13th August 1972
This programme is part of the series Pete Myers' interviewsBefore joining Radio Netherlands in 1976, Pete Myers hosted BBC programmes like “Late Night Extra” and “PM” and …
14th June 1973
This programme is part of the series Pete Myers' interviewsPete Myers speaks to two very vibrant, dynamic and different women: parliamentarian Judith Hart and actress-singer Ethel Merman. Judith Hart …
13th November 1973
This programme is part of the series Pete Myers' interviewsIn this programme, we hear from American opera diva Beverly Sills (1929-2007), one of the greatest sopranos of her day and remembered …
22nd October 1977
This programme is part of the series Pete Myers' interviewsIn this unedited interview, Pete Myers meets comedian/actor/writer/director Gene Wilder on a promotion tour of his film “The …
11th December 1978
This programme is part of the series AfrosceneAmerican international song bird Nancy Wilson (1937-2018) has just celebrated 25 years in show business, establishing herself as one of the best song …
21st October 1979
This programme is part of the series Pete Myers' interviewsPete Myers caught up with jazz great Lionel Hampton (1908-2002) while he was on tour in Europe in 1979. His performance on the Vredenburg …
1st April 1982
This programme was recorded in Dutch for broadcast by the Dutch-language section of Radio Netherlands to mark the bicentennial of Dutch-American relations in 1982. The Dutch Republic was, after …
20th April 1982
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands paid a state visit to the United States in 1982, the year that marked the bicentennial of Dutch-American diplomatic ties. After a state dinner with President Ronald …
7th October 1984
To mark the 65th anniversary of the Happy Station, host Pete Myers takes the programme on safari to Aruba, just off the coast of Venezuela, which together with Bonaire and Curaçao, forms part of the …
13th May 1987
In this unedited interview, Nevil Gray speaks with Timothy Leary (1920-1996) who was in Holland for a lecture and workshop. Leary was a psychologist. He tried to revolutionise the science (group …
1st January 1988
This programme is part of the series Pete Myers' interviewsOne of Memphis, Tennessee’s most famous sons, blues guitarist BB (Beale St. Bluesman) King (1925-2015) was our guest in this edition …
11th November 1988
In this edition of our weekly magazine programme “Rembrandt Express”, Pete Myers speaks with Joseph Heller, the renowned American novelist and famed author of the classic “Catch …
31st October 1990
Paul Theroux is one of the world’s most famous and successful travel writers and an award-winning author of fiction. His description of Britain (“The Kingdom by the Sea”) and of …
18th November 1990
In this unedited interview, Nevil Gray talks to Oscar Hijuelos, author the successful “The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love”, which won the 1990 Pulitzer Prize. The conversation focuses on …
8th July 1991
On the eve of the total eclipse of the sun on July 11, 1991, our reporter Nina Morgan describes the preparations made for this event at one of the world’s best observatories, the Mauna Kea …
26th September 1991
On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the American naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, home of the U.S. Pacific fleet. The massive aerial attack claimed more than 2,000 lives, and …
4th January 1992
This programme is part of the series Notes from the New WorldMarking the 500th anniversary of the arrival in America of Christopher Columbus in 1492, Pete Myers takes us on a fascinating tour of the …
11th January 1992
This programme is part of the series Notes from the New WorldMarking the 500th anniversary of the arrival in America of Christopher Columbus in 1492, Pete Myers takes us on a fascinating tour of the …
18th January 1992
This programme is part of the series Notes from the New WorldMarking the 500th anniversary of the arrival in America of Christopher Columbus in 1492, Pete Myers takes us on a fascinating tour of the …
25th January 1992
This programme is part of the series Notes from the New WorldMarking the 500th anniversary of the arrival in America of Christopher Columbus in 1492, Pete Myers takes us on a fascinating tour of the …
27th August 1992
Anne Blair Gould meets American journalist and author Randy Shilts. He covered the onset (early 1980s) and of the AIDS epidemic for the San Francisco Chronicle. As he found out more about the …
1st October 1992
When Nina Simone’s autobiography “I Put a Spell on You” appeared in 1992, we met up with the mesmerising singer in her Paris apartment. Nina Simone (1933-2003) had a classical music …
4th April 1993
Pete Myers takes a look at the voices behind the gorgeous and glamorous actors who could not sing—the ghost singers who sang for stars like Rita Hayworth and Susan Hayward in the golden age of …
23rd August 1993
It’s only about 230 square miles in area, but the tiny island of St. Lucia is emblematic of the challenges facing sustainable development in the fragile environment of the Caribbean. We visit …
15th November 1993
This programme is part of the series Research FileAnne Blair-Gould visits two of the six Caribbean islands that make up the Netherlands Antilles. Saba is tiny, rocky and made up of sheer volcanic …
17th August 1994
This programme is part of the series Media NetworkIn this programme, Jonathan Marks goes stateside and delves into the history of commercial shortwave stations in the U.S.A. Many clips and interviews …
17th August 1994
This programme is part of the series Media NetworkJonathan Marks presents a profile of the American Forces Network Europe. With interviews and radio clips tracing the role and influence of the AFN, …
2nd January 1995
The Chilean writer Isabel Allende experienced her first breakthrough with “The House of the Spirits” in 1982. Since then she has written many more best-selling acclaimed books, some of …
29th October 1995
In this two-part series, Martha Hawley visits Suriname, 20 years after independence to find out how the country and its people are coping. This programme focuses on the current economic struggle and …
22nd November 1995
