Historian Drew Gilpin Faust writes that Civil War deaths — both their number and their manner — transformed America. Her new book is This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War.
James Hansen, a leading NASA climate scientist, says the Bush administration has tried to silence his warnings about global warming. Writer and scientist Mark Bowen wrote a book on the affair: Censoring Science: Inside the Political Attack on Dr. James Hansen and the Truth of Global Warming.
In Paul Thomas Anderson's new film There Will Be Blood, the young actor Paul Dano plays a rural preacher at odds with the oilman (Daniel Day-Lewis) at the center of the story. Dano previously appeared in Little Miss Sunshine, playing the teen who was an elective mute.
Columnist Bob Sullivan covers Internet scams and consumer fraud for MSNBC.com, where he writes a column called The Red Tape Chronicles. His new book is about the hidden fees found in many phone, cable, credit card and other bills.
Rock historian Ed Ward remembers the sound of San Francisco in the '60s, from the early days of countercultural upheaval through the Summer of Love in 1967. It's all lavishly documented in Love is the Song We Sing, a new four-disc set from Rhino Records.
The writers' strike knocked late-night television shows like the Late Show and The Tonight Show into reruns. Now these pillars of the talk-show genre are back on the air with fresh material.
Investigative reporter David Cay Johnston explores in his new book how in recent years, government subsidies and new regulations have quietly funneled money from the poor and the middle class to the rich and politically connected.
Denzel Washington directs and stars in the new film The Great Debaters, inspired by the true story of Wiley College's winning debate team of the early 1930s. The film also stars Forest Whitaker.
Fresh Air's book critic reviews Judith Freeman's new biography The Long Embrace, the story of Philip Marlowe creator Raymond Chandler and his marriage to a woman 18 years older than him.
Nils Lofgren, best known as guitarist with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, also played for Neil Young and Crazy Horse early in that band's career. He's also had a notable solo career — and he founded the mid-1970s band Grin. There are several reissues of Lofgren's work: Grin's 1+1 and All Out (now available on a double-album set), plus the solo discs Nils Lofgren and Back It Up.
Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid, a regular guest on Fresh Air, returns to discuss developments in Pakistan, where former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto died after an attack at a political rally that also killed at least 20 others. Bhutto recently had returned to Pakistan from an eight-year exile to challenge President Pervez Musharraf for the country's leadership. Ahmed Rashid covers Pakistani politics and culture for various Western publications; he has written extensively about the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the country.
Fresh Air's classical music critic takes a look at the career of opera legend Maria Callas — because the recording industry can't seem to resist her. EMI has just released a 70-disc collection called Maria Callas: The Complete Studio Recordings, and there's a new DVD compilation of the soprano's work, called The Eternal Callas.
David Bianculli, Fresh Air TV critic, shares his picks for the best television of 2007, and what he'll be watching in 2008 — he's looking forward to the upcoming seasons of ABC's Lost and HBO's The Wire.
Bianculli is the author of Teleliteracy and Television's 500 Biggest Hits, Misses, and Events. He recently launched the Web site TVworthwatching.com.
John Powers, Fresh Air critic at large, weighs in on the trends of '07: political campaigns, Iraq movies failing at the box office, HBO's The Sopranos, stories about hitting the road, the TMZing of America, jocks gone wild, hip sentimentality, the nightly ideological news, atheist chic and the writers strike.
The book On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen has become a reference tool for many cooks. Now author Harold McGee has revised and updated the book. It's an exposition of food and cooking techniques, delving into technology and history. McGee diagrams the stages of making mayonnaise under a microscope, explains why peppers are hot, and why seafood gets mushy if you cook it improperly. McGee is a world-renowned authority on the chemistry of cooking.
We remember reporter Jack Newfield. He died at age 66 in New York. He was known as a muckraker and columnist. He wrote books on Robert F. Kennedy, Rudolph Giuliani and Don King. He wrote for The Village Voice, The Daily News, The New York Post and the New York Sun. In the 1960s, he was drawn to the civil rights movement. He traveled with Kennedy during the 1968 presidential campaign and was present at his assassination
Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews two Christmas albums. The team behind the TV series The O.C. has released Have a Very Merry Chrismukkah, and Dwight Twilley has a new album called Have a Twilley Christmas.
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead gives the lowdown on new jazz releases that are perfect for the music lover on your last-minute shopping list. Detail of the box set for Miles Davis's complete recordings for the Columbia label. Whitehead says that this year, there is something for every budget, from affordable classics to handsome box sets and series. Also included are a book on jazz, and a combination CD/calendar.
