Today: Tiger Mother from BBC Podcast - Best of Today

The award for controversial book of the year so far for concerned parents has to be Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. The author is a Chinese American academic at Yale and it plots her "tough mothering" style of parenting. Evan spoke to the writer Amy Chua to explain her thinking. Listen to the podcast.

Today: How to buy a low-budget boat from BBC Podcast - Best of Today

The London International Boat Show opens to the public in Docklands today and, for the first time, it will feature second-hand boats for sale. The author of Missing the Boat, Michael Hutchinson, asks whether this is a sign of the times and goes down to see what he could buy. Download the podcast here.

Today: JFK assassination 'was easily done' from BBC Podcast - Best of Today

The secret service agent who threw himself into President Kennedy's car at the moment of his assassination, Clint Hill, has published a book about the events. He describes his memories of the day.

Download the BBC podcast here. See also: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence, Portrait of Camelot: A Thousand Days in the Kennedy White House (with DVD), Head Shot: The Science Behind the JFK Assassination

Today: Remembering Mandela's imprisonment from BBC Podcast - Best of Today

Nelson Mandela, now 92, has now opened his personal archive, offering an insight into his remarkable life. It has been compiled into a book called Conversations With Myself. Much of the book is based on conversations with his close friend Ahmed Kathrada, who was imprisoned with Mandela on Robben Island. Mr Kathrada tells his story to Today presenter Evan Davis.

Listen to the podcast here.