In this two-part series, Martha Hawley visits Suriname, 20 years after independence to find out how the country and its people are coping. This programme focuses on the political and economic malaise …
30th August 1996
By the time Guatemala’s decades-long civil war came to an end in 1996, some 200,000 people had died or disappeared in the violence, most of them by far having been killed by government forces. …
6th September 1996
By the time Guatemala’s decades-long civil war came to an end in 1996, some 200,000 people had died or disappeared in the violence, most of them by far having been killed by government forces. …
14th November 1996
Anybody who ever wanted to be a somebody went to New York in search of theatrical fame. Some of the world’s greatest theatrical training institutions are based in the Big Apple, and host Dheera …
15th November 1996
The United States of America has been a country built on the blood, sweat and tears of generations of immigrants: the poor, the hungry and the tired who came to the New World to begin a new life. The …
11th May 1997
Dheera Sujan meets this former sex worker, but also soldier, journalist and jazz singer. He has just published a booked called “Bedgeheimen van een gigolo” or the “Bedroom secrets …
25th May 1997
Dheera Sujan goes to the circus, not to the sort that has performing animals and smells of sawdust. Instead it is the sort in which people create the wonder and magic. Cirque du Soleil is the hugely …
23rd November 1997
Siren Song features a discussion between Justice Gabrielle Kirk McDonald and Professor Derrick Bell. Both are black Americans and both are trailblazers. She is the only female presiding judge at the …
1st January 1998
This award-winning programme tells a trans-Atlantic tale of love, music and politics. It is the story of Leon Perlee and Mercedes Sosa, both of them linked to the wooden street organ. He, a restorer …
22nd May 1998
Since it was founded in Rotterdam in 1873, the Holland America Line (HAL) has transported about 7 million passengers to destinations around the world…from immigrants setting out for America in the …
19th June 1998
in this unedited interview, Dheera Sujan talks at length to American writer Gore Vidal (1925-2012) about movies (he wrote 20 screenplays and many more for television), their impact, the changes in …
28th September 1998
New Netherland was a vast 17th century colony along the east coast of North America, ruled by the Dutch for sixty years. Part Three concerns its darkest hour. The charismatic, if tyrannical, governor …
28th September 1998
In 1609, Henry Hudson sailed his famous ship “Halve Maen”, the “Half Moon”, up the river in North America that would one day bear his name. It was the start of the 60-year …
28th September 1998
The story of the pioneers who settled the new Dutch colony of New Netherland, the founding of New Amsterdam and why the experiment of New Netherland nearly failed. This Dutch 17th-century colony …
29th September 1998
Throughout the 1980’s, the Central American nation of El Salvador was the scene of an intense, dirty civil war that left 75,000 people dead and forced over a million to flee the country. A …
7th October 1998
Since the end of the bitter civil war in the Central American country of El Salvador, there has been a huge increase in youth gangs. 20,000 young people, some as young as 11 or 12, have joined one of …
14th October 1998
In 1980, skirmishes between El Salvador’s government and the Farabundi Martí Liberation Front (FMLN) descended into full-scale civil war. During the ensuing 12 years of fighting, 75,000 people …
18th October 1998
David Swatling meets John Irving in Amsterdam. They discuss the storyline of Irving’s latest book, “A Widow for One Year” (set in Amsterdam), his love of Amsterdam, and we hear from …
8th November 1998
In this edition of our arts programme Aural Tapestry, we mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of the world’s most widely published writers, Erich Maria Remarque. He is especially …
22nd November 1998
Martha Hawley visits the Mexican state of Oaxaca where music in all its forms is everywhere. It has a long tradition in the many cultures represented throughout the state. Producer: Martha Hawley …
1st January 1999
This programme is part of the series Stories of Our CenturyIn 1999, Radio Netherlands broadcast a series of 12 programmes telling the story of the 20th century through famous books. In each …
1st March 1999
This programme is part of the series Stories of Our CenturyIn 1999, Radio Netherlands broadcast a series of 12 programmes telling the story of the 20th century through famous books. In each …
7th March 1999
Dutch criminal lawyer Bert Stapert runs a legal advice centre in New Orleans for death row prisoners. When he was studying law in the Netherlands, he decided he wanted to become involved in the fight …
19th June 1999
In this unedited interview, Dheera Sujan talks to Gore Vidal (1925-2012) about the state of the American Union. The topics include children, education, sense of history, the media, violence, guns, …
10th August 1999
In the late 19th century, Mary Cassatt was the only American artist invited into the Impressionist circle in Paris. She was a close friend of Edgar Degas, who said of her work: “I am not willing to …
20th August 1999
David Swatling meets two award-winning lesbian-feminist writers: Dorothy Allison, author of “Cavedweller”, and Donna Minkowitz, author of “Ferocious Romance”. They talk about …
20th August 1999
The programme features interviews with two authors about Dutch women who settled in the U.S. in the 17th century. Dheera Sujan meets Professor Olwen Hufton, author of the book “The Prospect …
30th August 1999
Just south of Albany, New York, a beautiful example of early American Dutch architecture is being lovingly restored, using techniques dating back to when the farmhouse was originally built in the …
17th September 1999
During the 19th century, a small town in upstate New York quickly grew into America’s most popular resort. With its natural mineral water spas, luxury hotels, horse racing and gambling casinos, …
7th November 1999
