NYT - World View podcast

Erno Mijland of the blog Alles kan altijd beter reminded me of the assorted podcasts by the New York Times. Among these is the podcast World View (feed) which is delivered by the international staff of the newspaper.

This is a weekly podcast of around ten minutes that each time takes on one subject and has one or several experts give brief answers to the most important questions. For example, last week's issue was about drones, unmanned aircraft that are being used in modern warfare. The week before that, delved into Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi and his recent efforts to take a leading role in Africa and to revalue the country's status in the west. Of the old podcasts, only four are kept in the feed, so it is not a fit podcast to pick and choose subjects. It is more of the kind to stay subscribed and get quickly informed on whatever the editors choose to deliver.

Once you find a subject you want to delve into some more, the UChannel Podcast offers the length and backlog that allows for pick and choose. Taking one of the above examples, UChannel has a full length lecture about robotics in war (which is about more than just Drones). NYT gives the quick update and if their choice of subjects meets your interest, it works like a newspaper indeed. It helps you to stay generally informed. A pity this doesn't come out daily.

More NYT:
The Ethicist,
Times Talks.

Anne is a Man in the week of March 23

Here is a schedule of reviews I am planning to write this week (Monday-Thursday)

-The New York Times podcast World View with among others talk about drones in war.

-The Dutch podcast about World War I, veertien achttien delivered a biography of Colmar von der Goltz

-BBC's Thinking Allowed discusses research in social sciences and by chance also a joke about a horse named Eric.

-Making History with Ran Levi took us on a journey through our solar system, observing the weather on other planets.

-The fabulous psychology podcast Shrink Rap Radio has delivered its 200th episode.

-Ontario TV's Big Ideas ventures into crime.

-A lecture at the RSA spoke about the Public Domain or The Commons of the Mind

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The EU and the Middle East - LSE Events

On LSE Events the French Islam Scholar Jean-Pierre Filiu spoke on the question whether the EU cam make a difference in the Middle-East, particularly in the Israeli-Arab conflict.

A large part of the lecture is a rather tedious summary of what European nations (not necessarily the EU) have contributed and are contributing to the peace-process and and to all sorts of development programs in the region. It sounds like an apology for a large body (the EU) that hardly has any foreign policy, to make as much of what the eventually do. And it is almost unfair a scholar must go this road and not a diplomat or politician.

The fact is, as comes out by the end in the Q&A round: the Israelis distrust the Europeans and the Arabs view them as second rate Americans. And so, apart from the question whether the EU can make difference of its own accord, there is the issue whether the EU has enough credibility to be accepted as anything but a monetary power. Asking the question is giving the answer. The Filiu lecture is hardly worth listening to unless you really want to hear some details about what the EU is doing towards the region.

More LSE Events:
The British Mandate in Palestine,
Iran Today,
Science and Religion,
The crisis,
Desiring walls.

Prokofiev's life - New Books in History

The podcast New Books In History is a fabulous new find that has come to be on my playlist all the time. The latest issue I picked up (not the latest in the feed) was an interview host Marshall Poe had with Simon Morrison, who wrote a biography of the Russian composer Prokofiev.

Morrison had access to some of the old Soviet archives that had been opened up to him and this allowed him to tell much more about Prokofiev's personal life than before. It is a story of constant traveling in and out of Russia, of the acceptance of becoming part of the Soviet system and of marriage divorce and such. During the podcast there is a lot of talk about these mundane sides of his life, but of course, there is also time for the musical genius and even, to my delight, for the wonderful cellist Mstislav Rostropovich's part in Prokofiev's life.

I have already been saying how great this new podcast is and it is worth writing it again. NBIH is a great podcast with a great formula and a unique content that is a great addition to the menu of history podcasts out there. There is one point in which the podcast needs to improve and that is the audio quality. In general the audio is good, but host Marshall Poe keeps his mic open while his guest speaks and as a result we are offered the background noise of his presence. This is not so much of a problem when he hums in acknowledgment or laughs or gives some other kind of reactive sign of his presence, but it also results in a lot of heavy breathing into the microphone, which I find very disturbing.

More NBIH:
Evolution, genetics and history,
Kees Boterbloem about Jan Struys.

Fiji - Rear Vision podcast review

Thanks to a comment on this blog I tried a new podcast: ABC's Rear Vision. (feed) The comment was made at a post about another program from ABC, which is the Australian Broadcast Corporation.

Rear Vision is a contemporary history program on ABC radio that is, luckily for us, also published as a weekly podcast. In 30 minutes hosts Annabelle Quince and Keri Phillips allow us to dig into the backgrounds of one subject and get the full historic picture we need in order to understand the news. The first subject I picked out was Fiji; coup country. I make out Fiji on a map, I had heard about the occasional military coup in the country. I had wondered about that, but knew absolutely nothing to say about it, until Rear Vision came along.

On Rear Vision I learned has become ethnically diverse with the British rule starting in the 19th century. People were hauled over from India to work the plantations and so, when Fiji gained independence in 1970 it had two majorities of indigenous Fijians and Indian Fijians each making up about half of the population. Furthermore these and other ethnic groups had different plans with the independent land and had a different representation in the army. The relatively large army, too big for the geopolitical position of Fiji it is argued, is the culprit of the coups and of the ensuing instability. The instability in turn has wrecked the tourist industry which is very important for Fiji and has caused emigration in an uneven proportion by Indians, which in turn has redrawn the ethnic balance. In a nutshell.

Also by ABC, The Philosopher's Zone:
Philosopher's Zone - ABC podcast review,
Mary Shelley and Frankenstein.

Plakkaat van Verlating - Hoor Geschiedenis recensie

In de podcast Hoor! Geschiedenis, van Feico Houweling zitten we midden in de wordingsgeschiedenis van de Nederlandse Staat. Deze week werd het document besproken waarmee de Nederlandse Staten zich formeel van het gezag van de Spaanse koning Filips de tweede probeerde los te maken.

Het document waar het om gaat is het Plakkaat van Verlating. In 1581 tekenden de Nederlandse edelen dit document waarbij de soeverijn Filips het gezag over de Nederlanden wordt ontnomen. In de weergave van Houweling is dit mede daarom zo'n historisch moment omdat het om een juridische constructie gaat. Er wordt niet zomaar eigenhandig besloten om zich aan het gezag van de koning te onttrekken, maar er wordt een rechtsgeldige reden voor geformuleerd.

Het deed mij denken aan de manier waarop de Berkeley serie History 5 de afzetting (en onthoofding) van Jacobus de tweede van Engeland in 1688 behandelt. Ook daar wordt benadrukt dat niet zomaar de koning van zijn troon wordt gestoten, als in een revolutie of een staatsgreep, maar dat er een rechtsgang wordt doorlopen. In beide gevallen (en in het Nederlandse honderd jaar eerder) wordt op unieke wijze met het koningsschap omgesprongen; niet langer is het een onwrikbaar van God gegeven orde, maar een constitutionele instantie een in het recht gewortelde figuur, die dus ook met het recht in de hand kan worden weggezet. Hier onstaan dus niet alleen staten als Nederland en Engeland, maar ook staten in de moderne politiek-juridische zin.

Afbeelding van het Nationaal Archief

Meer Hoor! Geschiedenis:
Willem van Oranje als Bijbelfiguur,
Dagelijks genoegen: hoor! geschiedenis,
Hoor! Geschiedenis - historische podcast recensie.