On Nov. 2, 2003, Bishop Gene Robinson became the world's first openly gay Episcopal bishop. He was elected by the Diocese of New Hampshire. His appointment and confirmation have caused some division in the Episcopal Church. Robinson was married for 13 years. He continues to be close to his ex-wife and two daughters. For more than 16 years, he's been in a relationship with a man.
Robert J. Lifton is a psychiatrist and author who is a board member of the group Physicians for Social Responsibility. His works include "Indefensible Weapons: The Political and Psychological Case Against Nuclearism" and "Home from the War: Vietnam Veterans: Neither Victims Nor Executioners." His latest book, "The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and The Psychology of Genocide," investigates the capacity for human cruelty and is based on interviews with former Nazi doctors and their surviving victims.
The legendary frontman plays all the characters in a new recording of Igor Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale. Critic Lloyd Schwartz calls it a seriously enjoyable addition to the Stravinsky catalogue.
Actor Michael Murphy. Murphy's first work was on television when he was still a high school English teacher. He debuted on the TV series "Combat," and later acted on "Ben Casey," "Dr. Kildaire" and "Bonanza." The director for the "Combat" series was Robert Altman, with whom Murphy has had a long association. He later acted in many films by Robert Altman, including "M*A*S*H," "Brewster McCloud," "McCabe and Mrs.
Creator and executive producer of the HBO hit series “The Sopranos,” David Chase. The show has just completed its second season and experienced the death of one of its cast members, Nancy Marchand.
Sergeant Tom Leisner and detective Jim Moffit with the Philadelphia police force. They were responsible for helping to convict Richard Ramos, the leader of a drug ring that included his mother, two brothers, and his sister, among others. The group's success in drug sales brought in $20 million and caused the destruction of the neighborhood. Leisner was stationed in the first mini-station in the city to keep closer watch over drug dealings.
Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller, authors of the new book, Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live (Little Brown and Company). The book is a history of the late-night comedy mainstay, which first aired in 1975. Shales and Miller interviewed the shows' producers, writers, cast members and guest hosts, including Lorne Michaels, Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Al Franken, Will Farrell, Tom Hanks and many more. Tom Shales is the Pulitzer Prize-winning television critic of The Washington Post and a movie critic for NPR's Morning Edition.
Early in his career, Cole formed a trio with guitarist Oscar Moore and bassist Wesley Prince. Hittin' the Ramp, a new 7-CD roundup, showcases the band that help catapult Cole to stardom.
I'm not sure that any creature is more marvelous than the honeybee, with its highly evolved social organization, its ability to create honey, and, of course, the stinger that causes us to take heed whenever we hear buzzing. The pain it threatens makes it easy to think you need an almost-monastic devotion to become a beekeeper.
In her foreword to America Is in the Heart — Carlos Bulosan's classic 1946 novel about Filipinx and Mexican migrant workers on the West Coast — the Filipina American novelist Elaine Castillo asks readers, "Do you remember how old you were when you first read a book that had a character who looked and lived like you in it?"
Mexican Filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's debut film "Amores Perros" has just been released in the US to critical acclaim. The film follows the lives of three groups of people whose human relationships parallel the relationships they have with their dogs. Released in Los Angeles theaters in April, the movie was nominated for an Oscar in the category of Best Foreign Language Film. Other awards include the Canal Award at Cannes 2000, Grand Prix for Best Film and Best Director at the Tokyo International Film Festival and New Director's Award at Edinburgh.
Robert Greenstein ("stine" not "steen"), executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. His group has just released a new study that shows how many state's budget cuts have had meant a disproportionate cut in programs for the poor.
Pennsylvania Representative Russell Letterman is part of a group of legislators who have proposed legislation to require couples applying for marriage licenses to take one of the current tests for the virus that causes AIDS. Letterman and his cohort maintain that this should be done despite the fact that current tests (including one approved yesterday) are unreliable and can only confirm exposure to the virus. Letterman joins the show to explain his position. (Interview by Amy Salit)
Dr. David Zangen, senior pediatrician, and Dr. Radgonde Amer, an ophthalmologist at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. They are part of the group of Arab and Jewish doctors who work side by side at the hospital treating casualties of the conflict in the Middle East.
She got her start acting in 50s and 60s Westerns, appearing in Gunsmoke and Marlon Brando's One-Eyed Jacks. Though she is from Puerto Rico, she was often cast as a Mexican. Her films include Scarface and All the Pretty Horses. She's now starring in The Blue Diner, which will appear on PBS.
Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Beetle Juice," the supernatural comedy about a couple that moves into a Victorian home hoping to remodel it only to find it's inhabited by ghosts who abhor their chic urban tastes. It stars Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O'Hara and Alec Baldwin.
Raney began playing when he was 17. He was one of the first jazz guitarists to incorporate modern bop into his music. He suffers from Meniere's disease, which causes hearing problems -- he can perform solo, but has difficulty with other musicians. He collaborated with Stan Getz in the 1950s. Some of those early sessions have recently been re-issued on CD.
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 he was inspired and intrigued by the continuous stories he heard about him and his musical talent. He has produced a collection of his father's recordings titled I died Today - Music of Rodd Keith.
Artist, writer, folklorist, photographer Roger Manley was the guest curator of two exhibits at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore: "The Tree of Life" (w/a companion catalogue) and "The End is Near!" The museum opened in 1995. Using the Native American tradition of a personal vision quest as it's model for the kind of work it wants to present, the museum is dedicated to showing and promoting the work of self-taught, intuitive artists. (The phone number for AVAM is 410-244-1900). Manley will discuss visionary art.
Television critic David Bianculli reviews the new show TV 101, about a student who covers his high school's news on closed-circuit television. Bianculli says the premise and cast are excellent; he only hopes that the show can eventually live up to its potential.