Alistair Cooke looks forward with pleasure to the Presidential election and an end to wall-to-wall lobbying and advertising.

Alistair Cooke celebrates the life and work of diarist James Agate and contemplates how he would have approached the pressing issues of the modern world. .

Alistair Cook considers two conflicts - the rioting in Jerusalem and the revolution in Belgrade.

With a presidential election a month or so away, Alistair Cook ponders the history of the American presidential debates.

Whilst the rising price of gasoline (or petrol to the European listener) is casusing a problem across both Europe and the US, Alistair Cooke considers who, if anyone, is really to blame for this big oil situation.

In the midst of the reporting from the Sydney Olympic Games, Alistair Cooke is surprised by an article detailing the legal status of prostitution in Australia. Whilst reviewing the article he reflects on the eternal struggle between political idealism and reality.

In the run up to the presidential election Alistair Cooke considers the affect of the poll ratings, Governor Bush's language gaffs and personality contests.

Alistair Cooke examines the lengths athletes go to for sporting success and reflects on the history of bodily enhancement through drugs, hormones and exercise techniques.

Alistair Cooke considers the American passion for trusting in God and how religion is linked to the American constitutional rights.

Alistair Cooke considers the tragic sinking of the Russian submarine Kursk and what public reaction in Russia has revealed about the government's relationship with it's people.