Guest film critic Michael Sragow, film critic for The San Francisco Examiner. Sragow will review the Australian film "High Tide" about the reunion of an estranged mother and daughter.
Rock Critic Ken Tucker reviews "Shoes Best," a collection of 22 songs by Shoes, a grass-roots band from Zion, Illinois that is still trying to make it in the rock world on their own terms, without glitz and hype. They grant few interviews, never tour, and insist on complete control of their image.
Susan Baur, author of Hypochondria: Woeful Imaginings, a book that examines how hypochondria develops, how hypochondriacs stay that way, and how they have been viewed over time.
New York Times television critic Peter Boyer. His new book, Who Killed CBS? The Undoing of America's Number One News Network, explores the recent turmoil within the news division of CBS, and how it has effected the entire corporation. He reports on the ill-fated reign of CBS News President Van Gordon Sauter, the tenure of Dan Rather as anchor of the CBS Evening News and the takeover of CBS by New York investor Laurence Tisch.
Language commentator Geoffrey Nunberg comments on recent activity at the federal level regarding bi-lingual education policies, and a proposed constitutional amendment to make English the nation's official language.
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz pays tribute to Irving Berlin, arguably the greatest American song writer, on the occasion of his 100th birthday. Schwartz will review a new recording of Berlin songs performed by Elizabeth Welch.
Novelist Elizabeth Benedict. Her second novel, The Beginner's Book of Dreams is a coming of age story about a young woman contending with her moody, alcoholic mother, and her dreamer schemer father. Benedict's first novel was titled Slow Dancing.
Rock historian Ed Ward profiles the brief regional revival of a cappella singing in the mid-60s. Some of the groups included The Five Fashions from Stanford, Conn., The Q-Tones from Philadelphia, and the Zircons from the Bronx.
Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe. Achebe is one of Africa's foremost writers. His earlier works include Things Fall Apart, A Man of the People and Arrow of God. His latest work, his first novel in 25 years, is titled Anthills of the Savannah.
Book critic John Leonard reviews The New Confessions, a novel by the British writer William Boyd. Boyd's earlier novels include Stars and Bars and An Ice Cream War.
Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a CD reissue of the recordings of tenor saxophonist Don Byas. The recording is titled "Don Byas on Blue Star," and captures the highlights of his recorded work during the period between 1947 and 1952.
Orchestrator and composer Jonathan Tunick. Though best known for his orchestrations of Stephen Sondheim musicals like "Sweeney Todd" and "Into the Woods," Tunic is increasingly gaining recognition for his own compositions.
Television Critic David Bianculli previews this week's "American Playhouse" presentation on PBS titled "The Trial of Bernhard Goetz." Goetz was acquitted last year of assault charges stemming from his shooting of four black youths in a New York City subway car after, Goetz contended, the youths tried to rob him. The trial, which dominated the New York City press for several weeks, was known as "The Subway Vigilante" trial.
Singer Susannah McCorkle performs a tribute to composer Irving Berlin, who turns 100 on May 11. McCorkle will perform tributes to Berlin each week at this time throughout the month.
Biologist Daniel H. Janzen's dream is to create a tropical forest in the northwest of Costa Rica. Janzen is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)
Ken Tucker pokes fun at the notion that the video cassette revolution would spawn legions of avid movie collectors. Increasingly, he argues, the movies available for home rental are either teen comedies or movies you can see on late-night TV.
Actress Melanie Mayron. She currently appears in the ABC television program "thirtysomething" as Melissa, the photographer. Her films include "Girlfriends" and "Missing." She stars in and co-wrote the new film "Sticky Fingers."
John Rothchild. His new book, A Fool and His Money is a personal account of his adventures as an average investor trying to figure out the complexities of the stock and commodities markets.
