Land of Resistance

Guest: Barbara Demick, author of "Eat the Buddha: Life and Death in a Tibetan Town"

Tibet is a mysterious land on the roof of the world, jammed between global powers of India and China, and, in fact, swallowed and digested by the latter. It's a remote land, made more remote by its long tradition of sacred isolation and by its controversial occupation by China. Home of the exiled Dalai Llama, Tibet has long been synonymous with resistance to Chinese tyranny. Journalist Barbara Demick traveled to Tibet to see what modern life is like there. She explains how Tibet’s long history of resistance to China has led to the current moment.

Blood Letters

Guest: Xi Lian, Professor, World Christianity, Duke Divinity School, Duke University, and author of "Blood Letters: The Untold Story of Lin Zhao, A Martyr in Mao’s China"

Fighting to get her words into the world, jailed and ultimately martyred political dissident Lin Zhao used anything available, including her own blood, to tell her story. She turned out to be the most important political prisoner in Mao's regime, and she remains a hero in China today. 

The Eight Million Dollar Book Theft

Guest: Travis McDade, Curator of Law Rare Books and Associate Professor of Library Service at University of Illinois College of Law

Some criminals steal diamonds or gold bullion. Others steal books. A rare and valuable copy of Ptolemy’s "La Geographia," printed in 1548, was stolen from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh sometime in the last 25 years. This alone is a noteworthy crime, but it was just the beginning. Eventually, roughly 300 other rare books were stolen from the library in an $8 million bit-by-bit book heist.  It's a story of a librarian who went bad and the sleuthing to crack the case and recover the books.

Beardmore Hoax

Guest: Douglas Hunter, journalist, historian, and author of "Beardmore: The Viking Hoax that Rewrote History"

Uncovering ancient Viking relics in your backyard is highly improbable, especially in central North America. What’s even more unlikely is museum directors, renowned scholars, and the press defending the discovery even when the archaeology doesn’t add up. Author Douglas Hunter joins us to talk about the notorious 20th century scandal of Beardmore, and the schoolteacher and geologist who took on powerful academic institutions in a quest for the truth.