Podcast appearances and mentions of rajan datar

What is the purpose of libraries in the era of the internet and AI? Whether at a school or in a community, libraries used to be key providers of information and enjoyment for many. But now, in a digital age, more books and periodicals are available online than even the biggest library can hold. If terabytes of text can now be stored on a single laptop, do we need to think differently about the way we access and navigate books? Could well-designed AI tools be trusted to make sense of this information abundance in a similar way that a good librarian can?Rajan Datar discusses the past, present and future of libraries with Randa Chidiac, Director of Library Services at the American University in Dubai; Dr. Andrew Hui, Head of Literature Studies at Yale-NUS College in Singapore; and Brewster Kahle, computer engineer and digital librarian, founder of the Internet Archive and Wayback Machine. We also hear from World Service listeners.(Photo: An artist's impression of a digital book. Credit: Alengo/Getty Images)

2024 is expected to be a record-breaking year for tourism, with more travellers going on holiday than ever before. But hotspots like Venice, Hawaii and Bali are also struggling from overtourism. Rajan Datar, host of the BBC's Travel Show, has been meeting people who live in some of the world's tourism hotspots and tells Lucy Hockings about the impact huge numbers of visitors are having on communities and the environment. At the moment, we're sharing some of our most popular episodes from the past twelve months, including this one. All of these episodes and many more are available to watch on the BBC World Service's YouTube channel. Just search for “The Global Story” on YouTube to find us. The Global Story brings you trusted insights from BBC journalists worldwide. We want your ideas, stories and experiences to help us understand and tell #TheGlobalStory. Email us at theglobalstory@bbc.com You can also message us or leave a voice note via WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480. Producers: Alice Aylett Roberts, Richard Moran and Eleanor Sly Sound engineers: Johnny Hall Assistant editor: Sergi Forcada Freixas Senior news editor: Sara Wadeson

Trevor and Christiana are joined by travel journalist Rajan Datar to tackle the perennial summer question around the world: what's with all these tourists, anyway? Governments, water gun-toting Spaniards, and 10,000 Elsas weigh in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is a bonus episode from The Global Story - Overtourism: Can travel hotspots cope with the crowds?2024 is expected to be a record-breaking year for tourism, with more travellers going on holiday than ever before. But hotspots like Venice, Hawaii and Bali are also struggling from overtourism. Rajan Datar, host of the BBC's Travel Show, has been meeting people who live in some of the world's tourism hotspots and tells Lucy Hockings about the impact huge numbers of visitors are having on communities and the environment.This episode was made by Alice Aylett Roberts, Richard Moran and Eleanor Sly. The technical producer was Johnny Hall. The assistant editor is Sergi Forcada Freixas and the senior news editor is Sam Bonham.The Global Story brings you one big story every weekday, making sense of the news with our experts around the world. Insights you can trust, from the BBC World Service. For more, go to bbcworldservice.com/globalstory or search for The Global Story wherever you got this podcast.

2024 is expected to be a record-breaking year for tourism, with more travellers going on holiday than ever before. But hotspots like Venice, Hawaii and Bali are also struggling from overtourism. Rajan Datar, host of the BBC's Travel Show, has been meeting people who live in some of the world's tourism hotspots and tells Lucy Hockings about the impact huge numbers of visitors are having on communities and the environment. The Global Story brings you trusted insights from BBC journalists worldwide. We're keen to hear from you, wherever you are in the world. We want your ideas, stories and experiences to help us understand and tell The Global Story. Email us at theglobalstory@bbc.com You can also message us or leave a voice note via WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480. #TheGlobalStory.The Global Story is part of the BBC News Podcasts family. The team that makes The Global Story also makes several other podcasts, such as Americast and Ukrainecast, which cover US news and the war in Ukraine. If you enjoy The Global Story, you may well like some of our other pods, too. To find them, simply search on your favourite podcast app.This episode was made by Alice Aylett Roberts, Richard Moran and Eleanor Sly. The technical producer was Johnny Hall. The assistant editor is Sergi Forcada Freixas and the senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

In February 2024, the renowned Indian geneticist Dr. MS Swaminathan was posthumously awarded the country's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna. This was in recognition of the dramatic increase in the yields of food staples, such as rice and wheat, that Indian agriculture experienced under his stewardship of the ‘green revolution' in the 20th century. That revolution is credited with saving many people from hunger and malnutrition across Asia and Latin America. And yet, half-a-century on farmers' incomes in Africa, Asia and Europe are falling and in many countries farmers are on the streets protesting. At the same time, the environmental impacts of intensive food production are becoming increasingly clear. So do we need a new ‘green revolution'? And is the use of the latest agricultural technology, from robots to AI the answer?Rajan Datar discusses the past and present of food growing with Professor of Economics Douglas Gollin, crop scientist Professor Nigel Halford, historian of science Dr. Madhumita Saha, robotics project manager Andreas Hofland and listeners from around the world.(Photo: Green ear of wheat. Credit: binabina/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

We can probably all think of examples of bad bosses – the people who we love to gossip about with our colleagues outside work. And even if you're lucky enough to have had good experiences of management, you may be familiar with bad bosses from popular culture. But what makes a good manager and how can you inspire people in the workplace? It's a question that's been debated since the Industrial Revolution when rapidly expanding companies needed a way of controlling their workers. From there developed various theories of management, some of which drew on aspects of sociology and psychology. Rajan Datar is joined by Ann Francke, the chief executive of the Chartered Management Institute in the UK; Monica Musonda, the CEO of Java Foods in Zambia; and Todd Bridgman, Professor of Management Studies and Head of the School of Management at Victoria University of Wellington / Te Herenga Waka in New Zealand. We'll also present a selection of comments and experiences sent in by Forum listeners. Produced by Fiona Clampin (Photo credit: Getty/Luis Alvarez)