David Swatling meets Patrick E. Horrigan, author of “Widescreen Dreams: Growing up Gay at the Movies”. He is also the author of a play entitled “Messages for Gary”, described …
9th November 1999
Martha Hawley visits Canada to meet Dutch settlers who went out there in the first half of the 20th century. Most of them were farmers. What do they remember of those early days? How did they fare? …
9th November 1999
The 1990’s saw another exodus of Dutch farmers to Canada. Fleeing Eurocrats and their environmental restrictions, as well as rising land prices, hundreds of Dutch farmers decided to try their …
7th December 1999
When the Panama Canal Zone, built by the United States in the early 20th century, was transferred from American control back to Panama in 1999, most of the tens of thousands of American …
31st December 1999
Martha Hawley travels to Panama as the U.S. prepares to turn over control of the Canal to Panama. She looks at the history of the Zone and the repercussions of the handover for Panama and its …
5th February 2000
Shipwrecks can take many forms, and they do not always involve ships. The great poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge knew this, and he used the imagery of the fight for survival at sea to describe the …
16th March 2000
Shipwrecks can take many forms, and they do not always involve ships. The great poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge knew this, and he used the imagery of the fight for survival at sea to describe the …
17th March 2000
Shipwrecks can take many forms, and they do not always involve ships. The great poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge knew this, and he used the imagery of the fight for survival at sea to describe the …
10th April 2000
In this documentary, Marijke van der Meer looks at present-day Dutch-Caribbean migration to the Netherlands. Thousands of people from the Netherlands Antilles are hoping to find a better life in the …
28th August 2000
David Swatling meets American gay writers Edmund White and David Leavitt and discusses with them, among other things, the concept of “auto-fiction”, which takes as its premise (French, of …
18th October 2000
David Swatling finds himself attending the jazz funeral in New Orleans of the man he went there to interview: Milton Batiste, leader of the Dejan’s Olympia Brass Band. He was the one man …
19th October 2000
Dheera Sujan meets Chilean writer, poet, intellectual and political activist Ariel Dorfman. He spent most of his adult life fighting General Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship. The themes in his …
20th October 2000
In 1855, a “poetic divo” burst onto the literary stage and changed the course of poetic expression. Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” is considered the beginning of modern poetry. Part One explores …
27th October 2000
In 1855, a “poetic divo” burst onto the literary stage and changed the course of poetic expression. Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” is considered the beginning of modern poetry. Part Two explores …
3rd November 2000
Dheera Sujan meets American guitar legend Leo Kottke and picks his brain about music, depression and life in general. Producer: Dheera Sujan Broadcast: November 3, 2000…
15th November 2000
Centuries of machismo continue to exert a strong influence on Nicaraguan society. Women are regarded as inferior, and domestic violence is rampant. Homosexuality is illegal, and gays and lesbians are …
14th January 2001
Michele Ernsting visits Walt Disney’s town of Celebration, which was designed to reflect Disney’s vision of the community of the future. But when the future was no better than the …
20th May 2001
David Swatling paints a portrait of Tennesseee Williams in New Orleans, highlighting his famous play “A Streetcar Named Desire” with sound clips from the movie. The context is provided by …
8th July 2001
This programme is an updated version of the Slavery Special, broadcast on the December 24, 2000, when the location and the design of the National Slavery Monument had not yet been decided. The …
29th July 2001
David Swatling attends the auction in New Orleans of a letter written by Louis Armstrong, quotes from it and then goes on to present Louis’ early life in the city. He talks to New …
11th September 2001
After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in New York, Newsline was on the ball, as the following two editions of the programme illustrate: 1. Newsline …
19th September 2001
For centuries the Inuit in northern Canada lived as nomadic hunters following the migrations of sea mammals and caribou. It was only three generations ago that many began to settle in communities …
16th December 2001
As part of a series on the collective memory, Michele Ernsting presents the meaning of sila: the Inuit perspective on climate change. In what now seems like a distant past, sila was the most powerful …
4th January 2002
In this programme, we look at three tales of witch hunting: McCarthyism – the wave of political witch hunts in 1950’s America. We hear about the persecution of those accused of …
10th March 2002
This programme is part of the series Global PerspectiveA group of international broadcasters exchanges documentaries with a common theme. This five-part series examines the way in which global forces …
14th March 2002
The corrido, or ballad, is one of Mexico’s oldest song styles. During the 19th and early 20th century, it was the Mexican equivalent of Spanish romances or cowboy songs of the old West. A new breed …
4th April 2002
In this special edition of Dutch Horizons, “The Kingdom at a Crossroads”, we look at the ties between the Netherlands and its former colonies in the Caribbean—Aruba and the Netherlands …
7th April 2002
In this edition, Saskia van Rheenen visits the Cuban capital Havana to find out what life is like under Fidel Castro. Producer: Saskia van Rheenen Broadcast: April 7, 2002 …
21st April 2002
This edition focuses on the murder of Colombian Archbishop Isaías Duarte Cancino (1939-2002) who tried to raise the issue of election campaigns being financed by drugs money. Reporter: Rhoda Metcalfe …
5th May 2002
