More The Netherlands

More - list of articles in the section More The Netherlands

  • Window on Holland: 1963
    Radio Netherlands’ look back over the main events of the year: Edward Heath (1916-2015) and Joseph Luns (1911-2002) on the breakdown of Britain’s EEC entry attempt an interview with Rita …
  • Happy Station: Clarissa & Maxine
    (© Kevin Christopher Burke) Host Pete Myers and and his sidekick Jonathan Groubert explore the joys of womanhood. Producer: Pete Myers Broadcast: April 17, 1994…
  • Economist Deirdre McCloskey
    Dheera Sujan meets the internationally renowned economist Deirdre McCloseky, at the time holding the Tinbergen Chair at Rotterdam’s Erasmus University. Professor McCloskey started life as …
  • You say tomato: British vs American English
    “Two countries divided by a common language”, so said the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw about the difference between British and American English. American Robert Chesal and Brit …
  • Peter the Great: Part 3 of 3 – A new Russia
    There are very good reasons for calling “the most excellent and great sovereign prince Pyotr Alekseyevich, leader of all the Russias” Czar Peter the Great. It is impossible to exaggerate …
  • The evolution of fairy tales
    Fairy tales are often far from lighthearted stories for children. They have evolved from dark beginnings, working on our primeval fear of monsters within and monsters without. Often they had moral …
  • Aural Tapestry – More than home movies
    David Swatling talks to documentary film makers at the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam. They all have something in common: they have taken a family story and made it into much …
  • Beyond the broad axe: A look at the influence of the Vikings in Western Europe
    The word Viking conjures up an image of a ruthless, horn-helmeted warrior. But Viking culture is misunderstood. Ever since 793, the men from the north have influenced culture and politics from …
  • Spirits in turmoil in the former East bloc
    Eight years ago, the Berlin Wall fell, and one by one the Communist regimes in the former East Bloc collapsed. Freedom was initially welcomed, but it has come at a great cost: massive unemployment, …
  • Amalia van Solms
    Aural Tapestry: The Royal Court of The Hague
    To mark The Hague’s 750th anniversary in 1998, David Swatling focuses on an important era in the city’s history with the help of two exhibitions. One, Princely Display, presents a vivid …
  • The Wooster Group
    David Swatling meets members of the avant garde American Wooster Group who were at the Holland Festival in 1998 with their production of the Hairy Ape, by Eugene O’Neill. The programme includes …
  • The cat’s meow
    Mindy Ran indulges her love of cats: cats as gods in ancient times, cats and religion/superstition, cats and literature from Hamlet, T.S. Elliot, Alice In Wonderland and Dr. Seuss. Producer: Mindy …
  • The Sun Programmes
    A two-part series on the sun. In part one, a personal view of the August 1999 total eclipse of the sun by Laura Durnford. In part two, a portrait of the sun, our nearest star.…
  • Once upon a time in Western Europe: The story of a continental cowboy and Indian
    Michele Ernsting discovers that there are dozens of country and western shops which have opened up in the Netherlands in the past few years. The Netherlands is an urbanised and regulated country, yet …
  • Dutch tulips
    Tulipomania.dotcom, Part 1 of 2 – The hype
    In this two-part series, David Swatling compares the tulip mania of the 17th century with the latest new economy hype. Producer: David Swatling Broadcast: June 11, 2000…
  • Blood River memorial
    From the high veld to high tech
    Afrikaners have gone down in history as the Boers who fought the British around 1900, as well as the perpetrators of apartheid. But what is becoming of the Afrikaners and their language in …
  • Rembrandt family portrait
    The masters’ children
    David Swatling examines how the Dutch masters of the Golden Age portrayed children in their paintings and the symbolism of presenting children in a certain way.  His guests includes Simon …
  • Hildegard von Bingen: A 12th century mystic
    David Swatling presents a portrait of the 12th-century mystic Hildegard von Bingen. She founded her own monastery, had prophetic visions, counseled kings and emperors and wrote books on theology, …
  • Coming home
    Maggie Ayre meets three Dutch people – two men and a woman – who went oversees (to the United States, Tasmania and South Africa) in search of happiness, love and a new life. After many …
  • Technotopia: The promise of the cyberCommons
    One of the meanings of “utopia” is nowhere, a place that doesn’t exist. What better place to find one than cyberspace, in other words, the internet as utopia. But will it be a …
  • Dance theatre
    The human body in art: The body divine – Part 1 of 2
    From a very early stage, man began to put human form to the gods he worshipped. The first part of this two-part series focuses on three periods in history when the human body was used to represent …
  • The Dutch royal couple visiting the province of Drenthe
    Professor Niek van Sas on the Dutch monarchy
    Bertine Krol speaks with Niek van Sas, professor of modern history, about the Dutch monarchy and how it came about. He also discusses the powers and influence – real and presumed – are of …
  • Chris Chambers meets Dr. Anton Zijderveld
    This programme is part of the series Chris Chambers meetsIn this unedited interview the programme “Talking it Over”, Chris Chamber talks with sociologist Dr. Anton Zijderveld about his …
  • Foreign domestic worker
    Roses by different names: Domestic workers overseas
    Martha Hawley reports on the plight of women from developing countries in Asia (Philippines and Sri Lanka), Africa and Latin America who come to work in Europe as domestics to improve the quality of …
  • Read to live
    One of the greatest inventions of the human race has to be the alphabet, written symbols which have given us the ability to pass on knowledge, beauty, information and philosophical concepts through …
  • Research File: Science and fiction – Part 5 of 5
