Khodorkovsky's Trial from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

David Remnick, New Yorker editor and the author of The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama, discusses the trial of jailed Russian businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once the country's richest man, and talks about the notion of an independent judiciary in Russia.

Download that podcast here.

Books of the year from The Economist: Books and arts

The best books of 2010 were about Barack Obama and the secret world of China's communist rulers, as well as on the spread of surfing, how prosperity evolves, how the West rules (for now) and the travels of the hare with amber eyes.

This is a straight out list of The Economist's best books of the year. Download the podcast here. See also: Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime, The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers, Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory, Molotov's Magic Lantern: Travels in Russian History, Curfewed Night: One Kashmiri Journalist's Frontline Account of Life, Love, and War in His Homeland