Monthly Archives: January 2009

This podcast is 100 percent Persian. Consider it a primer for the Obama Administration as it sizes up Iran’s leaders. First, a report on the BBC’s new Persian language TV service. Then Persian-language radio from the Voice of Israel. After … Continue reading →

We kick off with  blogger and linguist Mark Liberman‘s take on President Obama’s inaugural address. Then, a report on whether the disappearance of the term “war on terror” in post-Bush Washington will result in policy changes. Then a little something … Continue reading →

As George W. Bush becomes a private citizen again, we consider his legacy by means of a name he once cited: Alden Pyle, a fictional CIA officer dreamed up by Graham Greene in The Quiet American. Also, a new Indian … Continue reading →

Two hundred years after Louis Braille was born, the writing system he invented for the blind is still going strong. Also, the Israeli government has trouble translating a Hebrew word meant to convey withdrawal without any defeatist connotations. Plus, two … Continue reading →