In a recent interview, NPR's Robert Siegel investigates the magic of stilt-walking, including the 600-year-old tradition of stilt-jousting in the city of Namur, Belgium. The story is available in print and audio.

How did Christopher Columbus really change history? Not by the "discovery" of the New world, but by ecological convulsion, the exchange of plants, animals and diseases between the two continents. Such is the premise of Charles C. Mann's new book 1493.

According to Woody Drake of Brothers Drake meadery in Columbus, Ohio, the mead-making business is booming in the United States, thanks largely to the new trend in eating - and drinking - local products. Tim Fitzsimmons of NPR's Weekend Edition has the audio story.

A display of 9th century Chinese pottery, discovered in 1998 in the wreck of an Arabic ship near Indonesia, has sparked controvery in the archaeological community. Shipwrecked: Tang Treasures and Monsoon Winds, was scheduled to be exhibited at Washington's Smithsonian Institution.

Planet Money, which features podcasts about modern economics and news of the economy, recently offered an edition focused on medieval economics, particularly feudalism and guilds.

Kevin Kelly, the founding editor of Wired magazine, has spent considerable time researching the fate of obsolete technology and tools, and has concluded that old tools never die -- that is, that every technology ever known to Mankind is still in modern use somewhere in the world.

Photographer E.F. Kitchen wanted to find "people who make or collect their own armor." She found them in the SCA and documented their work in her book Suburban Knights. Claire O'Neill of NPR's The Picture Show has the story. (photos)

The National Music Museum at the University of South Dakota boasts instruments ranging from gamelans to medieval mandolins. Now the museum has added a 400-year-old Amati Brothers violin. Gary Ellenbolt of NPR has the audio story.

An annual festival dating to the 13th century is considered the Mogolian "Olympics." The event features the "manly sports" — horse racing, wrestling and archery. Louisa Lim of NPR has the story. (audio)

It took weavers in Madagascar four years to complete a golden 11-by-4-foot tapestry made completely of spider silk. The only one of its kind in the world, the tapestry is kept safe in a glass case in the American Museum of Natural History. Christopher Joyce of NPR has an audio story.

Selections of sacred music, dating from the 13th to 16th centuries, can be found on a new CD by the Ensemble Devotio Moderna entitled God Shall Be Praised, Music from Lune Convent. The music is from newly-discovered manuscripts found at the Lune Convent in Northern Germany. Music commentator Tom Manoff of All Things Considered has the story. (photo)

Only on NPR could the Bard, in the guise of Morning Edition's Frank Deford, comment on the upcoming Super Bowl football game.

On the Christmas Eve 2007 All Things Considered radio program, reviewer Lynn Neary spoke with Laura Miller of Salon.com and blogger Mark Sarvas of The Elegant Variation about which books from 2007 should not be missed. Included was The Far Traveler by Nancy Marie Brown.

Was Hamlet guilty of stabbing Polonius behind the arras? A jury trial being conducted as part of the Shakespeare Festival in Washington D.C. will decide. Listen to the story from the March 16 edition of All Things Considered.

What if...after the Roman senators had killed Julius Caesar on the Ides of March, they had a blow-out party, complete with Roman drinking songs? Robert Krulwich speculated on NPR's March 15, 2007 Morning Edition program.

Caidan storyteller THL Thomas Whitehart, also known as True Thomas the Storyteller, will be featured in the Saturday March 17, 2007 edition of Public Radio's Weekend America. His segment will cover Irish lore and storytelling.

In The View from the Center of the Universe, Joel R. Primack and Nancy Ellen Abrams point out the similarities between ancient beliefs about a terracentric universe and recent discoveries about the results of the Big Bang.

Grendel, a new opera from Tony Award-winning director Julie Taymor, opened recently at the Lincoln Center Festival. Based on Beowulf but told from the monster's point of view, the opera is sung in Old English by the humans while Grendel sings in contemporary language.

An article for NPR's Morning Edition looks at the history of the Swiss Guard, who have guarded the Pope for over 500 years.

Diane Roberts of NPR's Weekend Edition offered a very politically correct holiday greeting on Sunday, December 18, 2005 with a look at the winter holiday season, ancient Roman style.

Slightly late, but still fun, a musical rendition of "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" - in Latin!

Mark Rylance, the artistic genius behind London's Globe Theatre, is planning to leave his position as Artistic Director. His vision to rebuild the Globe and produce period plays there has been rewarded with great success.

But can you dance to it? NPR's All Things Considered covered efforts to teach kids literature, including the works of Chaucer, by using rap music.

Celeste Headlee of Detroit Public Radio reports on the Canadian rock group Barenaked Ladies' familiarity with the songs of William Shakespeare.

The funeral of Pope John Paul II has sparked much interest in the history of the papacy. In an interview for NPR's Morning Edition, Renee Montagne discusses papal vestments with Father Mark Frances.

The summer of 2005 will see a return of knights of old to the tourney field when English Heritage sponsors a series of knightly competitions. Listen to the story.

Since fox hunting has been banned in Britain, many hunters are traveling to France.

National Public Radio discusses the career and accomplishments of 2nd Lt. Brian Smith, including his love of the SCA, on its Morning Edition news program.

National Public Radio's Bob Mondello found the new film King Arthur lacking in charm.