David Swatling meets American writer Edmund White, who spent 16 years living in Paris, roaming its streets and neighbourhoods and basking in its rich cultural life. His observations are recorded in …
27th September 2002
Of the many styles of music produced in 19th century New Orleans, the least well known was music composed by people of colour, especially free Creoles of colour. These French-speaking and often …
4th October 2002
Many Creoles of colour arrived in the New World in the early 19th century and settled in New Orleans, considered the most multicultural of American cities. Creoles made important contributions to the …
11th October 2002
After the American Civil War, Creole people of colour found themselves in the same situation as freed black slaves. For example, they could no longer sit in the best seats at the opera house. Some …
22nd November 2002
This programme is part of the series Rivers of the WorldRivers are the cradle of the world’s earliest civilisations. Mythology and religion were born on their banks. They provide us with life-giving …
31st January 2003
This programme is part of the series Rivers of the WorldRivers are the cradle of the world’s earliest civilisations. Mythology and religion were born on their banks. They provide us with life-giving …
7th March 2003
In 1967, a huge outdoor event in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco marked the official beginning of the hippy movement. It was called the ‘Human Be In’. It attracted the focus of world media and …
6th April 2003
In Colombia, it is dangerous to defend human rights. Human rights organisations face constant threats and harassment from the so-called armed actors: the rebels, paramilitary groups and the military. …
28th May 2003
For more than 20 years, herbicides have been sprayed on Colombian soil in a bid to eradicate coca and opium poppies. The South American nation produces 80% of the world’s cocaine, and it’s carving …
6th July 2003
By 2003, the drugs trade was having a pervasive effect on almost all aspects of life in Colombia. By then, Colombia was producing 80% of the world’s supply of cocaine and over a third of the heroin. …
6th August 2003
At the turn of the 21st century, over 3000 people were being kidnapped every year in Colombia, that’s an average of 8 people a day. The South American nation accounted for half of the world’s …
2nd November 2003
Fighting has been going on for four decades in the South American nation of Colombia. Bombings, fighting and kidnappings are regular occurrences in many parts of the country. Over the past decade …
10th November 2003
All sides in the conflict in Colombia have abducted children. According to Human Rights Watch, the guerrillas call their child combatants “little bees” because they sting before the enemy realises it …
12th November 2003
This programme is part of the series Under Foreign Skies“Under Foreign Skies” is a series of portraits of Dutch people abroad doing remarkable things. It might seem strange for a 62-year-old …
20th November 2003
This programme is part of the series Under Foreign Skies“Under Foreign Skies” is a series of portraits of Dutch people abroad doing remarkable things. Thomas van der Hammen (1924-2010) was one …
1st December 2003
American author Dale Peck’s fictional memoir “What We Lost” intersected with producer David Swatling’s own family history in striking ways. Two upstate New York farms in the late 1950’s are …
1st January 2004
Martha McDevitt-Pugh married her Dutch partner soon after the Netherlands legalised same-sex marriage in 2001. They settled in Amsterdam because the United States does not recognise their union. And …
27th February 2004
Jim Dempsey goes on location in Brownsberg Nature Park in Suriname to help place special cameras that will help understand the biodiversity of the park. What makes this park of over eight thousand …
1st July 2004
Two hundred and fifty years ago, a minor military skirmish in a remote corner of the colonial New World snowballed into what some have described as a world war. One of the casualties was the Dutch …
20th December 2004
Our reporter goes to the border between Guatemala and Mexico to observe the realities of illegal immigration from Guatemala and other Central American countries to El Norte. People need to cross …
14th February 2005
Romantic images from the Old West feature majestic bison, or buffalo, grazing on prairie grass, or thundering across the Great Plains in the company of powerful Indians on horseback. In the battle …
14th March 2005
Sounds and voices from a pow wow at Porcupine, in the Oglala Lakota Reservation of Pine Ridge in South Dakota. In North America, ‘having a pow wow’ is an informal expression for holding a meeting or …
3rd April 2005
The first programme in a three-part series commemorating the 225th anniversary of the arrival in Amsterdam of John Adams. He would later become the second president of the newly independent United …
10th April 2005
During the American war of independence from Britain, many years before he became the second American president, John Adams represented his country as the first American ambassador to the …
17th April 2005
The final program in a three-part series to commemorate the 225th anniversary of John Adams’ arrival in Amsterdam in 1780. His diplomatic mission was to gain support for the fledgling United …
11th September 2005
New York author Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” is part of a wave of what has been dubbed “post-9/11 fiction”. But some critics say not enough time has passed to …
24th October 2005
Spoken word artist Alix Olson calls her voice her “weapon of choice”, and her powerful work contains equal doses of humor, anger and compassion. A champion slam poet, Olson introduced the urban …
21st March 2006
This is Jonathan Groubert’s story, but it could be yours too. It goes like this: his grandfather, Isaac, and all his family were from a small city in northwestern Poland called Konin. In 1905, …
3rd October 2006
When Dutch filmmaker Hans Fels first traveled to Haiti a quarter of a century ago, he heard about an opera that had never been staged, and he decided to produce it. “Art and performing things …
7th October 2006
