German writer and director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's movie, The Lives of Others, has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
Donnersmarck writes that his film is "a human drama about the ability of human beings to do the right thing, no matter how far they have gone down the wrong path."
Singer Frankie Laine gained TV immortality by singing the theme of Rawhide. He first became successful as a jazz singer recording standards like "Black and Blue" and "West End Blues." (RB of 7/29/87)
In his new book, Dr. Michael Stein uses the stories of patients, including that of his terminally ill brother-in-law, to explore the personal side of sickness. Stein, a professor of medicine and community health at Brown University Medical School, discusses The Lonely Patient: How We Experience Illness.
When Elif Shafak's novel The Bastard of Istanbul was published in her home country, the best-selling author was was accused of "public denigration of Turkishness." She was eventually acquitted. As many as 60 writers, journalists, publishers, scholars and intellectuals have been prosecuted under the Turkish penal code. One of them was editor Hrant Dink, who was assassinated last month by a Turkish fanatic.
Directors Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton, and writer Michael Arndt. Little Miss Sunshine, their bittersweet film about a dysfunctional family, has been nominated for four Academy Awards. This was Faris and Dayton's feature film debut after directing hundreds of music videos, and also the first screenplay of Arndt's to be produced.
Writer Jon Mooallem wrote "Designer-Dog Fights," a story in the New York Times Magazine about the breeders who breed dogs to create a canine with a particular mix of behavioral and physical characteristics.
Liberal political columnist Molly Ivins died yesterday at the age of 62. In her long career, she wrote for newspapers such as The Texas Observer and The New York Times, and her columns were widely syndicated. These interviews originally aired on Oct. 3, 1991 and Oct. 7, 2003.
In this week's issue of The New Yorker, Michael Specter writes about the murders of 13 journalists in Russia that have taken place since Vladimir Putin took office in 1999. Specter's article is "Kremlin, Inc: Why are Vladimir Putin's opponents dying?"
Former FBI Agent Eric O'Neill and Director/Screenwriter Billy Ray have collaborated on the new film Breach. It is based on the true story about FBI operative Robert Hanssen who was found guilty of treason and the FBI agent (O'Neill) who was assigned to Hanssen to draw him out of deep cover.
Stuart Bowen, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, has just issued his quarterly report investigating waste, fraud and security problems in the reconstruction efforts. Next week Bowen will appear before a House Committee beginning hearings into waste and fraud in reconstruction. Formerly, Bowen served in the White House under George W. Bush, and was a partner at the Washington, D.C., law firm of Patton Boggs LLP. Bowen's ties to Bush go back to the early 1990s, when he worked in the Texas Governor's office. Bowen was also an intelligence officer in the U.S.
Polish writer Ryszard Kapuscinski died on January 23, 2007, at the age of 74. As a foreign correspondent, Kapuscinski covered coups and revolutions in the developing world for forty years. Many of his articles appeared in a series of books that made him famous: The Soccer War, Another Day of Life, and Shah of Shahs. This interview originally aired in 1/21/1988.
Attorney Eugene Fidell is the president of the National Institute of Military Justice. He is also a partner and head of the Military Practice Group at the Washington, D.C., firm of Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell, LLP.
Army Lieutenant Ehren Watada is the first American officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq on the grounds that he thinks the war is illegal. He is joined by one of his lawyers, Eric Seitz, a civilian. Watada is now being court-martialed for his refusal, and for statements he made opposing the war and the Bush administration's leadership.
Director Guillermo del Toro's film, Pan's Labyrinth, is up for six Academy Awards this year, in categories including original screenplay and foreign language film. Del Toro, who grew up in Mexico, wrote and directed the film.
Country singer Bradley Walker is making his recording debut with Highway of Dreams. Walker's vocal style "harkens back to an earlier generation of vocalists, such as George Jones and bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe." The record's producer is Carl Jackson who worked with Emmylou Harris and Glen Campbell. Walker has performed at the Grand Ole Opry, and sung at leading bluegrass festivals. Born with Muscular Dystrophy, he has been in a wheelchair all his life.
Legal correspondent for ABC News, Jan Crawford Greenberg writes about the Rehnquist Court in her new book Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court.
A review of Thomas Hardy: The Time-torn Man, the new biography of the 19th century poet and novelist by Claire Tomalin. Tomalin has distinguished herself in the field of literary biography by her celebrated biographies of such figures as Mary Wollstonecraft and Samuel Pepys.
