Will Ferrell is a regular cast member of Saturday Night Live. Last weekend the show began the new season in a somber tone, opening the show with Mayor Giuliani surrounded by a group of New York fire fighters, police and EMT workers. Ferrell has portrayed President George Bush on the show as well as Janet Reno, Alex Trebek and Robert Goulet; his other send-ups include musical middle school teacher Marty Culp, and Spartan cheerleader Craig.
Rosanne Cash. The singer/lyricist has released nine albums. In 1985 she won a Grammy for "I don't Know Why You Don't Want Me." Cash is the daughter of Johnny Cash. She currently has a new album, "Ten-Song Demo" (Capitol Records) and her first work of fiction: "Bodies of Water" (Hyperion) a collection of nine short stories. One reviewer writes, "her talent as a lyricist translates beautifully into short fiction."
Dr. Fred Sheftell is founder and co-director, respectively, of the New England Center for Headache and National President for the American Council on Headache Education. He argues that chronic headache sufferers have faced stigma, often thought to have brought their condition on themselves. He says, “Unlike the pain of ulcers or colitis, the pain caused by a headache has no easily visible source. This relects more on the state of medical knowledge than on the reality of the condition.”
Dr. Fred Sheftell is the co-founder of The New England Center for Headache and the co-author of the book, Headache Relief. He's also co-authored the new book, Headache Relief for Women: How You Can Manage and Prevent Pain (Little, Brown & Co.) (The New England Center for Headache is located in Stamford, Connecticut).
Fortune magazine Editor-at-Large, Joseph Nocera, talks about the industry and consumer implications from the on-going trial of Microsoft. The U.S. Justice Department alleges the Microsoft engaged in illegal predatory practices against its competitors. Nocera has been covering the trial for Fortune. Nocera is author of "A Piece of the Action; How the Middle Class Joined the Money Class" by Simon and Schuster. (This book is out of print) He also is a regular business commentator for Saturday Weekend Edition on NPR.
Lloyd Schwartz says that Spanish cellist's renditions of Bach are unrivaled. He reviews Casals' complete performances the composer's cello suite, as well as a more recent recording of Beethoven's trios.
Music legend Johnny Cash. Cash has been recording albums and performing since the 1950's. Representing Cash's varied musical styles, he has been inducted into the Songwriters, Country Music, and Rock and Roll Halls of Fame. He's just released an autobiography called "Cash" (Harper) The book tour for the memoir has been cancelled due to complications with Cash's Parkinson's disease.
Attorney Cass Sunstein (SUN-steen). He’s considered by many to be one of the nation’s authorities when it comes to interpreting the U.S. Constitution. He’s the author of “One Case at a Time: Judicial Minimalism on the Supreme Court,” (Harvard University Press) which came out last year. Today, he explains the legal aspects of the election controversy in Florida. He teaches at the University of Chicago.
Cash spent half a century in the limelight as a country singer turned American icon. Between 1958, when he first recorded for Columbia, until 1986, when it didn't renew his contract, he recorded more than 50 singles and 60 albums for the label.
Clayborne Carson of the Founding Director of the King Papers Project, a long-term project to edit and publish the papers of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Walk the Line is the new biopic about music icon Johnny Cash, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the "Man in Black" and Reese Witherspoon as his wife, June Carter.
Novelist Father Andrew Greeley has just published an autobiography called Confessions of a Parish Priest. He joins Fresh Air to talk about his seminary training, his early experiences leading a congregation in Chicago, and his perspectives on the Catholic Church's views on sexuality.
Psychiatrist James Gilligan. He's spent twenty-five years treating violent men, as former medical director of the Bridgewater State Hospital for the criminally insane, and director of mental health for the Massachusetts prison system.
He talks about living as a closeted homosexual in the priesthood, finally having an affair with a man, going into therapy and then leaving the ministry. All this occurred by 1992, years before the sexual abuse scandal. Schiavone wrote about his experience in an article in the December 8, 2002 issue of the Boston Globe Magazine.
Guest commentator Maureen Corrigan reviews a new book critical of the college entrance exam, administered by the company ETS. ETS also developed the subject-specific Advanced Placement tests, which Corrigan graded for three years.
While vacationing in France, linguist Geoff Nunberg visited a museum exhibit showcasing an early edition of the Grand Larousse dictionary. He considers the cultural significance of this text, and what it says about how the French view language.
In 1970, Stephen Sondheim's comic musical Company broke most of the conventions of American musical theater. Now, a newly restored documentary goes inside the making of the original cast album.