The Gay Community in a Time of Crisis
Playwrights William M. Hoffman and Larry Kramer are gay men whose recent work has grappled with the effect of AIDS on their communities. They share their frustrations with the inaction both amongst government agencies and gay people themselves to meaningfully address the epidemic.
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Other segments from the episode on June 12, 1987
Rescuing Folk Music from Obscurity
Folk singer Michael Cooney returns to Fresh Air to perform two songs originally written in the 1920s
Reimagining Gertrude Stein
Jill Godmilow's American Playhouse film explores the relationship between the avant-garde writer and her partner Alice Toklas. While much of the plot is invented, Godmilow was careful to stay true to the women's lives.
What "Talk Radio" Says About our Time
Critic-at-large Laurie Stone finds the new play by Eric Bogosian, about a bigoted and acerbic Cleveland shock jock, both funny and pretentious. She says its attempt to broadly critique modern culture falls flat.
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