The Warner Bros. studio created several iconic cartoon characters for their shows Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, including Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. Writer Steve Schneider has published a book about their history and influence, called That's All Folks!
Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews A World Apart, about a white anti-apartheid activist whose family needs her more than the movement does. While the film has a few missteps, Schiff says it's directed with a steady hand.
Conductor Roger Norrington seeks to recreate the sound of classical pieces -- particularly by Beethoven -- as they were originally performed. His orchestras plays period instruments; Norrington emphasizes the dynamics and tempos that were written in the scores -- markings often ignored by other conductors.
TV critic David Bianculli reviews the police procedural, now in its second season. He admires how the show takes its time with each storyline, exploring one over the course of several episodes -- and often featuring long-term guest stars.
Mystery novelist Tony Hillerman's books feature Navajo detectives in the American Southwest, and are informed by that tribe's religious practices. He's not Indian himself, but grew up in their communities.
The Hungarian pianist isn't well-known in the United States, but a number of reissued recordings on the Price-Les$ label, which classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz calls "glorious," will give listeners a chance to hear what they've been missing.
Despite his association with the 1960s anti-war movements, SDS co-founder and current California State Legislator Tom Hayden says he was as unlikely to become a beatnik in the 50s as he was a hippie in the 60s. His new memoir, which reflects on his political activity over the decades, is called Reunion.
Rock historian Ed Ward remembers the 1960s British rock band, whose members later founded several other groups, most notably the Electric Light Orchestra.
Book critic Stephen Schiff calls John Cheever, the subject of a new biography by Scott Donaldson, "the saddest man I ever met." The story of the author's life is brutal, told skillfully, but with prose that could't hope to match Cheever's.
Harry Whittington built a career on churning out pulp paperbacks. His mystery novels have received recent critical acclaim; four of them were just reissued by Black Lizard Books.
National security correspondent Roy Gutman takes a look at the tense relations between the United States and Nicaragua, in light of the conflict between the Contras and Sandinistas. His new book about the topic is called Banana Diplomacy.
PBS's newest show, POV, showcases a diverse selection of documentaries, many of which have been screened in theaters or broadcast on other networks. TV critic David Bianculli has this review.
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says Paul Motian's new album, Misterioso, keeps listeners off-balance with its quick shifts from the rhapsodic to the rambunctious.
Newsweek photojournalist William Gentile. Gentile covered the Nicaraguan revolution for UPI ten years ago, and he's the only foreign correspondent from that time still working in Nicaragua. Gentile's new book, Nicaragua, contrasts the violence of the Contra war with the natural beauty of Nicaragua and the lives of everyday people there.
Sportswriter Phil Berger. Berger covers boxing for The New York Times and has written a new book about heavyweight champ Mike Tyson called Blood Season.
