RP207 Aleutian Islands

 RP207 Aleutian Islands

Between Russia and Alaska is a bird-watcher's paradise. Swinging out in an arc from underneath Alaska is a string of lush, beautiful islands called the Aleutians. These islands are the summer home of ten million migrating birds, and you can also find many seals, sea lions, otters, and wildflowers here. The scenery is stunning, but these islands are far off the beaten track.

The Aleutian Islands are part of the Pacific Ocean's Ring of Fire, meaning they are mostly volcanic. There are more than 300 islands in the chain, including 20 active volcanoes. The wet, cool weather makes the islands fertile ground for grasses, flowers, mosses, and sedges. Photos of the islands are often intensely green. However, there are very few trees on the Aleutians, especially no tall ones because the wind there is so strong that their trunks would snap.

The islands look like a bridge, and scientists believe that the island chain was probably used by early humans to migrate from Eurasia to North America. The humans who settled in the islands were called Aleuts by the Russians who first encountered them. They usually call themselves Unangax, "coast people." The Unangax did live by the coasts. They fished and hunted to gather their food. They built houses partly underground, to protect themselves from the cold and the fierce winds.

Beginning in the mid-18th century, Russians began sending traders and missionaries to the Aleutian Islands. This led to the slavery and near extermination of the Aleutian people. There are estimated to be only about 2,000 native Aleutians on the islands and perhaps 15,000 people of some Aleutian descent. With them goes their unique culture, which includes intricate tattooing, piercings, and other body art.

The Aleutian Islands, seemingly far from everywhere, are still relatively untamed and untrammelled. They have been designated as wilderness areas by the U.S. government, a status which should protect the islands' environments and help their human, plant, and animal populations recover.

RP206 Alphonse Mucha

 RP206 Alphonse Mucha

Alphonse Mucha wanted to be a serious painter. Well, first he wanted to be a serious singer, but when his voice broke, he turned to visual art. Born in 1860, he started working for a firm that made stage sets in 1879. Meanwhile, he practiced painting and applied to art schools. However, his stage and theater design experience would be far more useful than his art training.

Mucha finally got into art school in 1884. He painted portraits and other scenes, but painting wasn't a very good way to earn a living. To earn more money, Mucha made illustrations for books, magazines, and advertisements. In 1894, he made history with a poster.

Mucha got the poster job, an advertisement for the show Gismonda, unexpectedly. There was an emergency, and he volunteered to create the poster quickly. What he made turned the advertising world upside down. Mucha created a dramatic, vertically elongated poster with pastel colors, draping and floral details, and little text. This was a change from earlier, plainer, text-based posters. From then on, Mucha was in demand. His signature style came to define Art Nouveau: stylized figures, elongated shapes, natural curves, and plant imagery. Mucha's work often featured beautiful women in flowing robes.

For the next twenty years, Mucha made posters, illustrations, decorative panels, and even designed the facade and interior of a building. Most of these designs included natural symbols and patterns. Many were influenced by Asian silk-screen paintings.

For all his success, Mucha longed for respect as an academic painter. He began The Slav Epic around 1910. The twenty enormous paintings told the story of his native Czechoslovakia (formerly Moravia). He eventually gave this masterpiece to his country, which put it in storage for decades.

Mucha produced paintings after his success as an illustrator and designer, but they were never as popular as his other work. Still, his influence is far-reaching and long-lasting, lingering in every music or movie poster we see today.

RP205 Farming for the Future

 RP205 Farming for the Future

Farming has come a long way since seeds were first planted in Mesopotamia around 13,000 years ago. Biological, chemical, and technological inventions have increased production and decreased risk. Especially in the last sixty years, new machines, new chemicals, specialization, and government policies promoting production have turned farms into huge industrial businesses. Individual farms are larger, but the number of farms and farm workers has shrunk. We produce more food, so what's the problem?

The problem is the future. Many of the developments that make farms so productive right now are actually creating terrible problems for future generations. Chemicals and fertilizers are seeping into soil and groundwater. Soil is being depleted of nutrients. Communities are collapsing as human workers are no longer needed. Family farms can't compete against big agribusiness.

The sustainable agriculture movement wants to stop harmful industrial farming. It uses farmland in a way that doesn't use it up. Instead of maximizing production now, sustainable farms operate in a way that allows them to continue to farm for years to come. Sustainable agriculture seeks to protect the environment of farms and their surroundings, respect the health of farm animals, provide farmers with a fair wage, and ensure that workers are respected and paid fairly.

Sustainable farms do this in a few ways. They operate organically or minimize their use of chemicals and non-renewable resources. They keep waste products on their land instead of letting them spread. They grow and rotate diverse crops so that soil is replenished rather than depleted. They treat animals humanely and avoid giving them antibiotics and other drugs (that may pass to humans and the environment around the farm). They employ humans over machines whenever possible.

As the problems of industrial farming become clear, sustainable agriculture becomes more appealing. Countries are creating policies to promote it, and organizations are rewarding farms for operating sustainably. With farming, as with so much else, we are discovering that bigger, faster, and more is not necessarily better.

RP204 The World's First Bridal Show

 RP204 The World's First Bridal Show

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Indian weddings? It's probably the elegant designs painted on the bride's body. This is called the Mehndi ceremony, and some say it's the "oldest bridal shower in the world."

During the Mehndi ceremony, a bride's hands and arms are decorated with a colorful paste made from henna plants. Henna has been used for body decoration for thousands of years. The Egyptian Pharaoh Cleopatra, who lived from 69 B.C. to 30 B.C., is said to have used henna to paint her fingernails. The Mehndi ceremony is more recent, but it still traces its roots back to the 15th century.

