Journalist and network news correspondent Charles Glass. His new book is "Tribes With Flags: A Dangerous Passage Through the Chaos of the Middle East." (The Atlantic Monthly Press). Glass was kidnapped and held hostage by pro-Iranian terrorists in 1987. He escaped from his captors 62 days later.
Comic Mike Myers. He's the newest member of Saturday Night Live, where he's created the characters and sketches for "Wayne's World" and "Sprockets." Myers began his career at Second City in Toronto.
Biographer Deirdre Bair. Her latest book is a biography of French writer, intellectual and feminist Simone De Beauvoir. Bair has also written a biography of Samuel Beckett.
Rock historian Ed Ward begins a two-part profile on Little Richard. This week he tells us about Little Richard's early years, when he had more ambition than success and was still trying to make his mark in the music world.
Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the controversial new film "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover." It's by British director Peter Greenaway, who directed "The Draftsman's Contract."
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new release of works by 20th century composer Leon Kirchner. Lloyd say Kirchner has managed to fuse the two major influences of 20th-century classical music, Schoenberg and Stravinsky. (the album's on the Elektra/Nonesuch label).
Critic Laurie Stone reviews the work of impressionist Louise DuArt. On her recent Showtime special, DuArt portrayed everyone from Cher to Barbara Walters, Woody Allen to Doctor Ruth.
Writer Jessica Hagedorn. Her debut novel, "The Dogeaters," is set amid the mixture of cultures that makes up the Philippines. Hagedorn herself was born and raised in the Philippines. Prior to this novel, she's been a poet, performance artist, playwright, and commentator for "Crossroads." ("The Dogeaters" is published by Pantheon).
Israeli journalist Ehud Ya'ari (A-hood yah-HAR-ee). He's the co-author of "Intifada: The Palestinian Uprising-Israel's Third Front." The book chronicles the events leading up to the Palestinian uprising, and it examines how the Israeli government misread, and misreported, the events surrounding the Intifada. Ehud Ya'ari covers Middle East affairs for Israeli television.
Commentator Maureen Corrigan reviews two new autobiographies by women: "How I Became Hettie Jones," by Hettie Jones, and "Love and Other Infectious Diseases," by Molly Haskell.
Poet VIikram Seth (VICK-ram SATE) He was born in India and has lived in England, China and the U.S. He's just completed his first novel -- a novel written in verse, "The Golden Gate" (published by Knopf). David Rieff of "Vanity Fair" says of the book, "At once a bittersweet love story, a wickedly funny novel of manners and an unsentimental meditation on mortality and the nuclear abyss."
Jazz tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon was one of the creators of bop and one of the most influential players of the 1940s and 1950s. Gordon received a Best Actor Academy Award nomination for his role in the 1986 film Round Midnight. He died this morning of kidney failure. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead joins the show to remember Gordon.
Historian Jonathan D. Spence. His new book is "The Search for Modern China" (published by W.W. Norton & Company). Spence is a professor of History at Yale University.
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews "That's a Serious Thing," a new reissue featuring trombonist Jack Teagarden. Kevin says the album shows how Teagarden brought a country influence into jazz. The album's on the RCA/Bluebird label and it features Teagarden performances from 1929 to 1957.
Journalist Morley Safer. His first book is "Flashbacks: On Returning to Vietnam" (published by Random House). In 1965 Safer went to Vietnam as CBS'S correspondent. His famous report of U.S. marines torching the Cam Ne hamlet in August 1965 angered the White House with threats to expose SAFER'S "Communist ties" unless CBS fired him. Safer went back to Vietnam in 1989 as a correspondent for 60 Minutes, and out of this trip came "Flashbacks," a look back at the war and an examination of Vietnam today.