Pulitzer Prize author Michael Cunningham invokes the spirit of Walt Whitman in his collection of novellas “Specimen Days.” It is considered part of a wave of post-9/11 fiction. Cunningham talks about …
13th December 2006
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. It’s gone through several decades of dictatorial rule followed by civil conflict. Haiti is also considered a classic example of state failure, …
30th January 2007
Gary Goldschneider (1939-2019) is a concert pianist and an astrologer and to him the stars and music are intrinsically connected. In this programme, he discusses the music inspired by great romantic …
6th June 2007
In early October 1957, American poet Allen Ginsberg was hanging out in Amsterdam jazz cafes. At the same time in San Francisco, a Federal Court judge ruled that his poem “Howl” was not …
29th August 2007
This programme is part of the series Under Foreign Skies“Under Foreign Skies” is a series of portraits of Dutch people abroad doing remarkable things. Nanko van Buuren (1952-2015) was the …
8th September 2007
This programme is part of the series Under Foreign Skies“Under Foreign Skies” is a series of portraits of Dutch people abroad doing remarkable things. For the past 15 years, Dutchman Wouter van …
1st November 2007
This programme is part of the series Under Foreign Skies“Under Foreign Skies” is a series of portraits of Dutch people abroad doing remarkable things. Two Dutchman who settled in Haiti over a …
13th August 1972This programme is part of the series Pete Myers' interviewsBefore joining Radio Netherlands in 1976, Pete Myers hosted BBC programmes like “Late Night Extra” and “PM” and …
14th June 1973This programme is part of the series Pete Myers' interviewsPete Myers speaks to two very vibrant, dynamic and different women: parliamentarian Judith Hart and actress-singer Ethel Merman. Judith Hart …
13th November 1973This programme is part of the series Pete Myers' interviewsIn this programme, we hear from American opera diva Beverly Sills (1929-2007), one of the greatest sopranos of her day and remembered …
22nd October 1977This programme is part of the series Pete Myers' interviewsIn this unedited interview, Pete Myers meets comedian/actor/writer/director Gene Wilder on a promotion tour of his film “The …
11th December 1978This programme is part of the series AfrosceneAmerican international song bird Nancy Wilson (1937-2018) has just celebrated 25 years in show business, establishing herself as one of the best song …
21st October 1979This programme is part of the series Pete Myers' interviewsPete Myers caught up with jazz great Lionel Hampton (1908-2002) while he was on tour in Europe in 1979. His performance on the Vredenburg …
1st April 1982This programme was recorded in Dutch for broadcast by the Dutch-language section of Radio Netherlands to mark the bicentennial of Dutch-American relations in 1982. The Dutch Republic was, after …
20th April 1982Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands paid a state visit to the United States in 1982, the year that marked the bicentennial of Dutch-American diplomatic ties. After a state dinner with President Ronald …
7th October 1984To mark the 65th anniversary of the Happy Station, host Pete Myers takes the programme on safari to Aruba, just off the coast of Venezuela, which together with Bonaire and Curaçao, forms part of the …
13th May 1987In this unedited interview, Nevil Gray speaks with Timothy Leary (1920-1996) who was in Holland for a lecture and workshop. Leary was a psychologist. He tried to revolutionise the science (group …
1st January 1988This programme is part of the series Pete Myers' interviewsOne of Memphis, Tennessee’s most famous sons, blues guitarist BB (Beale St. Bluesman) King (1925-2015) was our guest in this edition …
11th November 1988In this edition of our weekly magazine programme “Rembrandt Express”, Pete Myers speaks with Joseph Heller, the renowned American novelist and famed author of the classic “Catch …
31st October 1990Paul Theroux is one of the world’s most famous and successful travel writers and an award-winning author of fiction. His description of Britain (“The Kingdom by the Sea”) and of …
18th November 1990In this unedited interview, Nevil Gray talks to Oscar Hijuelos, author the successful “The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love”, which won the 1990 Pulitzer Prize. The conversation focuses on …
8th July 1991On the eve of the total eclipse of the sun on July 11, 1991, our reporter Nina Morgan describes the preparations made for this event at one of the world’s best observatories, the Mauna Kea …
26th September 1991On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the American naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, home of the U.S. Pacific fleet. The massive aerial attack claimed more than 2,000 lives, and …
4th January 1992This programme is part of the series Notes from the New WorldMarking the 500th anniversary of the arrival in America of Christopher Columbus in 1492, Pete Myers takes us on a fascinating tour of the …
11th January 1992This programme is part of the series Notes from the New WorldMarking the 500th anniversary of the arrival in America of Christopher Columbus in 1492, Pete Myers takes us on a fascinating tour of the …
18th January 1992This programme is part of the series Notes from the New WorldMarking the 500th anniversary of the arrival in America of Christopher Columbus in 1492, Pete Myers takes us on a fascinating tour of the …
25th January 1992This programme is part of the series Notes from the New WorldMarking the 500th anniversary of the arrival in America of Christopher Columbus in 1492, Pete Myers takes us on a fascinating tour of the …
27th August 1992Anne Blair Gould meets American journalist and author Randy Shilts. He covered the onset (early 1980s) and of the AIDS epidemic for the San Francisco Chronicle. As he found out more about the …
1st October 1992When Nina Simone’s autobiography “I Put a Spell on You” appeared in 1992, we met up with the mesmerising singer in her Paris apartment. Nina Simone (1933-2003) had a classical music …
4th April 1993Pete Myers takes a look at the voices behind the gorgeous and glamorous actors who could not sing—the ghost singers who sang for stars like Rita Hayworth and Susan Hayward in the golden age of …
