Essayist Harry Stein. Stein wrote the popular "Ethics" column for Esquire Magazine. He writes a syndicated column for the United Features Syndicate. He's written a book titled One of the Guys: The Wising Up of an American Man. In it, he shares his thoughts on why men are the way they are.
Actress Patricia Neal. A star of stage and film, Neal is almost as well known for her private life - her love affair with the married Gary Cooper, the tragedies that befell several of her children, the breakup of her 30-year marriage to the British writer Roald Dahl, and the stroke that almost took away her speech. Her films include "The Breaking Point," "The Fountainhead," "A Face in the Crowd," and "Hud," for which she won the Oscar.
Pianist Ursula Oppens. She's widely regarded as one of the leading interpreters of new music. Many contemporary composers, like John Adams, have written works for her.
Rock historian Ed Ward profiles Alan Freed, one of the most famous, and most notorious, disc jockeys of the 50s and 60s. Freed was one of the first disc jockeys on a mainstream station (WJW in Cleveland) to play the black rhythm and blues that was the foundation of early rock and roll.
Tango innovator Astor Piazzolla. Since the early 60s, Piazzolla has been leading groups that play an updated tango that connects this Argentinian form with the musical innovations from Europe and America, both classical and contemporary. The adjustments have earned him the enmity of Argentinians, and for most of the 70s he lived in France where he wrote film scores. Piazzolla is a classically trained composer who wrote symphonies and studied with Nadia Boulanger, the renown French instructor of composition.
Jazz singer Chris Connor. She was best known for the work she did during a brief stint with the Stan Kenton band. Connor recorded sparingly throughout the 70s and for many jazz fans it was as though she ended her career. She's now performing again and has just completed work on a new album.
Television critic David Bianculli discusses how the writer's strike has benefitted "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour," and what the show's revival means for the concept of a weekly variety show.
Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa. He is one of the leading figures in the recent boom in Latin American fiction. His novels include Aunt Julia and The Scriptwriter and The War of the End of the World. The latter won the Ritz Paris Hemingway Award. Vargas Llosa's books were banned and burned in Peru by the military in the late 60s.
Actress Audrey Hepburn. She rocketed to international stardom for her Oscar-winning role in the film "Roman Holiday," co-starring Gregory Peck. Her other roles include Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady," the blind, tormented heroine of "Wait Until Dark," and opposite Cary Grant in "Charade." She recently returned from Ethiopia on behalf of UNICEF, for whom she now serves as a Special Ambassador.
New Orleans pianist and singer Mac Rebennack pays tribute to one of his own, the New Orleans pianist and singer Cousin Joe. This is the fifth of a seven-part performance series with Rebennack, who is also known as Dr. John.
Film director Alan Rudolph. His films include "Choose Me," "Trouble in Mind," "Welcome to L.A." and "Made in Heaven." His latest film, "The Moderns," which took ten years to make, is set in the ex-patriot community in Paris in the 1920s and features many actors and actresses who have appeared in his earlier films, such as Keith Carradine and Genevieve Bujold and Geraldine Chaplin.
Critic-at-Large Laurie Stone discusses the new ABC show "Home." The format is similar to the morning news shows, like "Good Morning America," and "The Today Show," mixing live interviews with pre-produced segments, all of which revolve around domestic issues, like how to make pot scrubbers out of onion bags.
Rock Critic Ken Tucker reviews three albums by older black male vocalists who are trying their hand at new genres, or trying to extend the traditions they first performed in. The albums are "Forever and Ever," the second solo album by Howard Hewett, a former singer with the black rhythm and blues group Shalamar, "On the Strength," by the rap group Grandmaster Flash, and "I Need Money Bad," by John Whitehead.
Comic actor Eugene Levy. Levy is best known for his many roles - Sid Dithers, the Schmenge Brothers, Bobby Bittman - on the popular SCTV comedy series, which grew out of the Second City comedy troupe in Toronto. Bobby Bittman, is the subject of an upcoming comedy special on Cinemax.
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.
Irish rock musician Pierce Turner. His first band, The Major Thinkers, became popular with New York's East Village crowd and had a hit song in "Avenue B." Turner's debut album, "It's Only a Long Way Across," was produced by minimalist composer Phillip Glass.
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews the cast recording of "Into the Woods," the latest Stephen Sondheim musical. Sondheim is the composer of "Sweeney Todd," "Pacific Overtures" and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
