Terry Gross

He writes about the Five Points neighborhood in Lower Manhattan which is the setting of Martin Scorsese's new film. Anbinder's book is Five Points: The 19th-Century New York City Neighborhood that Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections and Became the World's Most Notorious Slum. Anbinder is an associate professor of history at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

He discusses Gangs of New York, his new film set in pre-Civil War New York City about the street warfare between immigrant groups. It was inspired by the book The Gangs of New York published in 1927 by journalist Herbert Asbury.

He is the Tony-Award-winning choreographer of Broadway's The Lion King. He's also the founder and artistic director of the critically acclaimed Garth Fagan Dance group, and a Distinguished University Professor of the State University of New York. He's won many awards and fellowships, including a Guggenheim. His troupe is currently on tour. This interview first aired October 29, 2001.