Program 750: Mini Italian Lesson; Geography of Genius; Timbuktu Haircut

On the next Travel with Rick Steves, one of Italy's most popular newspaper columnists shares a few useful phrases to know in Italian.

We'll also look into what cities with a reputation for innovation and creativity have had in common through the ages.

We'll look at what Timbuktu was once like as an important center for scholarship.

And we'll hear the thrill of dropping in on choir practice, in a small town in Wales.

• Journalist Beppe Severgnini, author of "Italian Lessons: Fifty Things We Know About Life Now" (Vintage)
• Eric Weiner, author of "The Geography of Genius" (Simon & Schuster)
• Rick Antonson, author of "To Timbuktu for a Haircut" (Skyhorse)
• Cameron Hewitt, senior writer/content manager at Rick Steves' Europe

• Beppe Severgnini is an editor and columnist for Italy's largest-circulation daily newspaper, Corriere della Sera. His latest book is "Italian Lessons: Fifty Things We Know About Life Now."
• Eric Weiner wrote "The Geography of Genius" in 2016. His latest title, "Ben and Me: In Search of a Founder's Formula for a Long and Useful Life," is scheduled to be released in June 2024.
• The most recent book Rick Antonson has written is called "Train Beyond the Mountains: Journeys on the Rocky Mountaineer." He published "To Timbuktu For a Haircut" in 2013.
• Cameron Hewitt is Rick's senior content producer and writer. He provides tales from his own European travels in his book "The Temporary European," and shares photos and thoughts from his latest travels in his occasional blog entries.
• The director of the community choir in Pwllglas, Wales, assembled a large virtual choir to sing together in Welsh during the pandemic.

• English String Orchestra, William Boughton cond., "Moths and Butterflies Dance," Music for a Devoted Gardener (collection) / Westminster Abbey Heritage Collection-River Records
• Boubacar Traoré, "Kar Kar Madison," Mali to Memphis (collection) / Putumayo
• KPM_KPMWM_0056_00201_The_Golden_Horn_a_APM
• SEL_LSC_1058_00401_Italian_Symphony_No_4_A-major_op_90_APM
• Ensemble Vocal et Instrumental Roger Blanchard, "El grillo (The cricket) (Josquin des Prez)," Essential Renaissance, disc 2 / EMI Classics
• SON_SONV_0238_00601_Andante_Espressivo_from_Songs_Without_Words_Op_30_Nr_6_APM
• * Aria One, "Pace, Pace (after Verdi's 'La Forza del Destino')," Aria, vol. 1 / Cafe del Mar Music
• CEZ_CEZ_4303_00301_Global_Company_APM
• Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, "Cassation in G, K-63 (Mozart)," The Key to the Classics: Mozart (collection) / Angel
• Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood, conductor, "Flute and Harp Concerto, K299: II-Andantino (Mozart)," Editions de L'Oiseau-Lyre (sampler collection) / L'Oiseau-Lyre
• Music from Aston Magna, "Andanta and variations," A Decade of Excellence (sampler) / Harmonia Mundi
• Jean-Pierre Rampal and Wolfgang Schulz, "Echo for Two Flutes: III-presto (Haydn)," Almanac 1992 Highlights of the Year (sampler) / Sony Classical
• Melos Ensemble, Gervase de Peyer, clarinet, "Quintet in B Minor for Clarinet and Strings, Op. 115, III-Andantino (Brahms)," The Key to the Classics: Brahms (collection) / Angel
• Saint Germain, "What You Think About," Tourist / Blue Note
• * Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood, cond., Steven Lubin soloist, "Piano concert No. 1: III-Rondo Allegro (Beethoven)," Editions de L'Oiseau-Lyre: The Original Sound (sampler) / L'Oiseau-Lyre
• Kaouding Cissoko, "Anna," Impala Lounge, vol. 2, disc 1 (collection) / Wagram
• SON_AFRO_0148_03301_African_Cowboy_APM
• Habib Koite, "Sirata," Mali to Memphis (collection) / Putumayo
• Issa Bagayogo, "Dama," Timbuktu / Six Degrees
• Nightnoise, "Night in That Land," Windham Hill Sampler '94 (collection) / Windham Hill
• Tim Story, "Voices in the Liquid Air," In Search of Angels (soundtrack) / Windham Hill

* Indicates filler music used during internal breaks on the broadcast

• Rick notes in the segment A open that this is program number 750 and the 19th anniversary show of Travel with Rick Steves.
• Rick says that Eric Weiner's latest book, "Ben and Me," is due to be released "this June" in a reset at 27:30.
• Rick notes that Mali has become "too dangerous to visit" at the end of segment A, and at 52:32 in segment C.
• At 43:43, Rick Antonson says that Timbuktu's population has fallen to around 10,000 lately.