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Americana

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An insider's guide to the stories and people shaping the USA today

From coast to coast, an insider's guide to the stories and people shaping the USA today

Americana: 20/02/2011

20/02/2011

BBC Radio 4 - Americana, 20/02/2011

A look at how Philadelphia balanced its budget, and who's speaking Elizabethan English.

Guest presenter Adam Brookes finds out how Philadelphia balanced its budget, and visits remote Tangier Island - where some still hear echoes of its settlers' Elizabethan English.

Philadelphia's Return to a Balanced Budget:
As Washington insiders wrangle over the annual Federal budget, guest presenter Adam Brookes takes Americana on the road to Philadelphia -- where Mayor Michael Nutter describes how he has steered his city back into the black. Can the Federal government learn anything from Philly? 

Virginia's relics of Elizabethan English:
After stopping for traditional cheesesteaks in Philly, Americana rides the mail boat from the mainland to Virginia's remote Tangier Island. It's a place where some say the remnants of Cornish speech from Elizabethan times can still be heard in the language of watermen today but as business on the sea faces challenging times the dialect may soon disappear.

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20/02/2011

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