Napoleon

A crowd watches an illuminated bandshell decorated with red and blue stars while confetti falls in the air.

It’s ironic that we play the ‘1812 Overture’ at Fourth of July celebrations

The “1812 Overture” isn’t even about America’s War of 1812. So how did music celebrating Russia’s pushback against a foreign power become associated with America’s Fourth of July?

Louis-Marie, Vicomte de Noailles, in 1798. A portrait by Gilbert Stuart of Philadelphia.

How the French won the American Revolution

Global Politics

Where has Britain’s ‘stiff upper lip’ gone?

Global Politics

Isabel Allende on writing, Haiti and the legacy of slavery

Arts, Culture & Media

Why Political Cartoons Make People So Mad

Conflict & Justice

Despite Resigning, Petraeus Will Testify on Benghazi

The soap opera continues. The FBI investigation into an alleged affair between General David Petraeus and biographer  Paula Broadwell, which also implicated  General John Allen  and a Tampa-based fundraiser named  Jill Kelley, has become very public knowledge.  Petraeus  resigned  on Friday, hoping to get in front of the scandal before it thrust him any further into the spotlight.   But Congress had other […]

The World

Britain Named Most Prolific Invader

Arts, Culture & Media

A new book claims that Britain has invaded more countries than any other. Anchor Aaron Schachter discusses the claim with the World’s News Editor and resident history buff, Chris Woolf.

Slideshow: Slave Burial Ground in the Atlantic

Arts, Culture & Media

For the Geo Quiz, we are looking for tiny island in the middle of the vast South Atlantic Ocean that was once used as a refugee camp for slaves.

Has the European multiculturalism experiment failed?

How multiculturalism might relate to the tensions and violence happening in Norway and elsewhere in Europe.

Dictators with dialects, finger spelling and universal Inuit

The World in Words

Napoleon, Hitler and Gaddafi all grew up speaking a distinct dialect of their native tongue. Coincidence? Dialects are the languages of outsiders, at least until they are co-opted by people, or governments, trying to standardize the language. That’s what’s happening right now in northern Canada, where with the dialects of the Inuit. The hope is […]