Whether we are pedestrians, cyclists or drivers, roads play a crucial role in our everyday lives. But where and how should we build any new ones? What kind of roads do we need? And how did we end up with the ones we have? Rajan Datar talks about the past and present of roads and roadbuilding with anthropologist Traci Ardren from the University of Miami, civil engineer Kate Castle, historians Alexis DeGreiff from the National University of Colombia in Bogota and Aparajita Mukhopadhyay from Kent University, literary scholar Stephanie Ponsavady from Wesleyan University in Connecticut and journalist Karim Waheed from Dhaka. Plus World Service listeners from around the globe share their road-trip joys and frustrations. (Photo: Road construction, worker with a shovel. Credit: blyjak/Getty Images)

From Bhutan to The Bahamas and Iceland to Indonesia, mass tourism has grown at an unprecedented rate over the last few decades. Today's top destinations are struggling with the sheer numbers of visitors and the United Nations has called for a total rethink on how the industry operates. The origins of travel for pleasure go back centuries and package holidays in the 1960s made it accessible to many in the West but it's only the combination of cheap flights and the advent of the internet that has led to truly global tourism on a mass scale. Whilst the industry now generates huge income for many companies and individuals around the globe, critics point to the cost to both the environment and humankind. Drawing on listeners' questions and comments, Rajan Datar examines the way mass tourism has impacted people's lives, both positively and negatively, and asks if the enforced pause in tourism caused by Covid was utilised as an opportunity for a re-think. He is joined by Sihle Khumalo, a popular South African travel writer; Shazia Mirza, a renowned British comedienne and writer; Qupanuk Olsen, originally a mining engineer but now Greenland's leading travel influencer; Prof. Noel Salazar, anthropologist of tourism from KU Leuven in Belgium; Iñigo Sánchez-Fuarros, senior researcher at the Institute of Heritage Sciences of the Spanish National Research Council and Dr. Birgit Trauer, tourism consultant and educator from Australia. [Photo: El Postiguet Beach in Alicante, Spain in the summer of 2022. Credit: Marcos del Mazo/LightRocket via Getty Images.]

When telecoms engineer Martin Cooper first chatted in public on a mobile phone 50 years ago few would have predicted that this brief telephone call would be the start of a revolution that would change the lives of billions. Over the last half a century, the mobile has transformed not just how we communicate with each other but also how we view and interact with the world around us. However, recent research suggests that this may not all be for the best. Drawing on listeners comments and questions, Rajan Datar explores what sets the mobile phone apart from previous communication devices. Why did SMS messaging take off so quickly after a slow start in the 1990s? And how did the morphing of a portable phone into a pocket computer a decade later lead to a situation where many people now interact with their phone more than with any human? Rajan is joined by Scott Campbell, Professor of Telecommunications at the University of Michigan whose work focuses on meanings, uses and consequences of mobile communication in everyday life; behavioural psychologist Dr. Daria Kuss from Nottingham Trent University who specialises in cyberpsychology, technology use and addictive behaviours; and comedienne and PhD. candidate at Exeter University Helen Keen who is researching social connections at the Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health. We also hear from educator Wong Fung Sing from Singapore and other listeners from around the world. (Photo: mobile phones in a stack on a table. Credit: iStock/Getty images)

The Hoover Dam in the US, the Aswan Dam in Egypt and the recently opened, and sumptuously named, Grand Ethiopian Renaissance dam. Since modern times, huge mega dams like these to tame rivers, create water storage and hydropower, have become a symbol of nationhood used to create national pride and bolster political power, from the Cold War to today. Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, called dams the temples of modern India. But dams have also been highly controversial, displacing rural populations, disrupting local ecology and more recently it's been shown that dams can increase the amount of greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere. So why are so many countries like China still highly involved in dam building, and will they need to change tack in the future? And, could the humble beaver offer a solution? To discuss the past, present, and future of dam building, Rajan Datar is joined by Nikita Sud, Professor of the Politics of Development at Oxford University; Donald C. Jackson the Cornelia F. Hugel Professor of History at La Fayette University in the US and author of many books on the history of dam building, including Building the Ultimate Dam: John S. Eastwood and the Control of Water in the West; and Dr Majed Akhter, a political geographer who is senior lecturer in Geography at King's College London. With the contribution of Dr Emily Fairfax, an ecohydrologist with an expertise in beaver activity and beaver dams from California State university Channel Islands in the US. Produced by Anne Khazam for the BBC World Service. (Photo: The Hoover Dam on the Colorado River straddling Nevada and Arizona at dawn. Credit: Sean Pavone via Getty Images)

From coronations to cup finals, many of us love a big event, a ceremony with age-old observances. Indeed rituals, whether public spectaculars or more personal ones, such as a particular daily routine, have been part of human experience since time began. But why do rituals persist even though so many of them seem to serve no obvious practical purpose? Rajan Datar looks for clues in our past with the help of Egyptologist Dr. Elizabeth Frood and historian of Venice Prof. Edward Muir. It turns out that non-human animals – for instance elephants - also display ritual-like behaviour and not always for practical reasons. We hear from a leading behavioural ecologist, Dr. Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell. We examine whether rituals really do remain unchanging through time: it might seem to be their essential characteristic but in reality they continuously evolve. And what about the power of contemporary collective ceremonies and the strong emotions that swell inside us from being part of a huge crowd? Anthropologist Dr. Dimitris Xygalatas gives us his insights. (Photo: Shinto priests conduct the Oharae ritual in Tokyo. Credit: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)

