The aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks revitalized New York City's mafia organizations. That's one of the revelations of former 'New York Times' crime reporter Selwyn Raab's new book, 'Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires'.
Trumpeter Gregory Davis has been with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band since its inception in 1977. The group, known for revitalizing the New Orleans brass band sound by incorporating funk, jazz, gospel and rock, will play at the upcoming "Big Apple to the Big Easy" Benefit Concert at Madison Square Garden Sept. 20, 2005.
Historian and author Douglas Brinkley teaches at Tulane University and was displaced by Hurricane Katrina. He has since returned to New Orleans and begun to document the catastrophe by gathering oral histories -- he hopes to collect as many as 20,000 -- for a book, tentatively titled The Great Deluge.
Father Anthony De Conciliis, a Catholic priest, was inaugurated president of Our Lady of Holy Cross College in New Orleans on Aug. 26, 2005. He spent two days and a night in the Superdome after the hurricane.
Trumpeter Gregory Davis has been with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band since its inception in 1977. The group, known for revitalizing the New Orleans brass band sound by incorporating funk, jazz, gospel and rock, will play at the upcoming "Big Apple to the Big Easy" Benefit Concert at Madison Square Garden Sept. 20, 2005.
Margaret McLaughlin, director of Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital's veterinary technicians in New York City, is part of an ASPCA rescue team that is finding and treating lost animals in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. She talks about the plight of animals in the battered Gulf Coast states.
An investigative reporter for The New York Times, Christopher Drew has been on the ground in New Orleans and provides a firsthand account of the situation he witnessed in the Superdome and the streets of the flooded city.
Eric Lipton of The New York Times has been reporting from Louisiana on the hurricane and its aftermath. He is co-author of a recent article chronicling the flawed response to the storm.
Guitarist Al Casey died Sunday of colon cancer at age 89, days short of his 90th birthday on Sept. 15. Casey's distinctive style helped to define the sound of Fats Waller's band in the 1930s and 1940s. Casey also played with Louis Armstrong, Teddy Wilson and Billie Holliday. (This interview originally aired May 19, 2004.)
Writer, professor and Fresh Air book critic Maureen Corrigan is one of those lucky people in life who has been able to combine her passion with her profession. She discusses her new memoir, Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading.
The latest album from legendary tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins is Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert. Rollins, who turned 75 last week, talks about the album, the Sept. 11 attacks and the death of his wife Lucille.
Jim Amoss is editor of The Times-Picayune in New Orleans. The newspaper's staff has been publishing online from Baton Rouge since evacuating its New Orleans offices last week. The paper has criticized the federal government's response to the hurricane and published an open letter to President Bush calling for the firing of all Federal Emergency Management Agency officials -- especially director Michael Brown.
Film critic David Edelstein reviews The Exorcism of Emily Rose. The movie is loosely based on a true story from the 1970s about a priest on trial for the death of a young woman from an exorcism he performed. It stars Laura Linney and Tom Wilkinson.
Dick Polman, a political analyst for the Philadelphia Inquirer, evaluates the response of FEMA and other federal and local groups to Hurricane Katrina.
Robert Shaler, former director forensic biology at the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, led efforts to identify remains at the World Trade Center attacks. He discusses the challenges that lie ahead for those responsible for identifying the bodies of Hurricane Katrina's victims.
Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the new memoir The Tender Bar by Los Angeles Times reporter J.R. Moehringer. It tells the tale of his dysfunctional family on Long Island — and the community's center, the local bar.
Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the language that's been used the describe the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. What words do we use, "looting," "finding" or "foraging"? "Refugees," "evacuees" or "the displaced"?
