Feminist Writer Carolyn Heilbrun

Journalist Taylor Branch says most histories of the African American civil rights movement written by white people are missing heart and context. He seeks to avoid this pitfall in his new book, Parting the Waters. Branch joins Fresh Air to discuss the work of Martin Luther King, Jr. in black churches, and how John F. Kennedy and J. Edgar Hoover attempted to control him for their own ends.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says the movie star had a range of about six notes, but he had personality and a swinging house band. Yet Astaire deserves praise for making famous several songs which later became standards.

TV critic David Bianculli reviews the new ABC special, Roots: The Gift, which revisits protagonist Kunta Kinte. He says it's a true successor to the original miniseries, and exceeds it in quality.