    This programme is part of the series Research FileIn the last part of a series on science and society, Mindy Ran looks at the relationship between science and fiction. So good were some fantasy …
  • The real Kamasutra
    The Kamasutra has been used and misused over the centuries. Its name has become synonymous with exotic sex. But in fact, it is a treatise on pleasure. It’s latest translator from Sanskrit, …
  • Sins of the fathers
    Ann Marie Michel examines the plight of the children whose fathers collaborated with the German Nazis during the Second World War. We hear from a historian who has written from first-hand experience …
  • A Three Colour Opera: Charlotte Salomon
    David Swatling explores the extraordinary life and work of Jewish painter Charlotte Salomon (1917-1943). She created 1300 gouaches, or water colours, depicting her life in only 18 months while living …
  • A portrait of the devil
    We use his name in vain every day. He is the image of our nightmares. He is the ultimate temptor. He is the father of our desire. But who really is the devil? Is he the personification of evil, or is …
  • The divine presence of angels
    People are keen to believe in angels or something akin to them that protect us. Dheera Sujan has been finding out why. Why were angels “invented”? What do they look like? Can we …
  • Terschelling’s people none to pleased with their nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage site
    Terschelling is located on the Wadden Sea, an area rich in wildlife, and it has been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The island is a maze of sand dunes and nature reserves, which makes it …
  • A Bosnian Christmas carol
    Jonathan Groubert followed his Bosnian in-laws up a mountain to his wife’s hometown for a brandy-soaked and exhausting – but ultimately poignant – Serbian Orthodox Christmas ritual. …
  • The search for exoplanets
    Govert Schilling: Astronomical journalist, Utrecht, Netherlands Professor Andreas Quirrenbach, Leiden University Observatory, Netherlands Professor Joseph Braat, Technical University, Delft, …
  • Why war?: Einstein’s question to Freud
    The scientist Albert Einstein is best known for solving some of the greatest mysteries of time and space, yet there was another question which plagued him throughout his life. In 1932, he was given a …
  • Mind over marketing
    From the moment we wake up until we go to sleep, we are bombarded by advertisements carefully designed to seduce our senses. This 24-hour marketing culture permeates all areas of our lives. But is …
  • Telephone chord
    Tale of two women
    This is a story of two women, friends since their school days. They are now in their mid 40’s and their lives have moved in opposite directions. Carolijn Visser is a travel writer. She’s spent more …
  • Frankie Mannie (© Wikicommons/The Riz)
    Frankie Manning: Hoppin’ alive
    Lindy hop is back! Amsterdam has rediscovered the American feel-good dance. Hundreds of enthusiastic hoppers recently enjoyed a weekend full of workshops, master classes and parties with special …
  • The recruits: Norway needs you!
    Norway needs you! If you’re Dutch, that is…The country is actively recruiting new settlers to combat a declining population. The Dutch come top of the wish list: hard-working, innovative, …
  • Ode to Josephine: Memories of a parallel mother
    Producer Dheera Sujan remembers Josephine Fernandez, the horsy-faced, bow-legged 20-something Goan ayah (nanny) who looked after her and her sister when they were very small children growing up in …
  • Flamenco
    Paco Peña’s Passion
    David Swatling meets Paco Peña, the master of flamenco and composer of the “Misa Flamenca”. The interview covers the origin of flamenco and the idea behind his flamenco mass. The …
  • The Jewish genealogist
    Petje Schroeder has spent the last decade helping Jews from all over the world tie together the threads of their Polish history and rediscover family past and present. She also gives Jonathan an …
  • Night frights
    It’s the middle of the night. You wake up with a start. There’s a presence in the room watching you. You sense that it is evil. But you are paralysed and powerless. It’s your worst nightmare. Or is …
  • Testing the alarms
    Since 9/11, many people have come to view the world through a filter of anxiety. Daily media reports of terror attacks or threats keep us all on heightened alert. But what is the source of that fear? …
  • For the love of bridges
    Documentary on the love and fascination people feel about bridges. Producer: Thijs Westerbeek van Eerten Broadcast: January 6, 2006…
  • Canadian writer Irshad Ranji
    Canadian writer and broadcaster Irshad Manji has written “The Trouble with Islam today”. She is a critic of the literalist view of Islam and believes that Muslim moderates should speak …
  • The walker
    In the space of seven years, Jan Visser walked 40,000 kilometers, the equivalent of the Earth’s equator, keeping score with his trusty pedometre. In “The Walker”, Laura Durnford …
  • The whether diaries
    Two women on opposite sides of the world keep audio diaries over the course of a single week. In Amsterdam it’s mid-winter, in Sydney mid-summer. Both women are displaced: Dheera Sujan in …
  • Child in slum in Port-au-Prince
    Haiti: The worst place in the Americas to have a baby
    Throughout the developing world, pregnancy is fraught with danger. There is little or no pre-natal care, hospitals and clinics are often far away and mothers are often expected to pay to give birth. …
  • A Christmas edition of “The Stars of Music” with Gary Goldschneider
    Concert pianist and astrologer Gary Goldschneider (1939-2019) talks to Dheera Sujan about the origins of Christmas music, illustrating examples with music he plays on his Bechstein as well as unusual …
  • Hello! Human Rights
    The State We’re In – Human rights defenders
    This edition of The State We’re, a weekly programme on “human rights, human wrongs and how we treat each other”, features human rights defenders from across the globe, including …
  • Eric Beauchemin (1964-2021)
    Everyone is shocked at the sudden passing of Eric Beauchemin on November 6th 2021. He was just 57 and was entering a new chapter in his journalistic career. I visited him at the end of October to …