Drawing on traditional music, pop culture, kitsch, rock and modernist poetry to mention just a few of their sources of inspiration, the short-lived Tropicália movement in late 1960s Brazil was provocative and anti-authoritarian. Perhaps most importantly it represented a uniquely Brazilian aesthetic that could only have emerged from that country's specific culture and history. The movement's leading lights were eventually arrested by the military regime that governed Brazil at the time, and exiled to London. But Tropicália paved the way for other performers to demand artistic freedom. With the help of musical examples, Rajan Datar and guests will explore what made Tropicália so disruptive. Joining Rajan will be singer Mônica Vasçoncelos and guitarist Gui Tavares, social scientist Professor Liv Sovik from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, who's published widely on Tropicália, including a collection of essays entitled Tropicália Rex: Popular music and Brazilian culture; and David Treece, Emeritus professor of Portuguese at King's College, London, who's written extensively on Brazilian popular music, including the book Brazilian Jive: From Samba to Bossa and Rap. Produced by Fiona Clampin for the BBC World Service (Image: Gilberto Gil in The Unique Concert at The Reunion in France. Credit: IMAZ PRESS/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Developments in new technology such as DNA sequencing have transformed our understanding of the Neanderthals, one of a group of archaic humans who occupied Europe, the Middle East and Western Asia more than 300,000 years ago. First identified by fossil remains in 1856 in a German quarry, the Neanderthals led an extremely physical existence as hunter-gatherers. They were stronger than us, adaptable as a species to huge variations in climate, with brains as large as ours and sophisticated ways of creating tools. Many of us carry some of the DNA of Neanderthals, thanks to interbreeding with homo sapiens. Although the Neanderthals today are no longer with us, their story has a lot to tell us about ourselves and our future survival on the planet. Rajan Datar is joined by Janet Kelso, a computational biologist and Group Leader of the Minerva Research Group for Bioinformatics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. She specialises in the analysis of DNA sequencing of ancient people such as Neanderthals; Katerina Harvati, the Senckenberg Professor for Paleoanthropology and Director of the Institute for Archaeological Sciences at the University of Tübingen. Her work focuses on the origins of modern humans and Neanderthal evolution; and archaeologist and writer Rebecca Wragg Sykes, Honorary Fellow in the School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology at the University of Liverpool. Her award-winning book Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art was published in 2020. Produced by Fiona Clampin for the BBC World Service (Image: Neanderthal Female, re-created by artists Andrie and Alfons Kennis. Photo: Joe McNally/Getty Images)

A Russian army stands at the gates of the capital of another country, a country that Russia has previously occupied and one that, according to Russian politicians, has no right to independent existence. Sounds familiar? That capital city was Warsaw and the year was 1920. But what happened in Poland just after the end of the First World War bears strong similarities to what went on near Kyiv in 2022. After World War I, Russian Bolsheviks, and Lenin in particular, wanted to re-occupy Poland, and indeed Ukraine, Belarus and some other countries, so that they could serve as a bridge for exporting communist revolution to Western Europe. The Poles resisted even though at first they were outnumbered and outgunned by the Russians. The result was the Polish-Bolshevik war which wasn't fully resolved until 1921 and which had a big impact on the future shape of inter-war Europe. To guide us through the Polish-Bolshevik war, Rajan Datar is joined by three distinguished historians: Dr. Pawel Duber, a Researcher at Nottingham Trent University whose work focuses on Poland in the first half of the 20th century; Anita Prazmowska, Professor of International History at London School of Economics and the author of many publications on Polish history in the last century and beyond; and Robert Service, Emeritus Professor of Russian history at Oxford University whose books cover Russia from the Mongol conquest to Putin. (Photo: Red Army on the Polish front, c.1920. Credit: Photo 12/Getty Images)

Why do we divide our lives into 7-day chunks? Unlike the day, month or year, there's no natural reason for this cycle, but nevertheless the week is now deeply ingrained in us and has proven very resistant to change. We explore the pagan, religious and early scientific roots of this man-made rhythm, the ideological battles fought over it, and the reason why the number seven came out on top. Our expert guests explain where the names of our days come from, why the weekend was born, and how the week has come to dominate our economic and social lives. There have, however, been several radical attempts to rip up the 7-day week – we hear about these alternatives and why they ultimately failed. Rajan Datar is joined by Eviatar Zerubavel, distinguished professor of sociology emeritus at Rutgers University, New Jersey, and author of ‘The Seven-Day Circle: The History and Meaning of the Week'; Ilaria Bultrighini, honorary research fellow in ancient history at University College London; and David Henkin, professor of history at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of ‘The Week: A History of the Unnatural Rhythms That Made Us Who We Are'. Producer: Simon Tulett (Picture: A signpost with the seven days of the week on the directional arrows against a bright blue cloudy sky. Credit: Getty Images)

As the spotlight falls on Qatar for the 2022 Fifa World Cup, we tell the story of how the world's biggest sporting spectacle began, in Uruguay in 1930. How did a small South American nation of just two million people, thousands of miles from football's centre of power in Europe, come to launch this major global competition? We discuss the fractious international relations, the political cunning, and the sporting excellence behind the successful bid. We learn how football helped shape a nation riven by civil war for much of its short existence, and hear about the tournament itself - the unfinished stadium, the dodgy refereeing decisions and, for some of the teams, the sheer ordeal of just getting there. Rajan Datar is joined by Andreas Campomar, a writer and publisher from London and author of Golazo! A History of Latin American Football; Dr Philippe Vonnard, a historian specialising in the internationalisation of sport at the University of Fribourg and the University of Lausanne, both in Switzerland; and Brenda Elsey, a professor of Latin American sports and cultural history at Hofstra University, New York. (Picture: Stamp issued by the Hungarian Post to commemorate the 1930 World Cup final between Uruguay and Argentina. Credit: Fototeca Gilardi/Getty Images)

The moth is an insect that's almost 200 million years old. Throughout human history, its attraction to light, its amazing ability to camouflage, and its nocturnal activity have given rise to myths, spiritual beliefs and been the inspiration for art and literature – especially the genres of horror and the supernatural. In the natural world, moths also play a hugely important role in promoting global diversity as prolific pollinators. Yet, this ancient insect is often regarded as little more than the poor relation of the butterfly, an annoying creature that feeds on our favourite clothes and eats crops. Today, the moth is under threat from light pollution and climate change. So is it time we re-evaluate our views on moths? Rajan Datar is joined by Professor Matthew Gandy, from the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge in the UK; Dr Alma Solis, research scientist on moths for the US department of Agriculture, and curator at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC; Dr Franziska Kohlt, a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of York who has studied the history of insects in literature and science; and the Estonian artist Liina Lember, creator of a moths art installation. With the contribution of Shirley Camia, whose poetry collection is called “The Significance of Moths”. Producer: Anne Khazam (Photo: The Death's-head Hawkmoth, with its characteristic skull-shaped pattern on the thorax. Credit: Choia/Getty Images)

