We remember novelist Joseph Heller, author of "Catch-22" which became an American classic. He died Sunday night at the age of 76, from a heart attack. (REBROADCAST from 1/29/88)
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews the cast recording of "Into the Woods," the latest Stephen Sondheim musical. Sondheim is the composer of "Sweeney Todd," "Pacific Overtures" and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
Stewart Brand, founder of The Whole Earth Catalog and The Whole Earth Software Review. He's written a book on the Media Lab, MIT's state-of-the-art computer lab.
Neurologist Oliver Sacks is famous for his case studies of people with neurological disorders that cause unusual problems with perception. In The Mind's Eye, Sacks turns to himself, explaining how an eye tumor affected his vision and perception of the world.
Film critic David Edelstein reviews Howl's Moving Castle, the new Disney film made by Hayao Miyazaki, who made the Academy-Award winning animated film Spirited Away.
A revival of Ain't Misbehavin', featuring the original cast, is now playing on Broadway. Critic-at-large Laurie Stone says she jumped at the chance to see it. Overacting and exaggerated choreography plagued the first act, but the cast showed restraint during the last half.
Abrahm Lustgarten says the undermining of science, and cuts to FEMA and NOAA, at a time when erratic weather is making disasters more common, should be "extraordinarily concerning" to us.
Book Critic John Leonard will review The Sergeant's Cat, a new mystery novel by Janwillem Van De Wetering, a former police officer in the Amsterdam police force.
Carlin's "Seven Dirty Words" act ignited an obscenity case in the '70s. We listen back to two archival interviews with the late comedian, and David Bianculli reviews a new HBO documentary about him.
New Yorker writer Sarah Stillman found dozens of cases of people with mental illness arrested for minor crimes and of deprived medication and healthcare. They died from malnutrition and dehydration.
Historian Paul Fussel has observed nine distinct class categories in the United States. He says that, while belief in social mobility is strong in American culture, few people are able to move out of the class into which they were born.
Journalist John Conroy. Conroy lived in a poor Catholic neighborhood in violence-torn Belfast, Northern Ireland. He recorded stories of the life there in his book Belfast Diary.
Historian Adam Hochschild traces the patriotic fervor that catapulted Great Britain into war during the summer of 1914 — as well as the small, but determined British pacifist movement — in his historical narrative To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918.
Cellist Janet Horvath suffered from tendinitis, which was caused by overzealous practicing. Now fully recovered, she works to call attention to the numerous playing-related ailments and injuries professional musicians of all kinds are subject to.
Both The David Susskind Show and The Sid Caesar Show featured large, unwieldy guest rosters and entertaining, timely jokes. A vintage episode of Susskind's show and a reunion of Caesar's writers are now available on DVD. TV critic David Bianculli says both offerings are laugh-out-loud funny.
Trumpeter and composer Dave Douglas doesn't like to categorize music. He's currently fronting seven ensembles, of varying compositional, improvisational and instrumental styles, including the Dave Douglas String Group, the Tiny Bell Trio, and the Sextet. He's been a sideman with Don Byron, Myra Melford and Uri Caine. Douglas has many compositions and recordings to his credit. His latest recordings are "Songs for Wandering Souls" (Winter & Winter) by the Tiny Bell Trio, and "Convergence" (Soul Note) by the Dave Douglas String Group.
Uber's "God view" shows a map of the cars in an area and the silhouettes of the people who ordered them. Linguist Geoff Nunberg says Uber-Santa doesn't just know when you've been sleeping, but where.