The Mehndi ceremony takes place on the night before the wedding. It's known for being fun and relaxing, unlike many other wedding ceremonies, which are more formal. The ceremony is a chance for the bride to spend time with close family and friends. Traditionally, it would be the last chance before the bride leaves to live with her husband's family. Guest s of the ceremony come over to laugh, tell stories, sing, and dance. All the while, the bride's hands and arms are painted with elaborate henna designs. After the evening is over, the bride remains home until her wedding begins the next day.

Families approach the Mehndi ceremony differently. Sometimes the ceremony is very low-key: a few loved ones gather for a "girls' night in. "Other times, it is a big event, with an outside venue and a long guest list.

Who does the actual body painting? It used to be any neighborhood auntie with experience and a steady hand. But nowadays, brides tend to hire professionals to do the henna painting. These pros will paint peacocks, flowers, Islamic patterns, and representations of the bride and groom. Their designs are also getting more complicated and more beautiful over time. Some of them have even begun to use glitter and different colors of henna.

RP203 Spray, Connect, Touch

 RP203 Spray, Connect, Touch

Touchscreen technology is commonplace nowadays. It's on our phones, on our TV sets, and on our laptops. At the moment, though, touchscreen technology is limited mostly to small, flat surfaces like phone or computer screens. It isn't really suitable for large or irregular-shaped objects, like toys or living room walls, for example. However, a new invention called Electrick is set to change all that. It could be the first step in turning any surface into a working, interactive touchscreen.

So, what is Electrick exactly, and how does it work? Essentially, Electrick is a conductive spray paint. You spray it on something and send a small electric charge through the object. The electrodes attached to the object then detect where you touch. Though it's not quite as accurate as the touchscreen on your smartphone or laptop, it can detect your finger within about a centimeter. It's also durable, able to retain its sensitivity over hundreds and hundreds of uses. It's not yet known how well it will work under conditions like rain or electromagnetic interference, but it's early days, yet.

So what exactly could the applications of this spray-on touchscreen be? Think about it—you could place shortcuts to your TV's functions on your favorite chair or coffee table. You could turn something like a map into an interactive learning device. How about programming your electric guitar with different sound effects? Then simply turn them on by touching different places on the instrument's body. You could customize toys, your house, your car—anything!—to respond to your touch.

Of course, you must be asking yourself, is it really possible to make anything touch-sensitive? In a word, yes. Electrick technology is not only compatible with traditional manufacturing methods such as spray-coating and casting. It works with newer, state-of-the-art technology like 3-D printing, too. The technology might be brand new, but the possibilities appear to be endless.

RP202 History of Wall Street

 RP202 History of Wall Street

What is now New York City was once a Dutch colony. After the Dutch bought the land from the Native Americans in the area, they built a wall to protect themselves from attacks. The wall lasted for about 50 years in the mid-1600s, but the name it gave to the street that ran along it has lived for centuries.

Wall Street became a center of commerce early in New York's history. Though it was only a handful of blocks long, it connected the East River with other major streets, which made it a convenient place to set up warehouses for imported goods and facilities for exports.

The idea of buying and selling bonds, contracts, and other investments in businesses wasn't new. The first stock exchange was set up in Belgium in 1531, followed by exchanges in Amsterdam and Paris. In New York, wealthy merchants along Wall Street traded stocks by word of mouth. They would meet under a buttonwood tree at the end of the street. In 1792, they got tired of this informal state of affairs. That year, a group of men formally established what they called The Stock Exchange Office, a formal, regulated entity to buy and sell stocks through.

The stock exchange in New York wasn't an instant success. On the contrary, in 1817, some members were upset with the poor performance of their exchange and went to observe the bustling, thriving exchange in Philadelphia. They came back with new ideas and made the first of many changes. In 1863, the organization was given its current name, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

The NYSE has weathered the storms, from bubbles, panics, and depression to acts of terrorism. So far, it continues to dominate American finance. In 1800, only about 20 companies were traded publicly. Today, a billion shares change hands every day. Prices rise and fall, but the bell that opens the NYSE every morning just keeps ringing.

RP201 The Voice That Rules the Music World

 RP201 The Voice That Rules the Music World

Adele Adkins was born in North London, England, in 1988. Her mother, Penny Adkins, was 18 years old at the time of her birth. There were some hard times for both of them during the early years. Adele's father left when Adele was just four years old. He would keep in contact with her over the years, but it was often a troubled relationship. Adele eventually broke all contact with him when she was a teenager.

School was a problem for Adele early on. She often felt bored and uninspired in class. Fortunately, things turned around when she was accepted into the BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology. This was the same school that Amy Winehouse attended. The school allowed Adele to develop her love of music and skills in playing multiple instruments, including the flute, saxophone, and guitar.

Adele's big break came when she was still at the BRIT School. She posted a short demo album on her MySpace page. Some studio executives listened to it, and then decided to sign her to a contract.

Adele's rise to fame since then has been incredible. She has recorded three albums: 19, 21, and 25. All of them are named after her age at the time of production. These albums contain memorable songs like Rolling in the Deep and Someone Like You. They have sold over 40 million copies worldwide. Adele has also received countless awards. She swept the top categories of the Grammy Awards in 2012 and 2017—a first in Grammy history.

Perhaps more important than Adele's commercial success is the way she did it. Adele is unlike other pop stars, who tend to be managed and controlled by their labels. She is driven, independent, and immensely talented. She also feels comfortable in her own skin. Some have even described her as a “force of nature.” It's hard to imagine a better female role model for her millions of fans worldwide.