More than 3,000 years ago a group of powerful and intricately connected Mediterranean kingdoms collapsed over the course of just a few decades. The palaces of Mycenaean Greece were destroyed, entire cities in Hittite Turkey were abandoned, and whole empires disintegrated. Some civilisations disappeared completely. But what caused the so-called Bronze Age collapse - climate change, trade breakdown, internal rebellion, or a mysterious group of invaders known as the ‘Sea Peoples'? Some historians have called the aftermath a 'dark age', but was it really as gloomy as that, and might this period of wealth, pressure, and decline offer us any lessons today? Rajan Datar is joined by İlgi Gerçek, assistant professor of ancient Near Eastern languages and history at Bilkent University, in Ankara; Eric Cline, professor of classics, history, and anthropology at The George Washington University, in Washington DC, and author of ‘1177BC: The Year Civilisation Collapsed'; and Marc van de Mieroop, professor of history at Columbia University, in New York. (Photo: The Course of Empire – Destruction, 1836, by Thomas Cole, New York Historical Society, New York. Credit: VCG Wilson/Corbis/Getty Images)

The debate around Music Life resumes as World Service's schedule reverts back to normal after recent events. We hear from listeners who are both complimentary and critical of the series and the show's producer joins Rajan Datar in the studio to answer the comments. Presenter: Rajan Datar Producer: Howard Shannon A Whistledown Production for the BBC World Service

The images, sensations and emotions we experience during sleep were once seen as the gateway to the gods and had the power to alter lives and even whole societies. Rajan Datar explores the way dreams, and their interpretation, have shaped beliefs and actions for thousands of years – from their role as a connection to the dead and the spirit world, to their ability to predict the future. We hear how these seemingly involuntary visions inspired key historical figures, changed the course of major events, and were used by many rulers as a propaganda tool. Plus, we discuss what's really happening in our brains when we have dreams and ask whether 21st-century life is placing them under threat. Contributors: Sidarta Ribeiro, professor of neuroscience and founder of the Brain Institute at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, in Brazil, and also the author of ‘The Oracle of Night: The History and Science of Dreams'; Scott Noegel, professor of biblical and ancient near eastern languages and literatures at the University of Washington, in the United States; Özgen Felek, lector of Ottoman and modern Turkish in the department of near eastern languages and civilizations at Yale University, in the US. (Picture: Dreamlike scene of a woman standing at fork in a stone pathway in a calm lake with clouds reflecting in the water. Credit: Thomas Barwick/Getty Images)

It is rare in music history that scholars can point to the beginning of a particular style, but bluegrass would appear to be the exception to the rule. Mandolin player Bill Monroe from rural Kentucky had so much clout in the music business that some scholars have suggested that it was he who defined the sound which came to be known as bluegrass. He was certainly protective; Monroe is quoted as saying “the biggest job of bluegrass is to keep out what don't belong in it.” Played initially in America's rural south, bluegrass was later adopted by the counter-cultural college kid scene in the 1950s and '60s. And today the music is flourishing all over the world in the most unlikely places. Rajan Datar is joined by Dan Boner, director of the Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Roots Music Studies programme at East Tennessee State University, who demonstrates how bluegrass works; writer and historian Tony Russell, whose publications on music include Rural Rhythm: The Story of Old-Time Country Music in 78 Records; and Dr Lydia Hamessley, professor of music at Hamilton College whose research concentrates on old-time and bluegrass music. She is the author of Unlikely Angel: The Songs of Dolly Parton. Producer: Fiona Clampin (Photo: Lester Flatt (right) and Earl Scruggs (left) perform with The Foggy Mountain Boys at the Grand Ole Opry circa 1960. Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Mohandas K Gandhi's decades-long campaign against British rule was the driving force behind Indian independence in August 1947. The way he did it - through ‘satyagraha', or non-violent resistance - made him one of the most famous and revered thinkers of the 20th century, and has inspired protest movements around the world. Rajan Datar explores the experiences, ideas and people that turned Gandhi from a timid schoolboy and failed lawyer into a man bold enough to take on the might of the British Empire. Plus, we ask whether he achieved the kind of Indian independence he really wanted, and find out why his legacy is the subject of intense debate in India to this day. Producer: Simon Tulett Contributors: Tridip Suhrud, a professor at CEPT university, in Ahmedabad, India, and a Gandhi scholar who has translated many of his works into English, including the first critical edition of Gandhi's autobiography, ‘My Experiments with Truth'; Karuna Mantena, a professor of political science at Columbia University in the US, currently working on a book about Gandhi's political thought; Anil Nauriya, a writer on freedom struggles in India and Africa and a lawyer based at the Supreme Court in New Delhi. (Picture: A photo of Gandhi taken around 1940. Credit: Dinodia Photos/Getty Images)

The reality behind the stereotypical image of Japan's fearsome elite warriors is more nuanced than we are led to believe. It is thought the samurai developed as a social class in medieval Japan, when the term could encompass lowly foot soldiers or mercenaries, and often untrustworthy ones at that. A far cry from the skilled fighters who supposedly pledged undying loyalty to their lord, and followed a code of honour. In fact, it was during peacetime that the image of the samurai came to be defined when their role as warriors was no longer necessary. During Japan's aggressive imperial expansion in the early 20th Century, the samurai ideal was once again manipulated for nationalistic purposes. Rajan Datar's guests include Michael Wert, who has published several books on Japan's warrior class, including Samurai: A Concise History. He is associate professor of East Asian History at Marquette University in Milwaukee; Marcia Yonemoto, professor and hair of the Department of History at the University of Colorado Boulder. She is the author of The Problem of Women in Early Modern Japan, which examines the role of women in Japan's military-bureaucratic state; and Polina Serebriakova, whose doctoral thesis at the University of Cambridge in the UK focuses on warrior leaders in medieval Japan. Producer: Fiona Clampin (Image: Illustration portrait of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Credit: Photo 12/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

