Robert Hormats, a vice chairman of Goldman Sachs, has a new book out – The Price of Liberty – on the history of America’s war financing. From the time of Alexander Hamilton, this country has always financed its wars when they occurred – until the current war in Iraq. “One central, constant theme emerges: sound national finances have proved to be indispensable to the country’s military strength” (and long-term national security). Obviously, our finances have never been more unsound. So where are we headed this time?
An hour from BBC Radio 4 Archive Hour: Saving the Sounds of History. “The BBC Sound Archive, one of the most important collections in the world, began almost by accident one day in the 1930s when Marie Slocombe, a temporary secretary, was told to clear out some old records. The first batch included recordings by George Bernard Shaw and Winston Churchill. Slocombe held on to them and spent the rest of her career developing the collection, from the great and the good to the experiences of ordinary people.”
This week’s HV cast is a trip to Easter Island to gather recordings of local musicians and theories on who made and moved the “moai,” the ilse’s famous stone heads. A mystery of aliens, archeologists; and arboreal emptiness: What happened to all the trees? A story by Jack Chance, “Big Stone Heads” (6:09 mp3):
Could you pass the U.S. citizenship test?; July 4 Special at MSNBC.com. An online quiz of twenty questions from the civics test the Citizenship and Immigration Services (INS) during the naturalization interview.
This week’s HV cast for Independence Day— People with different regional, ethnic, and national accents recite and reflect upon the single-sentence, century-old poem “The Pledge of Allegiance.” A story by Barrett Golding, “The Pledge” (5:23 mp3):
NPR has a new CD collection called The Declaration in Sound. Most of the tracks are NPR intervus and commentaries; ya know, Edwards, Krulwich, Stamberg and such on presidential drinking problems and Declaration of Independence quotes, like “Cruelty & Perfidy,” “of justice and of consanguinity,” and “merciless Indian Savages.”
Our Memorial Day hour special, “For The Fallen,” airs on 300+ 370+ stations this weekend. Check the webwork for audio, casualty charts, and video slideshow. The host is Major Robert Schaefer, US Army Special Forces, a poet and Green Beret.
Michael Bronner wrote this real-world drama from 9/11 Live: The NORAD Tapes(August 2006 Vanity Fair). This web version is accompanied by mp3s from tapes labeled “Northeast Air Defense Sector—DAT Audio Files—11 Sep 2001.” Here’s an excerpt, a conversation between NORAD’s Senior Airman Stacia Rountree, Tech Sergeant Shelley Watson, Master Sergeant Maureen Dooley: ROUNTREE: A plane just hit the World Trade Center.
WATSON: What?
ROUNTREE: Was it a 737?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (background): Hit what?
WATSON: The World Trade Center–
DOOLEY: Who are you talking to? [Gasps.]
NORAD: Is this real-world or exercise?
BOSTON CENTER: No, this is not an exercise, not a test.
An hour from BBC Radio 4 Archive Hour: 
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Our Memorial Day hour special, “For The Fallen,” airs on