McDermott, a reporter for The Los Angeles Times was skeptical of the way the Sept. 11 hijackers were portrayed. So he traveled to 22 countries to research their identities, motives and life circumstances. His new book is Perfect Soldiers: The Hijackers: Who They Were, Why They Did It.
From the trio Low, drummer Mimi Parker and singer-guitarist Alan Sparhawk. The two are husband and wife. The band made its debut in 1994 with the album I Could Live on Hope. Their most recent album The Great Destroyer (Sub Pop) is their seventh.
In the early 1990s, NPR journalist Scott Simon reported from war-torn Sarajevo. Those experiences formed the basis for his debut novel, Pretty Birds, the story of a 16-year-old girl who adapts to her violent times.
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Linda Greenhouse has covered the Supreme Court for The New York Times since 1978. She won the Pulitzer in 1998 for her coverage of the court. Her new book is Becoming Justice Blackmun: Harry Blackmun's Supreme Court Journey.
Underground comic book artist Robert Crumb has drawn comics for more than 40 years. Crumb, creator of Zap Comix, is the artist behind such 1960s and '70s icons as Fritz the Cat and Keep-on-Truckin. The new The R. Crumb Handbook is a visual biography of Crumb's life.
Heath died Thursday at the age of 81. He was the bass player for the Modern Jazz Quartet for four decades and played with Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman.
David Bianculli, usually Fresh Air's small-screen critic, takes a look at the long-awaited big screen adaptation of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Newhart has been a part of the American comedy landscape since 1961 comedy album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart became a surprise hit. He's starred in three TV shows, including the Peabody-award winning The Bob Newhart Show. The first season of The Bob Newhart Show is now out on DVD.
Physicist David Albright is president of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, D.C. He's the co-author of a new report on A.Q. Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program, that was published in the Spring 2005 edition of The Washington Quarterly. Khan sold nuclear technology and information to Iran, Libya and North Korea. He was reportedly able to do this for the last 20 years, while eluding authorities and intelligence agencies. Albright says Khan's actions have had an impact on nuclear proliferation.
Rock historian Ed Ward tells us about the British band The Pretty Things, a band that was a spin off-of group of the early Rolling Stones. Last year they released the reissue, Come See Me: The Very Best of The Pretty Things.
Dr. Chester Buckenmaier is chief of the Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management Initiative at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He is developing a procedure known as regional anesthesia, to manage the severe pain that many wounded soldiers experience. Buckenmaier spent time in Iraq working in a battlefield hospital, where he pioneered the technique, and is using it at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Editorial cartoonist Nick Anderson has won fans for the edgy messages often found in his seemingly conventional drawings. Now Anderson has won a Pulitzer for his work.
Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Devils and Dust, the new album by Bruce Springsteen. The record is mostly a solo recording, without the backing of the E-Street Band.
Mirta Ojito is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for The New York Times. Ojito and her family were part of the Mariel boatlift out of Cuba. Her new memoir is Finding Mañana: A Memoir of a Cuban Exodus. Ojito has interviewed Fidel Castro himself in researching the boatlift.
From 1998 to 2000, William Queen went undercover for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and rode with the Mongols, a southern California motorcycle gang. His new book is Under and Alone.
He currently stars on the drama series, Without a Trace as the head of the FBI division that focuses on missing persons. Before that he won an Emmy Award for his guest-starring role as Simon, Daphne's drunken brother on Frasier.
Film critic David Edelstein reviews The Interpreter starring Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman. Edelstein says Sydney Pollack's new film could use a lighter touch.
