sicily from the Arabs and the Berbers and came to rule it by himself. (feed)

So what have we learned by now? We have learned how the Normans gained a foothold in Normandy and began to be a power in France. We knew of course of William the Conqueror, who crosses the Channel and established Norman reign in England. Now we have had a couple of shows about the sons of Tancred de Hauteville who tried their luck in Italy and Sicily and succeeded over there. Apart from William the Conqueror I had hardly any idea of the extent of Norman influence, until Lars came with his podcast.

More Norman Centuries:
6 more podcasts I listened to when I was away from the blog,
Norman Centuries - Lars Brownworth,
William the Conqueror,
Magnificent Devil,
Richard the Fearless.

Heads-up for 23 December 2010

Scientific American Podcast aka Science Talk
How You Gonna Keep Flu Down On The Farm?: Pig Farms and Public Health
Journalist Helen Branswell discusses her January Scientific American article, "Flu Factories", about the attempts to monitor new strains of flu that can originate on pig farms and the difficulties of balancing economic and public health constituencies.
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Thinking Allowed
Christmas and Class
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, children gathered beneath a sparking tree, a table groaning with turkey.....the cliches of the season are as alive and well as they were in Dickens time. But does everybody have equal access to the bounty of Christmas and the good will of others? The geographer, Steve Millington, finds that the distaste some middle class people feel for 'excessive' displays of xmas lights in working class areas reveals a narrative of class hostility which echoes Victorian attitudes to the 'undeserving' poor. He joins Laurie Taylor, the sociologist Bev Skeggs and the historian Julie Marie Strange to explore Christmas, compassion and class, then and now.
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Witness
Andrei Sakharov
On December 23 1986 the Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov was allowed to return home from internal exile. He was greeted by a huge crowd at a Moscow railway station.
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NeuroPod
December 2010
On NeuroPod this month, being in control helps you learn, the 200th birthday of the founder of cell theory, depression and cognition, and the brain's 'preplay' button.
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In Our Time
The Industrial Revolution: Part I 23 December 2010
In the first of two programmes concentrating on the Industrial Revolution, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss what caused the Industrial Revolution and examine the reasons for why it happened in Britain; as well as highlighting some of the men who invented the machinery which changed the world forever. Melvyn is joined by Jeremy Black, Professor of History at the University of Exeter; Pat Hudson, Professor Emerita of History at Cardiff University; and William Ashworth, Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Liverpool.
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The long history of the Royal Navy - the end?

The Binge Thinking History Podcast (BTHP) has told the history of the British Navy in nine installments. This week came out the last chapter, which takes the narrative through the 20th century. (feed)

It is called 1914 to the decline of empire and this surely covers both time and theme, however, within the story lies also the decline of navy and the rise of air force. Host Tony Cocks, in his familiar attractive narration, explains how the Royal Navy loses its grip on the waves, not only as the Empire recedes and the Americans take their place as hegemon. New technologies also require different tactics.

So far the history has been one of steadily larger ships, but with the advent of submarines, the Navy sees what it has seen through the years. Even if big battleships are powerful, sometimes it is more effective to have a number of small ships in stead of one biggie. Especially small and rapid ships give the dynamics a powerful navy needs. But then aircraft enter into the mix and this not only renders ships vulnerable from a new angle, it also reduces the navy's capacity to isolate harbors from trade. It is air force that will decide a hegemon's capacity to choke an opponent - no longer the navy.

More BTHP:
The Royal Navy vs. Napoleon and post-Napoleon,
James Cook and a famous mutiny,
The Royal Navy and the Seven Year War,
Britannia Rules the Waves,
Royal Navy.