Travel with Rick Steves

At a time of year when, according to some cultures, the worlds of the living and the dead come a little closer together, a historian joins us to explain how vampire stories arose from eastern European legends of the "undead." Then Irish writer Fintan O'Toole describes the role of the supernatural in Celtic traditions and in more recent Irish literature. And listeners describe eerie encounters they've experienced while traveling in Europe. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

Rick's inimitable Istanbul guide Lale Surmen Aran shares tips for eating well on the cheap in her city, where vendors and inexpensive cafeterias offer great local food amid the vibrant street scene. Then the curator of Paris' legendary Père Lachaise Cemetery describes what it's like to live among 70,000 graves, world-famous tombs, and surprising urban wildlife. And author Robert Macfarlane tells us about two of England's most mysterious landscapes. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

David Beckmann, former president of the anti-hunger organization Bread for the World, explains why global progress in the fight against poverty is faltering and how compassionate Americans can still help turn the tide. Plus, author Timothy Egan explains the legacy of one of the most famous Irish American immigrants of the 19th century. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

The most popular storyteller of our time, author James Patterson, shares insights he gained from talking to the people who work behind the scenes to make Las Vegas America's most extravagant tourist mecca. And a tour guide from Morocco invites us to imagine a very different type of desert experience as he describes sleeping under the dazzling night sky — the same that's guided travelers for millennia — that stretches over North Africa's vast Sahara. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

A biking Brit explains how easy it is to find evidence of the people from centuries past along the backroads of England and Scotland. And a pair of British tour guides get us ready to visit England's magnificent and historically important cathedrals, from Canterbury to York Minster. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.