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.
(review, feed)

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.
(review, feed)

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.
(review, feed)

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.
(review, feed)

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.
(review, feed)

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.

Heads-up for 22 December 2010

Ancient Rome Refocused
"I'm the Emperor, and You're Not."
Title - "I'm the Emperor and You're Not." A look at a boy who visits a soothsayer and is foretold of his rise to the emperorship of Rome. A review of the cancelled NBC show KINGS, and a comparison of what it means to be part of the imperial family. The listener then travels back in time (in Mr. Cain's time machine) to interview for the position of emperor. This is the last episode of Season One. The show will return in March.
(review, feed)

Oxford Biographies
Charles Rolls, motor car promoter and aviator; Sir Henry Royce, engineer and motor car designer
Biography of Rolls Royce.
(review, feed)

TED Talks
Why we have too few women leaders - Sheryl Sandberg (2010)
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg looks at why a smaller percentage of women than men reach the top of their professions -- and offers 3 powerful pieces of advice to women aiming for the C-suite.
(review, feed)



Classic Poetry Aloud
To Celia by Ben Johnson
Johnson read by Classic Poetry Aloud. Giving voice to classic poetry.
(review, feed)

Flood tales; Noah, Gilgamesh and Manu

One thing leads to another - this we know. Forgotten Classics was reading Genesis, got to the story of Noah and then inserted an issue about Gilgamesh. In this way we could hear and compare the more known flood tale to its probable Mesopotamian predecessor. Host Julie Davis sat down with her daughter who has had Gilgamesh in her literature class. In her own adolescent lingo she recounts the tale and then mother and daughter discuss its meaning. (feed)

I vaguely knew there were more flood tales in ancient narratives, but frankly, I would not have been able to name one but Noah and Gilgamesh. Fortunately, and completely by chance, in the same week Forgotten Classics came with Gilgamesh, the Mahabharata Podcast came with Episode 37 - The Markandeya Sessions Pt. 1 which recounts how the Pandavas sit with the sage Markandeya and push him to tell tales of Brahmins. He tells two, the second of which is the tale of Manu, a formidable sadhu who is being foretold of a flood to come and instructed to build an ark. (feed)

So there we have it, a flood story in the Mahabharata. Manu builds the ark, takes on it a bank of seeds and other material which eventually will enable him to bring life back to the world and then, obviously, the world gets inundated. The ark drifts around for a long time until the waters slowly recede and the first mountain peaks pop up again - in this tale not the Ararat, but rather the peaks of the Himalaya of course. Go and listen for more.

With me, as said, one thing leads to another and I went on to look for more podcasts on flood tales and among others ran into an iTunes collection of Harrisburg Area Community College with a World Literature course that addresses Genesis, Gilgamesh and many other important tales.

More Forgotten Classics:
5 podcasts I listened to (Genesis),
The Riddle of the Sands,
The message of Uncle Tom's Cabin,
Cooking with Forgotten Classics,
Forgotten Classics - podcast review.

More Mahabharata Podcast:
Indian roots of the Unicorn,
Endless cloth,
The Mahabharata Podcast.

Heads-up for 21 December 2010

Mighty Movie Podcast
Brad Bird on THE IRON GIANT
In 1999, Warner’s released THE IRON GIANT. Well… released may not be the best term. Slipped into theaters under the cover of night so that anyone who might be remotely interested couldn’t possibly know of its existence… yeah, that’s the term. Despite the stealth marketing, director Brad Bird’s animated tale of a young boy who lives in red-scare, 1950’s America and manages to bond with a giant, gentle, metal-eating robot managed to catch a few discerning eyes (mine included), and has since been championed as a tremendously entertaining animation classic. As for Bird, well, the guys at Pixar took note, too, and Brad wound up helming a couple of minor trifles you might have heard of: THE INCREDIBLES and RATATOUILLE.
(review, feed)

Scientific American Podcast aka Science Talk
Anna Deavere Smith: Let Me Down Easy
Actor, playwright and journalist Anna Deavere Smith talks about the health care crisis and her play about people dealing with illness, health and the health care system, Let Me Down Easy.
(review, feed)

The Korea Society
After the G20: Issues & Outlook
On November 18, 2010, Ambassador Thomas Hubbard, Chairman of the Korea Society, hosted a discussion of the economic, trade, and regulatory issues covered at the G-20 Summit. The panel included Ambassador Young-Mok Kim, Consul General of The Republic of Korea in New York, William Rhodes, senior advisor to Citigroup and a G-20 participant, and James E. Glassman, a managing director and senior economist at JPMorgan Chase.
(review, feed)

Stuff You Missed in History Class
Did Empress Wu's reign change China?
During the Tong Dynasty, Chinese women were often treated as second-class citizens. This made the rise of Empress Wu even more extraordinary. But did her work have a lasting effect? Learn more about how -- or if -- Empress Wu permanently changed China.
(review, feed)

Heads-up for 20 December 2010

The History of Rome
120- Interregnum
After Aurelian's death, an old Senator named Marcus Cluadius Tacitus briefly reigned before the throne fell to Probus, who ruled from 276-282.
(review, feed)

Binge Thinking History
1914 to the decline of Empire
The First World War marks the end the supremacy of the battleship and the beginning of the end for Pax Britannia. The decline of Royal Navy mirrors the that of the British Empire for obvious reasons and the it's future is unclear.
(review, feed)

EconTalk
Nocera on the Crisis and All the Devils Are Here
Joe Nocera, New York Times columnist and co-author with Bethany McClean of All the Devils Are Here, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the origins of the financial crisis. Drawing on his book, Nocera identifies many people he considers devils for contributing to the crisis and a few angels who tried but failed to stop it. The discussion covers the history and development of securitization and the peculiar incentives created by securitization and the relative lack of regulation of the securitization process. The conversation also includes a discussion of whether past bailouts contributed to the crisis.
(review, feed)

University of Warwick Podcasts
Dating the Birth of Jesus and the 'first Christmas' with a Herodian Coin
Anno domini. Today we use the system devised by the sixth-century monk, Dionysius Exiguus, as a way of synchronising events, and associate its origin with the nativity of Jesus and the 'first Christmas'. But did Dionysius get his dates right? Professor Kevin Butcher from the Department of Classics explores how a coin issued by Herod Antipas suggests not.
(review, feed)