Nelson Mandela

<p></p><div class="media media-element-container media-feature_medium media-float-left"><div id="file-59512--4" class="file file-image file-image-jpeg"> <div class="content"> <img style="width: 429px; height: 242px; margin: 5px; float: left;" class="media-element file-feature-medium" typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://media.pri.org/s3fs-public/styles/feature_medium/public/story/gallery/mandela-2005-laughing.jpg?itok=aXojiFx9" width="429" height="242" alt="Nelson Mandela in 2005" title="" /> </div> </div> </div> Nelson Mandela, the acclaimed former president of South Africa who became famous for his staunch opposition to apartheid, died on Thursday, December 5, 2013. He was 95.

Nelson Mandela, left, and his wife Winnie, raise clenched fists as they walk hand-in-hand from the Victor Verster prison near Cape Town, South Africa on Feb. 11, 1990.

'Winnie and Nelson': A new book explores a fraught political partnership

Author Jonny Steinberg’s new book, "Winnie and Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage," explores the complex relationship between Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, two of the world’s best-known freedom fighters. Steinberg joined The World’s host Marco Werman to discuss the fraught political partnership of these iconic revolutionaries.

'Winnie and Nelson': A new book explores a fraught political partnership
Many young men holding Algerian flags scale a monument of a woman holding a torch, attached to which is a flag

Algeria’s ailing president was once a revolutionary. After mass protests, he won’t seek a fifth term.

Algeria’s ailing president was once a revolutionary. After mass protests, he won’t seek a fifth term.
Children's book cover

What you're reading: Children's books for a Global Nation

What you're reading: Children's books for a Global Nation
ANC members celebrate after Cyril Ramaphosa was elected president of the ANC in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Young South Africans once worshipped the ANC. Now 'the party of Mandela' is tarnished.

Young South Africans once worshipped the ANC. Now 'the party of Mandela' is tarnished.
Bill Cosby and Nelson Mandela, then President of South Africa, appear before the press on March 20, 1997 in Cape Town. During his visit, Cosby gave a benefit performance on Robben Island for then visiting first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, Mandela and Uni

'The Cosby Show's' legacy in South Africa

'The Cosby Show's' legacy in South Africa
A demonstrator sits in front of a street fire during a demonstration following the grand jury decision in the Ferguson, Missouri shooting of Michael Brown, in Oakland, California on November 25, 2014.

Just like in Ferguson, police shootings in South Africa prove nothing is 'post-racial' just yet

American cops rarely go to jail for the killings of civilians, and the same goes for police officers in South Africa. And in both countries, the anger at such perceived biases is at odds with the perception that they've become post-racial societies after electing black leaders.

Just like in Ferguson, police shootings in South Africa prove nothing is 'post-racial' just yet
A mural showing Gil Scott-Heron and his trademark phrase, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," is the backdrop for protesters marching through the streets of New York in 2012, demanding justice for slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.

A song title from the '70s is still a rallying cry for protesters across the world

You can see the phrase scrawled on walls around the globe from Tahrir Square to Ferguson, seemingly anywhere people take to the streets: "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised." It was the creation of American jazz poet Gil Scott-Heron, whose biographer says he'd enjoy the term's enduring use.

A song title from the '70s is still a rallying cry for protesters across the world
Nelson Mandela's former private assistant Zelda la Grange. Her memoir traces the 43-year-old's upbringing in an Afrikaans family that considered Mandela a terrorist to her improbable appointment to his office when he became president in 1994, and her clos

Here's how a young white woman went from loving apartheid to being in Mandela's inner circle

When Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990, Zelda la Grange had no idea who he was. In her Afrikaaner family, he was simply a "terrorist." She was in her twenties and would soon become Mandela's personal assistant, and later, a close friend.

Here's how a young white woman went from loving apartheid to being in Mandela's inner circle
Thabang Senekal during a performance of "Madiba: The African Opera" at South Africa's State Theatre in Pretoria on May 22, 2014.  The opera focuses on Nelson Mandela's  upbringing in the rural town of Qunu on the Eastern Cape and how and why he left that

What's it like to portray Nelson Mandela in an opera? Amazing!

If you're in Pretoria, South Africa, one show you won't be able to see is a new opera about Nelson Mandela. That's because the show, "Madiba: The African Opera," was cancelled after just three nights because of a lack of funding. The opera depicts Nelson Mandela's early years in his native home of Qunu, on South Africa's Eastern Cape. Thabang Senekal is the well-known South African baritone who played Mandela in the production. He describes what it's like to play Mandela on stage.

What's it like to portray Nelson Mandela in an opera? Amazing!
Nelson Mandela, as a young man, before he gave his famous Rivonia speech

Why hearing Mandela's Rivonia speech is so powerful. It's not just the words, it's the sounds behind them

South Africa kept recordings of Nelson Mandela's famous Rivonia speech. But no one could hear them because they were on dictabelts. And then South Africa's last remaining dictaphone machine broke.

Why hearing Mandela's Rivonia speech is so powerful. It's not just the words, it's the sounds behind them

Another gang rape in India, with a complex twist

A woman was sentenced by elders to a public gang rape in her village in the West Bengal area to punish her for an affair. India's Supreme Court is investigating. A signal room in London's Underground gets flooded, with quick-drying cement. And an artist is painting and placing cut-outs of immigrant workers around LA. All that and more, in today's Global Scan.

Another gang rape in India, with a complex twist
A cartoon in Slovakian newspaper SME Daily

How do you say 'selfie' in Danish, or French or Arabic?

'Selfie' is topping some word of the year lists. Its rise to fame has been so rapid that it doesn't exist in most other languages. Speakers of those languages just use the English word, and they don't have much choice about it if they want to be part of the conversation on social media.

How do you say 'selfie' in Danish, or French or Arabic?

PHOTOS: A nation says its final goodbyes to Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela's funeral service was held on Sunday, but media were kept at a distance, at a media center. Many ordinary South Africans also flocked to the media center, to say goodbye.

PHOTOS: A nation says its final goodbyes to Nelson Mandela

Just who is the real threat to North Korea's future?

Kim Jong Un has consolidated his power in North Korea and now he's back in the public eye. But was Kim's uncle really the biggest threat to North Korea's stability?

Just who is the real threat to North Korea's future?

Mandela's love for humor was on full display when he sat for an interview with 'Evita'

Nelson Mandela was many many things, among them a lover of humor and satire. He once sat down for a 30-minute TV interview with a man in a dress pretending to be an apartheid-era Afrikaner housewife. Mandela knew that talking to the fictitious Evita Bezuidenhout was going to reach more people than appearing on the nightly news. Satirist Pieter-Dirk Uys was the man behind Evita.

Mandela's love for humor was on full display when he sat for an interview with 'Evita'