There are almost as many ice cream origin stories as there are flavours, but where did the frozen treat really come from, and who invented it? Rajan Datar explores the dessert's murky history, from the harvesting and flavouring of snow in China and the Middle East thousands of years ago, to the experimental kitchens of the European aristocracy. Ice cream's evolution has, of course, closely followed that of refrigeration – we learn why salt was crucial for keeping early versions cold, and hear about the daring entrepreneur who began the global ice trade. Plus, who really invented the ice cream cone? Producer: Simon Tulett Contributors: Robin Weir, author of ‘Ice Creams, Sorbets and Gelati: The Definitive Guide'; Najmieh Batmanglij, Iranian-American chef and cookbook author; Dr Melissa Calaresu, Cambridge University. (Picture: A woman licking an ice cream. Credit: Getty images) To find out how to make ice cream yourself visit www.bbc.co.uk/food/ice_cream

Mythological sagas are often fantastical and push the imagination to the limit but the Popol Vuh, which originates in what is Guatemala today, has a gallery of extraordinary characters both good and bad. They get involved in a series of mind-boggling battles and challenges and this eventually leads to the creation of the human race. The Maya K'iche' story of the Popol Vuh has come down to us in an 18th-Century transcription and Spanish translation by a priest called Francisco Ximenez, and as with many ancient stories, there are tantalising questions about the history of the manuscript and the origins of the tale itself. Rajan Datar traces the meanings and significance of the Popol Vuh with the help of Frauke Sachse who is director of Pre-Columbian Studies at the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection in Washington DC; Iyaxel Cojti Ren, professor at the University of Texas; Allen Christenson who is professor at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah as well as an ethnographer and author of a new translation and critical edition of the Popol Vuh. The reader is Florencia Cordeu. (Image: A Mayan ball player at the Great Ball Court in Chichen-Itza. Credit: Independent Picture Service/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

Today Korea is divided between North and South, but the founding of the Koryo Kingdom in the 10th Century was the first time the peninsula was truly united and when a sense of nationhood emerged. The Koryo Kingdom is remembered for some of the finest cultural achievements in the country's history; it developed the world's first printing press – 200 years before the German inventor Johannes Gutenberg came up with his own version, and it is also a period marked by beautiful ceramics and art. But what is less well known is how progressive its politics and society were; promotion was based on merit, women were given greater rights, and monarchs ruled through co-operation. It was also a turbulent time with personal intrigue and back stabbing at court, and constant threats of foreign invasion. Rajan Datar finds out more about the Koryo Kingdom. He is joined by Sang'ah Kim, the Korean Collections' Curator at the British Museum in London; Dr Charlotte Horlyck, reader in Korean Art History at SOAS, University of London, who has written about the collecting of Koryo Art in the early 20th Century; Edward (Ned) Shultz, professor emeritus in Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii, and Dr Juhn Ahn, associate professor in Buddhism and Korean studies at the University of Michigan in the United States and author of Buddhas and Ancestors: Religion and Wealth in 14th Century Korea. Producedr: Anne Khazam (Photo: An inticately decorated ceramic container from the Koryo dynasty, 13th Century. Credit: Sepia Times/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

Vikings were addicted to silver; they collected it as coins, as ingots, arm-rings, jewellery. On one Swedish island alone archaeologists and metal detectorists found some 200,000 silver coins and there is a silver hoard there for almost every Viking farm. Why? What can the coins, many of which came from Asia, tell us not just about the huge Viking trading area but also about their society? And how did this influx of silver transform European economy and life in the early Middle Ages? These questions have occupied historians and archaeologists for a long time but now advanced scientific techniques such as DNA analysis and microscopic laser sampling are yielding new, more detailed and sometimes surprising answers. Rajan Datar gets an update on Viking research from archaeologist Marianne Hem Eriksen from the University of Leicester; Anders Winroth, historian from the University of Oslo; Soren Sindbaek, archaeologist from Aarhus University; and sound archaeologist Rupert Till from Huddersfield University. (Photo: A horn of plenty from a Viking grave. Credit: Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

Nero fiddled while Rome burned, didn't he? At least, that's what the history books tell us. Nero's image as a depraved tyrant has been handed down to us by three biased sources, written after the emperor's suicide in 68AD. These sources have informed interpretations of Nero's legacy ever since, so much so that his involvement in the Great Fire of Rome has become a meme. Recent scholarship has sought to rehabilitate Nero to a certain extent, to try to understand him in the context of his time. He was indeed a man who succeeded in shocking the Roman elite, but also someone who could strike a chord with the public and was well thought of outside the centre of political intrigue. Rajan Datar attempts to separate fact from fiction, with guests Dr Ginna Closs, Associate Professor of Classics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the US and author of While Rome Burned: Fire, Leadership, and Urban Disaster in the Roman Cultural Imagination which was published in 2020; and Dr Evan Jewell, Assistant Professor of History at Rutgers University, Camden. He's writing a book entitled Youth and Power: Acting Your Age in the Roman Empire; and Dr Shushma Malik, Senior Lecturer in Classics at the University of Roehampton. She's the author of The Nero-Antichrist: Founding and Fashioning a Paradigm. Produced by Fiona Clampin for BBC World Service. (Photo: Nero and the burning of Rome, July 18-27, 64 A.D. Coloured woodcut by Conti. Credit: Fototeca Gilardi/Getty Images)

