Black South African jazz singer Sathima Bea Benjamin. She's led many groups and has also recorded with her husband, composer and pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, also known as "Dollar Brand."
Fresh Air's classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz. It's part of our continuing series of conversations with Fresh Air's contributors. Schwartz is the classical music editor of the Boston Phoenix and writes for The Atlantic magazine and Vanity Fair. Schwartz was the winner of the 1987 ASCAP Deems Taylor for music criticism.
Arlene Violet, the first female state attorney general in the country. She was also the first nun in Rhode Island to graduate from law school. She has sued a bishop, investigated corrupt judges, retried Claus Von Bulow and the earned the nickname "Attila the Nun." She's written an autobiography titled Convictions.
Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews the work of Kansas City pianist Jay McShann. As a big band leader in the 40s and 50s, McShann helped start the careers of jazz stars like Charlie Parker and Big Joe Turner. Kevin reviews a reissue of a 1972 album, "Going to Kansas City."
Television Critic David Bianculli previews the HBO spoof of political campaigns, "Tanner 88: The Dark Horse." Unlike earlier fabricated campaigns like "Pat Paulsen for President," "Tanner 88" takes its politics seriously. The script is written by "Doonesbury" cartoonist Garry Trudeau, and the direction is by Robert Altman.
Dr. Robert Thurman, the first American to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk. He later returned to the United States and established The Institute for Buddhist Studies at the University of Massachusetts. He visited Tibet in the fall of 1987 and is now setting up a Tibet House in New York City.
Computer animator Steven Segal. Segal does his programming on his home computer, unlike most computer animation which is composed on complex processors. His entry in a national computer animation festival is titled "Dance of the Stumblers."
Ken Tucker reviews the home video release of "The Shadow of the Thin Man," the last of the five "Thin Man" movies, a series made in the 30s and 40s and created by Dashiell Hammett that starred William Powell and Myrna Loy as a dashing husband-and-wife detective team.
Bob Geldof, the star of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats and organizer of the Band Aid and Live Aid benefit concerts to aid starvation victims in Africa. His autobiography is titled Is That It?
Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "The Unbearable Lightness of Being," based on the 1984 novel by Czech writer Milan Kundera. The story is set in Prague in 1968 on the eve of the Russian invasion. The film stars British actor Daniel Day Lewis, who received critical acclaim for his roles in "My Beautiful Laundrette" and "Room With a View."
Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the music of British pop stars Rick Astley and his sister Virginia. Rick Astley has the top hit in England - "Never Gonna Give You Up" - and the song is now getting wide airplay on U.S. stations. Virginia Astley has recorded several albums in Europe. Her first American album has just been released.
Rock Critic Ken Tucker. It's another in the continuing series of interviews with Fresh Air's contributors. Ken tells us how a frustrated college poet found himself in crowded clubs listening to punk bands and being paid for it.
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a recent recording in which Seiji Ozawa leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in music of Gabriel Faure. The album also features soprano Lorraine Hunt and cellist Jules Eskin.
Actress Joan Chen. She co-stars in the epic film "The Last Emperor" as the Emperor Pu Yi's wife. In her native China, she was one of the country's leading actresses. Since moving to the United States, she has also appeared in the film "Tai-Pan."
Actor Carl Weathers. He stars in the new film "Action Jackson." His first big role was as the fighter Apollo Creed in the four "Rocky" films. Before acting, Weathers played football for the Oakland Raiders.
