Rock Historian Ed Ward reviews a 9-CD reissue from the old soul label Stax, the Memphis label that brought us Otis Redding, Carla Thomas, Sam and Dave, and Booker T and the MG's.
Journalist Ron Powers. Powers new book, "Far From Home, " examines the decline of the small town in America. To illustrate the point, Powers profiled the decline of Cairo, Illinois and Kent Connecticut.
Charlie Watts, the drummer with the Rolling Stones, has always loved the great alto saxophonist Charlie Parker. Watts just recorded a box set that pays tribute to Parker. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead is unimpressed.
Journalists Jon Alpert and Maryann De Leo. The two have filmed wars, crimes in progress, and homeless families living in garbage dumps. Their latest documentary, "Rape: Cries from the Heartland," will be shown on PBS.
J. P. Bianchi is a Social Studies supervisor for Community School District 8 in the Bronx. He stopped teaching in 1986, and is now responsible for the shape of the Social Studies curriculum for the entire district. A recent New York Board of Regents report examined the state of Social Studies, and Bianchi comments.
Martin ("Mar-teen") Sánchez-Jankowski, a professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, lived among ethnically diverse street gangs in New York, Boston and Los Angeles from 1978 to 1988. His observations are contained in his new book, Islands in the Street: Gangs in American Urban Society (Univ. of Cal. Press).
Journalist Milton Viorst of the New Yorker reports on the Middle East. In April, he was in Bagdad to observe the state of Iraq several months after the end of the conflict.
Thompson is a British musician first known for his work with Fairport Convention. He's since gone solo, writing dark songs which blend elements of British folk ballads and the blues. His new album is called "Rumor and Sigh."
Rock critic Jimmy Guterman and editor Owen O'Donnell have a new book called "The Worst Rock 'n' Roll Records of All Time." Many of their selections are recordings made by some of the most popular artists, including the Doors, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, and the Moody Blues.
Miller was the first executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association when it was formed in 1966. He helped form a labor union to represent the athletes, which caused the dramatic increase in player's salaries, and ended the system that bound an athlete to one team forever. To some, he's the man who depreciated the value of teams. His memoir is called "A Whole Different Ball Game."
Jacobson is the executive director of the Center for Science in The Public Interest. He's one of the authors of the new book, "Safe Food." It's a guide to the dangers in what we eat. The book discusses pesticides, bacteria and other toxic substances found in food.
Rock historian Ed Ward profiles Blind Willie Johnson, an itinerant gospel singer who traveled the South between the 20s and the 40s. Unlike many of his peers, Johnson was a master guitarist.
Boyd's new book, "The Revolution of Little Girls," follows a child coming-of-age in the South in the 60s. (It's published by Knopf). Boyd's the author of two earlier novels, and a collection of essays, called "The Rebel Way of Knowledge."