23rd August 1993It’s only about 230 square miles in area, but the tiny island of St. Lucia is emblematic of the challenges facing sustainable development in the fragile environment of the Caribbean. We visit …
15th November 1993This programme is part of the series Research FileAnne Blair-Gould visits two of the six Caribbean islands that make up the Netherlands Antilles. Saba is tiny, rocky and made up of sheer volcanic …
17th August 1994This programme is part of the series Media NetworkIn this programme, Jonathan Marks goes stateside and delves into the history of commercial shortwave stations in the U.S.A. Many clips and interviews …
17th August 1994This programme is part of the series Media NetworkJonathan Marks presents a profile of the American Forces Network Europe. With interviews and radio clips tracing the role and influence of the AFN, …
2nd January 1995The Chilean writer Isabel Allende experienced her first breakthrough with “The House of the Spirits” in 1982. Since then she has written many more best-selling acclaimed books, some of …
29th October 1995In this two-part series, Martha Hawley visits Suriname, 20 years after independence to find out how the country and its people are coping. This programme focuses on the current economic struggle and …
30th August 1996By the time Guatemala’s decades-long civil war came to an end in 1996, some 200,000 people had died or disappeared in the violence, most of them by far having been killed by government forces. …
6th September 1996By the time Guatemala’s decades-long civil war came to an end in 1996, some 200,000 people had died or disappeared in the violence, most of them by far having been killed by government forces. …
14th November 1996Anybody who ever wanted to be a somebody went to New York in search of theatrical fame. Some of the world’s greatest theatrical training institutions are based in the Big Apple, and host Dheera …
15th November 1996The United States of America has been a country built on the blood, sweat and tears of generations of immigrants: the poor, the hungry and the tired who came to the New World to begin a new life. The …
11th May 1997Dheera Sujan meets this former sex worker, but also soldier, journalist and jazz singer. He has just published a booked called “Bedgeheimen van een gigolo” or the “Bedroom secrets …
25th May 1997Dheera Sujan goes to the circus, not to the sort that has performing animals and smells of sawdust. Instead it is the sort in which people create the wonder and magic. Cirque du Soleil is the hugely …
23rd November 1997Siren Song features a discussion between Justice Gabrielle Kirk McDonald and Professor Derrick Bell. Both are black Americans and both are trailblazers. She is the only female presiding judge at the …
1st January 1998This award-winning programme tells a trans-Atlantic tale of love, music and politics. It is the story of Leon Perlee and Mercedes Sosa, both of them linked to the wooden street organ. He, a restorer …
22nd May 1998Since it was founded in Rotterdam in 1873, the Holland America Line (HAL) has transported about 7 million passengers to destinations around the world…from immigrants setting out for America in the …
19th June 1998in this unedited interview, Dheera Sujan talks at length to American writer Gore Vidal (1925-2012) about movies (he wrote 20 screenplays and many more for television), their impact, the changes in …
28th September 1998New Netherland was a vast 17th century colony along the east coast of North America, ruled by the Dutch for sixty years. Part Three concerns its darkest hour. The charismatic, if tyrannical, governor …
28th September 1998In 1609, Henry Hudson sailed his famous ship “Halve Maen”, the “Half Moon”, up the river in North America that would one day bear his name. It was the start of the 60-year …
29th September 1998Throughout the 1980’s, the Central American nation of El Salvador was the scene of an intense, dirty civil war that left 75,000 people dead and forced over a million to flee the country. A …
7th October 1998Since the end of the bitter civil war in the Central American country of El Salvador, there has been a huge increase in youth gangs. 20,000 young people, some as young as 11 or 12, have joined one of …
14th October 1998In 1980, skirmishes between El Salvador’s government and the Farabundi Martí Liberation Front (FMLN) descended into full-scale civil war. During the ensuing 12 years of fighting, 75,000 people …
18th October 1998David Swatling meets John Irving in Amsterdam. They discuss the storyline of Irving’s latest book, “A Widow for One Year” (set in Amsterdam), his love of Amsterdam, and we hear from …
8th November 1998In this edition of our arts programme Aural Tapestry, we mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of the world’s most widely published writers, Erich Maria Remarque. He is especially …
22nd November 1998Martha Hawley visits the Mexican state of Oaxaca where music in all its forms is everywhere. It has a long tradition in the many cultures represented throughout the state. Producer: Martha Hawley …
1st January 1999This programme is part of the series Stories of Our CenturyIn 1999, Radio Netherlands broadcast a series of 12 programmes telling the story of the 20th century through famous books. In each …
1st March 1999This programme is part of the series Stories of Our CenturyIn 1999, Radio Netherlands broadcast a series of 12 programmes telling the story of the 20th century through famous books. In each …
7th March 1999Dutch criminal lawyer Bert Stapert runs a legal advice centre in New Orleans for death row prisoners. When he was studying law in the Netherlands, he decided he wanted to become involved in the fight …
10th August 1999In the late 19th century, Mary Cassatt was the only American artist invited into the Impressionist circle in Paris. She was a close friend of Edgar Degas, who said of her work: “I am not willing to …
20th August 1999David Swatling meets two award-winning lesbian-feminist writers: Dorothy Allison, author of “Cavedweller”, and Donna Minkowitz, author of “Ferocious Romance”. They talk about …