Is the use of the ‘P' word ever acceptable? Prompted by the recent allegations of racism at Yorkshire CCC by cricketer Azeem Rafiq, Rajan Datar and producer Rajeev Gupta go on a journey of personal exploration. Like many South Asians in the 1970s and 80s, Rajan was routinely called the P-word as he walked to and from school, but a new generation of young British Asians say they now claim the word and it can be used within the community as a sign of power. Rajan finds out for himself how true this is and does a context in which the use of the word is acceptable actually exist? Produced by: Rajeev Gupta

A proud Hungarian by birth, Franz Liszt was a pioneer both in his piano playing and in his compositions. He was also the nearest thing to a rock star that classical music had in the 19th century. Fans would reportedly swarm over him, try and grab his gloves, even smoke his discarded cigars! Liszt lived up to his public image in his private life, with hectic touring schedules and colourful relationships with numerous women. But he was also generous to a fault – for example, frequently teaching for free - and he was a great champion of other composers. Rajan Datar is joined by three people for whom Liszt and his music occupy a central position in their professional lives: Dr. Rena Mueller, a musicologist emerita at New York University who is working on a complete thematic catalogue of Liszt's music; Dr. Éva Polgár who teaches at Azusa Pacific University in California and is a pianist noted for her championing of not just Liszt's works but all the music from her native Hungary; and professor Kenneth Hamilton, Head of School of Music at Cardiff University, who is not just a distinguished pianist but also an author and broadcaster. Examples from Liszt's works used in the programme: Mazeppa (S.138) played by Leslie Howard Totentanz performed by Krystian Zimerman , Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa La Campanella (Études d'exécution transcendente d'après Paganini, S.140) played by Leslie Howard Apparition No. 2 played by Ashley Wass Sonetto 123 del Petrarca (Années de pèlerinage II) played by Wilhelm Kempff Chase Neige (12 Études d'exécution transcendante, S.139) played by Boris Berezovsky Wilde Jagd (Études d'exécution transcendante, S.139 ) played by Daniil Trifonov Mazeppa (orchestral version, S. 100) performed by Wiener Philharmoniker, Giuseppe Sinopoli Ballade No. 2 played by Kenneth Hamilton Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 played by Arcadi Volodos Csardas Obstinée played by Éva Polgár Les jeux d'eaux à la Villa d'Este (Années de pèlerinage III) played by Egon Petri (Image: Detail from a 19th-century caricature of Franz Liszt, Bibliothèque-Musée De L'Opéra National De Paris-Garnier. Credit: DeAgostini/Getty Images)

How do you approach the decisions you make in life? Do you think about them in terms of the maximum pleasure and minimum pain that any choice would lead to for yourself and others around you? If so, you are beginning to think along similar lines to the influential British philosopher and reformer Jeremy Bentham with his concept of Utilitarianism. This was not Bentham's only contribution to radical thought. With the prison and judicial systems, with education, women's suffrage, animal rights and the monarchy, throughout his life he came up with a huge body of work that challenged the status quo and still feels relevant today. Rajan Datar is joined by three expert guests to guide us through the life and work of this remarkable thinker: professor Philip Schofield from University College London who is both the director of the Bentham Project and the general editor of the Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham; Emmanuelle de Champs who is professor of British history and civilisation at CY Cergy Paris University, and Jeffrey Kaplan who is assistant professor of philosophy at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. (Image: Coloured engraving of Jeremy Bentham, early 19th century. Credit: Stock Montage/Getty Images)

Harry Houdini's story is the classic American tale of an immigrant who from impoverished beginnings made it big in the United States. Perhaps it is this early hand to mouth existence in a large family which explains his extraordinary drive to succeed. Captivated by magic shows, he began performing tricks on stage with one of his brothers, and then with his wife. Houdini's decision to make escape the focus of his act was well-timed, chiming with the public mood for sensational trickery. Whether it was escaping from handcuffs, a straitjacket or from a box filled with water, Houdini wowed audiences with his seemingly death-defying performance. So what motivated this complex man who spent a lifetime ‘deluding' the public with his illusions, and how did he reconcile that with his campaign against the Spiritualist movement which he regarded as a racket? Rajan Datar charts the life and career of the legendary Houdini, with writer and biographer Adam Begley, whose book Houdini: The Elusive American was published in 2020; Dr Matthew Solomon, Associate Professor at the University of Michigan and the author of Disappearing Tricks: Silent Film, Houdini, and the New Magic of the Twentieth Century; and Dr Katharina Rein from the University of Potsdam in Germany, who's published widely on stage magic in the 19th and early 20th centuries, including Techniques of Illusion which will be available in 2022. Produced by Fiona Clampin for the BBC World Service. (Photo: Harry Houdini chained up ready to jump into Charles River, Boston, Massachusetts in 1906. Credit: Bettmann via Getty Images)

They're slimy and slippery. They're part of the green film you see on garden ponds. They can clump together and wash up on the shores of beautiful beaches. A lot of them are invisible to the naked eye. These underappreciated organisms called algae are indispensable to the presence of life on earth but not all is straightforward about them. They can be single celled or multi cellular. They can be ugly and slimy or sometimes beautiful: indeed are even a tourist attraction. They may be found in the sea or on land. They can be life-creating and yet life-destroying and toxic in excess. So perhaps it's time we paid more attention to algae and their evolution. Rajan Datar is joined by Ruth Kassinger, author of Slime: How algae created us, plague us and just might save us; Dr Brenda Soler-Figueroa, a marine scientist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Centre; Dr Gothamie Weerakoon Senior Curator of Lichens and Slime Moulds at the Natural History Museum of London and author of Fascinating Lichens of Sri Lanka; and Stefan Bengtson, emeritus professor at the Swedish Museum of Natural History. (Photo: Volvox algae colonies, spherical forms outlined by biflagellate cells interconnected by cytoplasmic bridges. Credit: DeAgostini/Getty Images)

