Jerry Falwell is a Baptist minister who is the founder and head of Moral Majority, Incorporated, which recently created an umbrella organization, The Liberty Federation, to support an expanded political and social agenda. The group describes itself as "pro-life, pro-family, pro-moral, and pro-strong national defense." Falwell is also the founder of Thomas Rhode Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, and the founder and chancellor of Lynchburg Christian Academy, Liberty University, Liberty Baptist Seminary, and Liberty Home Bible Institute.
Composer Steve Reich, one of the fathers of minimalist music, discusses the cross-cultural influences on his work from African drumming to Jewish cantorial singing. His latest composition is "Desert Music" which features the poems of William Carlos Williams.
Poet and essayist John Ciardi is known for his etymologies on the NPR program "Morning Edition." Ciardi joins the show to discuss his love of words and their histories.
Gahan Wilson discusses his macabre cartoons, the werewolves, vampires, and monsters he and the irrational childhood fears he parodies. His latest work is "Gahan Wilson's America."
Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood is popular in her home country and abroad. Her latest novel "The Handmaid's Tale," takes place in a future United States ruled by religious fundamentalists who assert "traditional" roles for women and force fertile women to reproduce. Atwood considers herself a feminist and is active in the writers' movement for intellectual freedom. Atwood is the President of the Canadian English-speaking section of the writers' group PEN.
Actor Alec Guinness begin acting in classic English theater in the 1930s and 1940s. After World War II, he began to appear in films, and won an Academy Award in 1957 for his work in the film "The Bridge Over the River Kwai." He is known to a new generation of viewers as Obi Wan Kenobi from the Star Wars films. Guinness has recently published a memoir "Blessings in Disguise." (PARTIAL INTERVIEW)
Kurt Vonnegut is one of the most prominent of contemporary novelists. His work often contains paradoxes and explores ideas from his science background. Vonnegut was also a P. O. W. in Dresden during the U.S firebombing of the city, an experience that was a subject in his novel "Slaughterhouse-Five." Vonnegut's works have often been banned, and he is active in a movement of writers to defend free speech rights in the U. S. and abroad. He recently traveled abroad as a representative of the organization PEN to report on intellectual freedom in Eastern Europe.
Exiled black South African poet Dennis Brutus describes his ordeal while imprisoned for his anti-apartheid organizing, and discusses his decision to sign an exit visa which prohibits him from returning.
Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad are the authors of the new book "Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live." The book chronicles the eleven year history of the show produced by Lorne Michaels. Hill has written for the New York Times and is a staff writer for T.V. Guide, and Weingrad has written for SoHo Weekly News, the New York Post, and edits the celebrity page of Women's World magazine.
Philadelphia lawyer David Webber is the legal director of the Philadelphia AIDS Task Force's Advocacy Committee and the counsel for the Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay Task Force. Last year he represented a person with AIDS who was fired from his job. Webber joins the show to discuss the legal and civil liberty issues associated with the disease.
The AIDS crisis has scared many people from donating or receiving blood from the Red Cross. Kathleen Denton, Director of Communications for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Red Cross, says those fears are unfounded. Denton explains that a test developed last April screens for the presence of antibodies to the HTLV-III virus, which is believed to cause AIDS. All blood is screened before being added to the pool. (Interview By Amy Salit)
On the second part of this special edition of Fresh Air addressing the AIDS epidemic, Terry Gross speaks with writer Dennis Altman, author of the new book "AIDS in the Mind of America." One of its subjects is the impact of the disease on the gay male community. The Australian Altman has previously written about the gay movement, and worked with the Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California Medical School. Altman offers his thoughts on whether AIDS should be considered a "gay disease."
On the second part of this special edition of Fresh Air addressing the AIDS epidemic, Terry Gross speaks with Philadelphia lawyer David Webber, legal director of the Philadelphia AIDS Task Force's Advocacy Committee and the counsel for the Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay Task Force. Last year he represented a person with AIDS who was fired from his job. Webber joins the show to discuss the legal and civil liberty issues associated with the disease.
Larry Gross is a professor of communications at the Annenberg School of Communications of the University of Pennsylvania. He studies television violence and the portrayal of women in minorities on t.v. and their effects on viewers. Gross is the co-chair of the Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay Task Force and a member of the Philadelphia AIDS Task Force. He joins the show to evaluate the media coverage of AIDS and how it has shaped the American public's response to the disease.
Pennsylvania Representative Russell Letterman is part of a group of legislators who have proposed legislation to require couples applying for marriage licenses to take one of the current tests for the virus that causes AIDS. Letterman and his cohort maintain that this should be done despite the fact that current tests (including one approved yesterday) are unreliable and can only confirm exposure to the virus. Letterman joins the show to explain his position. (Interview by Amy Salit)
Heshie Zinman is a "buddy" who helps "PWAs," or Persons with AIDS, many of whom are unemployed and/or without health insurance, and who are often rejected by their families and others in society. Buddies help PWAS by doing everything from housecleaning, filling out medical forms, advocating for the person, to listening to their fears. He joins the show to discuss his work organizing on behalf of PWAs.
Dr. John Turner is an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University who treats many AIDS patients. Dr. Robert Sharrar is an epidemiologist monitoring the spread of AIDS in Philadelphia as the Director of the Division of Disease Control at the Philadelphia Department of Health. Roger Stephens is the chair of the education committee of the Philadelphia AIDS Task Force and the Director of Social Work at Graduate Hospital.
Part two of Fresh Air's interview with medical and social experts on this special edition of the show devoted to the AIDS crisis. Dr. John Turner is an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University who treats many AIDS patients. Dr. Robert Sharrar is an epidemiologist monitoring the spread of AIDS in Philadelphia as the Director of the Division of Disease Control at the Philadelphia Department of Health.
