Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a reissue of the post-World War II work of Woody Herman and The Thundering Herd, one of the best-known big bands. There were almost half a dozen version of The Thundering Herd, but it was the configuration featured on this album that made Herman a household name.
Television Critic David Bianculli reviews "The Street," a new cop show shot on location in Newark, New Jersey. The series, produced by the superstation WWOR, is videotaped like a documentary, a feature intended to enhance the realism.
Film director Fran Rubel Kuzui. She's just completed her first film, "Tokyo Pop," about a young American punk singer who moves to Japan in the hopes of reviving her stalled career. (Interview by Faith Middleton)
Illustrator Ralph Steadman. Best known for his collaborations with the journalist Hunter S. Thompson (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), Steadman's cartoons feature an America brainwashed by the mass media and manipulated by its leaders. His ink blob-splattered illustrations lampoon President Reagan, AIDS hysteria, the specter of nuclear annihilation and, of course, Richard Nixon. (Interview by Faith Middleton)
New Orleans pianist Mac Rebbenack pays tribute to James Carroll Booker, III - his pick as the greatest New Orleans pianist. This is part four of a seven-part performance series with Rebennack, also known as Dr. John.
Bob Ryan, basketball writer for The Boston Globe. Together with Terry Pluto, basketball writer for the Akron Beacon Journal, Ryan has written a book that takes a microscopic look at one night in the National Basketball Association by reporting on the Jan 14, 1987 game between The Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The book is titled Forty-Eight Minutes: A Night in the Life of the N.B.A., and follows every shot, every pass, and all the pre- and post-game developments. (Interview by Faith Middleton)
Rock Critic Ken Tucker reviews two albums by Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello featuring previously unreleased material. The two have been longtime colleagues and collaborators. Lowe has been the producer of many of Costello's albums.
British child development expert Penelope Leach. Leach is considered one of the foremost authorities on child care. Leach has said of her work that it is for the moments "when love is impossible ... the seventh time that night that you've woken up and you wonder `is it mine or do all babies behave like this?'" Her books include Your Baby & Child: From Birth to Age Five, Babyhood, Your Baby and Child and The First Six Months. (Interview by Faith Middleton)
Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Bright Lights, Big City," the long-awaited adaptation of the best-selling novel by Jay McInerney about life in the fast lane in New York City. The film stars Michael J. Fox, Kiefer Sutherland and Dianne Wiest.
Language commentator Geoffrey Nunberg discusses the recent decision by Stanford University to amend its famed Western Culture requirement, and also the popularity of two recent books that critique educators for failing to emphasize the classic literature and ideas of western thought.
Cleve Jones, founder of the Names Project, which inspired the sewing of three-foot by six-foot panels in memory of victims of AIDS. The project culminated in the assembly of the patches in Washington last October in a quilt the size of two football fields. A 24-city tour of the quilt to raise money for AIDS research starts later this month. (Interview by Faith Middleton)
Television news commentator David Brinkley. For 14 years, starting in 1956, he and Chet Huntley co-anchored "The Huntley-Brinkley Report." He now anchors the Sunday morning ABC news program "This Week with David Brinkley." Brinkley has written an account of how Washington was transformed by America's entry into World War II. The book is titled Washington Goes to War: The Extraordinary Story of the Transformation of a City and a Nation. (Interview by Faith Middleton)
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a recording of the score for the ballet "The Lady With the Lap Dog" by the Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin. The ballet was performed at the recent Soviet-American Music Festival in Boston. Shchedrin was one of the Soviet organizers of the event.
Playboy and Village Voice columnist Cynthia Heimel. Heimel brings her sassy wit to the plight of the single woman of the 80s, beset with such traumas as tackling urban life and surviving the Great Boyfriend Crunch. Her books include Sex Tips for Girls and But Enough About You. (Interview by Faith Middleton)
Television critic David Bianculli reviews "Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done," a PBS special on the fundamentalist movement. The program features candid interviews with Bakker and others about televangelism and the fundamentalist right.
Ed White, author of the autobiographical novels A Boy's Own Story and The Beautiful Room Is Empty, which tell of his coming of age and maturing as a gay man. White now lives in Paris and writes for Vogue magazine. (Interview by Faith Middleton)