One of the earliest Cold War conflicts was a 12-year guerrilla war commonly known as the Malayan Emergency and fought from 1948 in the jungles of what is now Malaysia. This communist insurgency was fuelled not only by ideology but also by the desire for Malayan independence from British colonial rule. There have been a number of books and documentaries devoted to the subject but relatively few in English capture the experiences of the Chinese community in Malaya that was at the centre of the Emergency. Rajan Datar is joined by three guests, all with family links to the Emergency: Sim Chi Yin, a photographer and artist from Singapore whose book She Never Rode that Trishaw Again tells the story of her grandmother widowed during the war in Malaya; Show Ying Xin, a postdoctoral fellow at the at the Australian National University's Malaysia Institute in Canberra; and Rachel Leow, Associate Professor in Modern East Asian History at the University of Cambridge and author of Taming Babel: Language in the Making of Malaysia. [Photo: Malayan police officers keeping watch from the Pengkalan police station in 1950. Credit: Haywood Magee/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images]

Eva Peron rose from a childhood of poverty to become one of the most powerful figures in Latin America. An illegitimate small town girl, she smashed class and gender barriers to become Argentina's controversial First Lady. Loved and loathed, Rajan Datar discusses her life, work and remarkable afterlife with biographer Jill Hedges, historian Ranaan Rein, and cultural theorist Claudia Soria. [Photo: Eva Peron in 1951. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images]

Whether it be a kerrang, a chop, a blistering solo, some finger picking or a subtle flange, the electric guitar is one of the defining sounds of the 20th century. Without it – and its constant companion, the amplifier - popular culture would be unrecognisable today: no big gigs, no stadium concerts. And almost certainly no rock music. But why was it needed and how was it created? Who were the pioneers of the technology and who were the early-adopting exponents? Rajan Datar and his three guest experts delve into the roots of this iconic instrument. Monica Smith is Head of Exhibitions and Interpretation for the Smithsonian's Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. Among the many projects she has curated at the museum is From Frying Pan to Flying V: The Rise of the Electric Guitar. Paul Atkinson is professor of Design and Design History at Sheffield Hallam university and the author of Amplified: A Design History of the Electric Guitar. HP Newquist is the founder of the National Guitar Museum in the United States. He has written numerous books on the guitar and its history, and was the editor-in-chief of Guitar Magazine. [Image: electric guitars. Credit: ilbusca/Getty Images]

The writer Amir Hamza is a national hero in Indonesia celebrated for both his poetry and his role in the development of the country's national language. Hamza was an emotional man who struggled with thwarted love and inner conflict and created a beguilingly intense body of work. His poetry paid homage to Malay literary tradition infused with Islamic mysticism but also reflected new ideas springing up in the artistic circles in Java where he worked in the 1930s. Towards the end of that decade events conspired to enforce his return to the family home in Sumatra and ultimately led to his becoming a tragic victim of brutal retribution during Indonesia's transition to independence. Rajan Datar is joined by Ayu Utami, an award-winning Indonesian novelist, playwright and broadcaster; Ben Murtagh, Reader in Indonesian and Malay at SOAS, University of London, and managing editor of the journal Indonesia and the Malay World; and Taufiq Hanafi, an Indonesian literary scholar currently at the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies in Leiden. The reader is Sallehuddin Abdullah-Sani. [Photo: Amir Hamzah]

David Lewis was of one of the most remarkable nautical explorers of modern times. In the mid-1960s, he took his wife and two small daughters - who were less than five years old - on a sailing trip around the world in a small catamaran. What is more, for one part of the journey, he rejected standard 20th-Century navigational equipment and relied on much older methods of finding his way across the Pacific. In fact, it was his lifelong goal to prove that ancient seafaring methods were still valuable and his research helped revive ancient Polynesian navigation methods. In his more than eventful life, he also wrote a dozen books, practised as a GP in London's East End and tackled many unclimbed peaks as a mountaineer. And he undertook hazardous trips to the Antarctic including one in which he was presumed dead. Rajan Datar is joined by David's son Barry, who is also an accomplished sailor and who accompanied David on some of his seminal voyages; Dr. Christina Thompson, the editor of Harvard Review and the author of Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia; and Ben Lowings, a yachtsman, BBC journalist and the author of David Lewis's biography entitled The Dolphin. [Photo: David Lewis sets out on his 1972 trip to the Antarctic in his 32-foot sloop Ice Bird. Credit: George Lipman; Stuart William MacGladrie/Fairfax Media/Getty Images]

Ida Pfeiffer's desire to see the world was like many childhood fantasies - destined to remain just that. And yet at the age of 44 once her sons had reached adulthood, she set off from her home in Vienna on a series of journeys that no woman of her time or background had contemplated. Beginning with a trip to the Middle East, Pfeiffer travelled mostly alone, documenting her voyages and collecting specimens that she later sold to help finance her adventures abroad. Budget travel was her mantra, as she was not a wealthy aristocrat like many travellers of that time. On her journeys Pfeiffer was attacked, kidnapped, robbed and almost drowned. She met head-hunters and endured extreme conditions to pursue her dream. Defying all convention, Pfeiffer became celebrated as the most travelled woman on the planet, circumnavigating the globe twice. But despite her trailblazing attitude, she was no feminist, believing that women should be either professionals or home-builders, not both. Rajan Datar discusses the life of this most unlikely traveller with the social and cultural anthropologist Hiltgund Jehle; Ulrike Brisson, whose research has focused on 19th and early 20th-Century European women's travel writing; and John van Wyhe, senior lecturer in the department of biological sciences at Tembusu College in Singapore, and author of Wanderlust: The Amazing Ida Pfeiffer, the first female tourist. Producer: Fiona Clampin (Image: Portrait of the Austrian traveller Ida Pfeiffer (1797-1858), from Il Giro del mondo (World Tour), Journal of geography, travel and costumes, Volume XVII, Issue 8, February 23, 1873. Credit: DEA /Biblioteca Ambrosiana/Getty Images)