20th August 1999The programme features interviews with two authors about Dutch women who settled in the U.S. in the 17th century. Dheera Sujan meets Professor Olwen Hufton, author of the book “The Prospect …
30th August 1999Just south of Albany, New York, a beautiful example of early American Dutch architecture is being lovingly restored, using techniques dating back to when the farmhouse was originally built in the …
17th September 1999During the 19th century, a small town in upstate New York quickly grew into America’s most popular resort. With its natural mineral water spas, luxury hotels, horse racing and gambling casinos, …
7th November 1999David Swatling meets Patrick E. Horrigan, author of “Widescreen Dreams: Growing up Gay at the Movies”. He is also the author of a play entitled “Messages for Gary”, described …
9th November 1999Martha Hawley visits Canada to meet Dutch settlers who went out there in the first half of the 20th century. Most of them were farmers. What do they remember of those early days? How did they fare? …
9th November 1999The 1990’s saw another exodus of Dutch farmers to Canada. Fleeing Eurocrats and their environmental restrictions, as well as rising land prices, hundreds of Dutch farmers decided to try their …
7th December 1999When the Panama Canal Zone, built by the United States in the early 20th century, was transferred from American control back to Panama in 1999, most of the tens of thousands of American …
31st December 1999Martha Hawley travels to Panama as the U.S. prepares to turn over control of the Canal to Panama. She looks at the history of the Zone and the repercussions of the handover for Panama and its …
5th February 2000Shipwrecks can take many forms, and they do not always involve ships. The great poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge knew this, and he used the imagery of the fight for survival at sea to describe the …
10th April 2000In this documentary, Marijke van der Meer looks at present-day Dutch-Caribbean migration to the Netherlands. Thousands of people from the Netherlands Antilles are hoping to find a better life in the …
28th August 2000David Swatling meets American gay writers Edmund White and David Leavitt and discusses with them, among other things, the concept of “auto-fiction”, which takes as its premise (French, of …
18th October 2000David Swatling finds himself attending the jazz funeral in New Orleans of the man he went there to interview: Milton Batiste, leader of the Dejan’s Olympia Brass Band. He was the one man …
19th October 2000Dheera Sujan meets Chilean writer, poet, intellectual and political activist Ariel Dorfman. He spent most of his adult life fighting General Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship. The themes in his …
20th October 2000In 1855, a “poetic divo” burst onto the literary stage and changed the course of poetic expression. Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” is considered the beginning of modern poetry. Part One explores …
3rd November 2000Dheera Sujan meets American guitar legend Leo Kottke and picks his brain about music, depression and life in general. Producer: Dheera Sujan Broadcast: November 3, 2000…
15th November 2000Centuries of machismo continue to exert a strong influence on Nicaraguan society. Women are regarded as inferior, and domestic violence is rampant. Homosexuality is illegal, and gays and lesbians are …
14th January 2001Michele Ernsting visits Walt Disney’s town of Celebration, which was designed to reflect Disney’s vision of the community of the future. But when the future was no better than the …
20th May 2001David Swatling paints a portrait of Tennesseee Williams in New Orleans, highlighting his famous play “A Streetcar Named Desire” with sound clips from the movie. The context is provided by …
8th July 2001This programme is an updated version of the Slavery Special, broadcast on the December 24, 2000, when the location and the design of the National Slavery Monument had not yet been decided. The …
29th July 2001David Swatling attends the auction in New Orleans of a letter written by Louis Armstrong, quotes from it and then goes on to present Louis’ early life in the city. He talks to New …
11th September 2001After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in New York, Newsline was on the ball, as the following two editions of the programme illustrate: 1. Newsline …
16th December 2001As part of a series on the collective memory, Michele Ernsting presents the meaning of sila: the Inuit perspective on climate change. In what now seems like a distant past, sila was the most powerful …
4th January 2002In this programme, we look at three tales of witch hunting: McCarthyism – the wave of political witch hunts in 1950’s America. We hear about the persecution of those accused of …
10th March 2002This programme is part of the series Global PerspectiveA group of international broadcasters exchanges documentaries with a common theme. This five-part series examines the way in which global forces …
4th April 2002In this special edition of Dutch Horizons, “The Kingdom at a Crossroads”, we look at the ties between the Netherlands and its former colonies in the Caribbean—Aruba and the Netherlands …
7th April 2002In this edition, Saskia van Rheenen visits the Cuban capital Havana to find out what life is like under Fidel Castro. Producer: Saskia van Rheenen Broadcast: April 7, 2002 …
21st April 2002This edition focuses on the murder of Colombian Archbishop Isaías Duarte Cancino (1939-2002) who tried to raise the issue of election campaigns being financed by drugs money. Reporter: Rhoda Metcalfe …
5th May 2002David Swatling meets American writer Edmund White, who spent 16 years living in Paris, roaming its streets and neighbourhoods and basking in its rich cultural life. His observations are recorded in …
27th September 2002Of the many styles of music produced in 19th century New Orleans, the least well known was music composed by people of colour, especially free Creoles of colour. These French-speaking and often …
4th October 2002Many Creoles of colour arrived in the New World in the early 19th century and settled in New Orleans, considered the most multicultural of American cities. Creoles made important contributions to the …
