TV critic David Bianculli previews When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, Spike Lee's two-part HBO documentary about New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Guitarist and composer Halvorson arrived on the jazz scene in the mid 2000s with a virtuosity that commanded attention. Her current sextet, called Amaryllis, features a stellar cast of musicians.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews two great solo saxophone pieces by Coleman Hawkins. The first is called "Picasso," and is based on the music of cellist Pablo Casals. The second is called "Dali."

Sarah Silverman's father and stepmother are buried under one tombstone that reads: "Janice and Donald, who loved to laugh." The loss was a starting point for Silverman's "cathartic" Netflix comedy special. Originally broadcast May 29, 2025.

Film critic Leonard Maltin has been writing about films since he was 17 years old. The 1983-1984 edition of his guide "T.V. Movies," which gives "capsule" reviews of films airing on television, has just been published. This year's edition has 15,000 movies and also reviews made-for-television movies. Maltin has written several books about film and is the film critic for Entertainment Tonight. Maltin will answer listener calls about movies.

Journalist Jack Holland. He is a columnist for the Irish Echo, an American weekly for Irish-Americans. Holland was born in Northern Ireland. He was raised Catholic, and has Protestant blood in him as well. He will be talking about the events leading up to the peace settlement in Northern Ireland, and the new National Assembly that was elected last week in Belfast. He'll also talk about growing up in Ireland. The Irish Echo is available on the World Wide Web at www.irishecho.com.

Arthel "Doc" Watson, one of America's premier acoustic folk guitarists. His flat-pick style of playing traditional folk and bluegrass has made his sound one of the most distinctive of any folk artist. His 24 albums have earned him four Grammys. In the folk music community, Watson is best known for his part in preserving the traditional ballads and melodies of southern Appalachia.

Her new movie, which she wrote and directed, is The Ballad of Jack and Rose, starring Miller's husband, Daniel Day-Lewis, along with Camilla Belle and Catherine Keener. It's about an aging hippie father and his daughter who are living on an abandoned commune but come face-to-face with the contemporary world. Miller is the daughter of the legendary playwright Arthur Miller.

A new biography tells the story of Buck's Chinese childhood, as the daughter of zealous missionaries. In Pearl Buck in China, Hilary Spurling makes a compelling case for a reappraisal of Buck's fiction -- transforming her from dreary "lady author" into woman warrior.

Father James Martin has written a new memoir about his spiritual journey from the corporate world to the priesthood. His book is In Good Company: The Fast Track from the Corporate World to Poverty, Chastity and Obedience (paperback, Sheed & Ward). Martin is associate editor of America, the national Catholic magazine and is the winner of three Catholic Press Association Awards. Hes also the author of This Our Exile: A Spiritual Journey with the Refugees of East Africa.

Judge Alex Kozinski is on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Since the 1970's he has had to make decisions on cases involving the death penalty. But, although an advocate of this controversial form of punishment, he finds it difficult to enforce. In a recent New Yorker article ("Tinkering with Death", 10 Feb 1997), he recalls his experience the first time he wrote an opinion for such a case. Kozinski also writes for the Wall Street Journal's Op-ed page and other publications.

After decades in New York, Watson has returned to Kansas City. The core KC jazz values — a swinging beat, a personal style, and an earthy, bluesy sensibility — are firmly in place on this new album.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a reissue of music by singer and pianist Fats Waller from 1940-1943, the years just before his death. Although this period is considered by many to be his least productive, Kevin says Waller was great at any time.

Book critic John Leonard reviews the new book by ex-nuns Barbara Ferraro and Patricia Hussey, co-written with Jane O'Reilly. Ferraro and Hussey defied the Catholic Church's policies on abortion, birth control, and the ordination of women. Their convictions eventually led them to give up their vows.

Critic Kevin Whitehead reflects on the legacy of the musician who would have been 100 on April 22, 2022. Mingus died in 1979, leaving behind a catalog of music that reflected his outsized personality.

Tenor saxophonist and composer, Ellery Eskelin. He's been called the most inventive American tenor player in creative music. His father, Rodd Keith, (also known as Rod Rodgers) was killed when he was struck by cars on the Hollywood Freeway after leaping or falling from the Santa Monica Boulevard overpass. Eskelin only knew his father for the first eighteen months of his life. As he grew up, Eskelin was inspired and intrigued by the continuous stories he heard about his father and his musical talent.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new Christmas movie Scrooged, which is a modern take on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Schiff says that, while the casting of Bill Murray was inspired, the film is caught between schmaltz and humbug, and ends up being nothing at all.

Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku descries some of the inventions he thinks will appear in the coming century -- including Internet-ready contact lenses, space elevators and driverless cars -- in his book Physics of the Future.

Political and social comic, Jimmy Tingle. He was featured on the album of political humor "Strange Bedfellows." He's also appeared on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson," "HBO's One Night Stand," and in Showtime's documentary "But Seriously" about American social satirists. Tingle has a new one-man show, "Jimmy Tingle's Uncommon Sense," which had an off-Broadway run last year. It's just been held over through November 4th at the Hasty Pudding Theatre in Cambridge.

The ACLU recently announced its Arts Censors of the Year, a list that includes acting NEA chair Anne-Imelda Radice, Rev. Donald Wildmon, Oliver North, feminist Catherine MacKinnon, and the Duval County, Florida Public School District. We talk with Marjorie Heins, the director of the ACLU's Arts Censorship Project, about what earned the aforementioned this dubious distinction.