The guest host is Rajan Datar, BBC journalist, star of TV and Radio, and long time bass player in the group he founded, Maroon Town

The practice of hunting with birds of prey is thought to stretch back thousands of years. In early nomadic societies, falconry was used to hunt animals to provide food and clothing in places such as the steppes of Central Asia. As the practice spread, falconry evolved into a pastime that attracted the elite of European society, reflected in the extensive iconography of noblemen and women and their falcons. Today falconry is found in more than 90 countries around the world. At its core remains the importance of the relationship between falconer and the bird of prey, a bond unlike any other between man and beast. But although falconry has been classed as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO, there are challenges to its survival. And some argue that falconry itself is exploitative. Rajan Datar is joined by the president of the International Association for Falconry, His Excellency Majid al-Mansouri; Adrian Lombard, Chair of the South African Falconry Association; art historian Anne-Lise Tropato, the first Falconry Research Fellow at New York University Abu Dhabi, and social anthropologist Sara Asu Schroer who's researched the relationships between falconers and birds of prey through fieldwork in Britain and Europe. Produced by Fiona Clampin for the BBC World Service [Image: Emirati Ali Mansouri trains a falcon in the Liwa desert. Credit: KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images]

Presenting or reporting for television or radio can be both exciting and terrifying in equal measure - and that's not including how you make it on air in the first place! In this week's podcast Charles Miller talks to three presenters with varied careers: Rajan Datar, Sarah Cruddas and Lindsey Chapman. Between them they present for TV, radio and online and cover news, travel, science, sport, natural history and the arts. You'll find out: How each of the guests got started on air How to manage a presenting or reporting career Making the best use of your contacts How to work with production teams Is it better to be a specialist or a generalist? Their tips for new starters

Foreign correspondents tell their stories - in this edition, discussions in Israel about the conflict in Gaza, Tim Whewell; why the Turkish prime minister seems set to become the country's new president, Natalie Martin; why Argentina's demanding that global financial systems be overhauled, Katy Watson; tourists start to return to parts of The Philippines battered by storms and an earthquake, Rajan Datar and Reggie Nadelson visits a seaside town on America's east coast where African Americans traditionally took their summer holidays.

Kate Adie introduces correspondents' stories from around the world. Today, Jamie Coomarasamy meets the man who once was Crimea's one and only President and dreams of a new landscape; James Menendez goes to the city where month-long demonstrations started in Venezuela; Shahida Bari find camels, dogs, four by fours, twitter and verse in the deserts of the UAE; Rajan Datar is in Goa, trying his best to help pick up the rubbish; and Stephen Mulvey's memories of Ukrainian independence don't match President Putin's.

Over the past year, BBC correspondents have reported on upheaval in Egypt, war in Syria, a government shutdown in America, a new pope and a royal baby. But this special edition of From Our Own Correspondent avoids the major headlines and the big breaking stories in favour of a ground-level view of the last 12 months. So, in this programme: Rajan Datar takes a ride with a polyphonic choir in Georgia and Reggie Nadelson hears the story of Harlem's Apollo Theatre. Nick Thorpe finds strangely tender moments in a Romanian slaughterhouse while Steve Rosenberg plays piano with the man who ended the Cold War. We journey to the deserts of Sahara and South America, take trains in Portugal and Nigeria and hear reporters grapple with strange musical instruments in Vietnam and Switzerland. And there's more in this montage of some of the year's more entertaining dispatches, presented by Kate Adie. Producer: Mike Wendling

As one of the last heroes of the Vietnam War is laid to rest, Rajan Datar hears young people there keen to move on from those years of conflict, to celebrate instead a land rich in culture and economic opportunity; Jonah Fisher talks of the debate in swiftly-changing Myanmar about what exactly makes a detainee a political prisoner; as Greece continues its punishing austerity programme, Alexa Dvorson has been finding out how they are coping out in the countryside, away from the main cities; 'let there be light' seems to be the message in Lagos: Neal Razzell has been to see a state government initiative in Nigeria's biggest city introduce street lighting to many formerly-dark and threatening streets and the BBC's bureau in Moscow has been celebrating fifty years of existence. Steve Rosenberg has been looking at news reporting there then and now. The producer is Tony Grant

What's happened to her house in the Old City in Damascus? Diana Darke hears how it's fared during the ongoing conflict in Syria. David Shukman is in Prescott, Arizona, a community devastated after 19 firefighters lost their lives battling a forest fire. Kinshasa in DR Congo is Africa's fastest-growing city - Jonny Hogg's been finding out how law and order's fast collapsing there too. Natasha Breed, who lives in Kenya and regularly films lions there, is shocked at the conditions a lion's forced to endure at a circus in France. And, on a lighter note, Rajan Datar, high in the Caucusus mountains of Georgia, is invited to try his hand, or rather his larynx, at the ancient art of polyphonic singing.

The BBC's Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen examines claims that a conclusion to the long conflict in Syria is within sight. After a year of protests against President Putin, Steve Rosenberg finds support for him is still strong -- particularly in cities away from the capital, Moscow. Bethany Bell's in South Tyrol where some are angry that the Italian authorities, in the midst of financial crisis, want this wealthy Alpine province to contribute more to the national exchequer. The Turks know that the television soap opera's an effective means of extending influence throughout the Middle East. And the BBC man Rajan Datar gets offered a screen part! And they've been harvesting the olives in the hills of Tuscany. Dany Mitzman's been lending a hand and observing that the harvest methods have changed little since ancient times.

Kate Adie presents despatches from: Tim Whewell in a small town in Syria in the midst of the current conflict. Andrew North on trepidation in Afghanistan as the country prepares for NATO withdrawal and elections in 2014. Rajan Datar meets members of Brazil's Valley of the Dawn cult. Tim Dinham explains why your social life really can depend on the kind of Bewab or caretaker your apartment has in Cairo. And Jon Donnison spends a day with the best Yasser Arafat lookalike on the West Bank.