11th October 2002After the American Civil War, Creole people of colour found themselves in the same situation as freed black slaves. For example, they could no longer sit in the best seats at the opera house. Some …
22nd November 2002This programme is part of the series Rivers of the WorldRivers are the cradle of the world’s earliest civilisations. Mythology and religion were born on their banks. They provide us with life-giving …
7th March 2003In 1967, a huge outdoor event in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco marked the official beginning of the hippy movement. It was called the ‘Human Be In’. It attracted the focus of world media and …
6th April 2003In Colombia, it is dangerous to defend human rights. Human rights organisations face constant threats and harassment from the so-called armed actors: the rebels, paramilitary groups and the military. …
28th May 2003For more than 20 years, herbicides have been sprayed on Colombian soil in a bid to eradicate coca and opium poppies. The South American nation produces 80% of the world’s cocaine, and it’s carving …
6th July 2003By 2003, the drugs trade was having a pervasive effect on almost all aspects of life in Colombia. By then, Colombia was producing 80% of the world’s supply of cocaine and over a third of the heroin. …
6th August 2003At the turn of the 21st century, over 3000 people were being kidnapped every year in Colombia, that’s an average of 8 people a day. The South American nation accounted for half of the world’s …
2nd November 2003Fighting has been going on for four decades in the South American nation of Colombia. Bombings, fighting and kidnappings are regular occurrences in many parts of the country. Over the past decade …
10th November 2003All sides in the conflict in Colombia have abducted children. According to Human Rights Watch, the guerrillas call their child combatants “little bees” because they sting before the enemy realises it …
12th November 2003This programme is part of the series Under Foreign Skies“Under Foreign Skies” is a series of portraits of Dutch people abroad doing remarkable things. It might seem strange for a 62-year-old …
20th November 2003This programme is part of the series Under Foreign Skies“Under Foreign Skies” is a series of portraits of Dutch people abroad doing remarkable things. Thomas van der Hammen (1924-2010) was one …
1st December 2003American author Dale Peck’s fictional memoir “What We Lost” intersected with producer David Swatling’s own family history in striking ways. Two upstate New York farms in the late 1950’s are …
1st January 2004Martha McDevitt-Pugh married her Dutch partner soon after the Netherlands legalised same-sex marriage in 2001. They settled in Amsterdam because the United States does not recognise their union. And …
27th February 2004Jim Dempsey goes on location in Brownsberg Nature Park in Suriname to help place special cameras that will help understand the biodiversity of the park. What makes this park of over eight thousand …
1st July 2004Two hundred and fifty years ago, a minor military skirmish in a remote corner of the colonial New World snowballed into what some have described as a world war. One of the casualties was the Dutch …
14th February 2005Romantic images from the Old West feature majestic bison, or buffalo, grazing on prairie grass, or thundering across the Great Plains in the company of powerful Indians on horseback. In the battle …
14th March 2005Sounds and voices from a pow wow at Porcupine, in the Oglala Lakota Reservation of Pine Ridge in South Dakota. In North America, ‘having a pow wow’ is an informal expression for holding a meeting or …
3rd April 2005The first programme in a three-part series commemorating the 225th anniversary of the arrival in Amsterdam of John Adams. He would later become the second president of the newly independent United …
10th April 2005During the American war of independence from Britain, many years before he became the second American president, John Adams represented his country as the first American ambassador to the …
17th April 2005The final program in a three-part series to commemorate the 225th anniversary of John Adams’ arrival in Amsterdam in 1780. His diplomatic mission was to gain support for the fledgling United …
24th October 2005Spoken word artist Alix Olson calls her voice her “weapon of choice”, and her powerful work contains equal doses of humor, anger and compassion. A champion slam poet, Olson introduced the urban …
21st March 2006This is Jonathan Groubert’s story, but it could be yours too. It goes like this: his grandfather, Isaac, and all his family were from a small city in northwestern Poland called Konin. In 1905, …
3rd October 2006When Dutch filmmaker Hans Fels first traveled to Haiti a quarter of a century ago, he heard about an opera that had never been staged, and he decided to produce it. “Art and performing things …
13th December 2006Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. It’s gone through several decades of dictatorial rule followed by civil conflict. Haiti is also considered a classic example of state failure, …
30th January 2007Gary Goldschneider (1939-2019) is a concert pianist and an astrologer and to him the stars and music are intrinsically connected. In this programme, he discusses the music inspired by great romantic …
6th June 2007In early October 1957, American poet Allen Ginsberg was hanging out in Amsterdam jazz cafes. At the same time in San Francisco, a Federal Court judge ruled that his poem “Howl” was not …
29th August 2007This programme is part of the series Under Foreign Skies“Under Foreign Skies” is a series of portraits of Dutch people abroad doing remarkable things. Nanko van Buuren (1952-2015) was the …
8th September 2007This programme is part of the series Under Foreign Skies“Under Foreign Skies” is a series of portraits of Dutch people abroad doing remarkable things. For the past 15 years, Dutchman Wouter van …
1st November 2007This programme is part of the series Under Foreign Skies“Under Foreign Skies” is a series of portraits of Dutch people abroad doing remarkable things. Two Dutchman who settled in Haiti over a …