Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert by legendary tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins. He turns 75 Wednesday. The CD was recorded live at a concert in Boston shortly after Sept. 11, 2001.
University of Chicago law professor Cass Sunstein discusses the death of Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist and President Bush's nomination of John G. Roberts to replace him.
The new comedy The Man stars actor and comic Eugene Levy. He's appeared in numerous movies, including memorable roles in Splash, Bringing Down the House, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind and the American Pie movies.
From 1992 to 2000, Kristina Ford was New Orleans' director of city planning for seven years; she also headed the New Orleans Business Corp., an agency created to develop city-owned property through public-private.
Folklorist Nick Spitzer hosts American Routes, a public radio music program based in New Orleans. He left the city before Hurricane Katrina and is now in Lafayette, La. He talks about the cultural and musical history of New Orleans.
Currently in New York, Obie-winning singer and actor Vernel Bagneris recently sold his apartment in order to move to New Orleans, where he was born. He tells us what he's heard from friends and family, and what he expects for the future. The Library of Congress has described Bagneris as "a master of the American vernacular." He wrote, directed and starred in the hit shows One Mo' Time, Further Mo', Staggerlee and Jelly Roll!
Grammy-winning rapper and actor Will Smith has had success in music, movies and television. He began his career as the Fresh Prince with DJ Jazzy Jeff. Since then, he has acted in numerous films and been nominated for an Oscar, for his performance in Ali. (This interview originally aired Dec. 17, 2001.)
Her critically acclaimed 1989 debut album All Hail The Queen is considered one of the best rap albums of all time, and she has starred in many movies. (This interview originally aired March 15, 1999.)
Ice-T is one of the original gangster rappers, of whom Greg Knot of The Chicago Tribune wrote: "Ice-T is that rare gangster rapper who leads with his brain instead of his gun or his crotch." He's gone on to a successful acting career. (This interview originally aired May 16, 1994.)
Film critic David Edelstein reviews The Constant Gardener, the new thriller based on the John Le Carre novel. The film is directed by City of God's Fernando Meirelles and stars Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz.
Known today equally as a musician and actor, Ice Cube was born O'Shea Jackson. He first gained notoriety in the late 1980s with the revolutionary group N.W.A. He now also acts in and produces movies, including this year's comedy Are We There Yet? (This interview originally aired Jan. 10, 2005.)
When the hit rap song "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five came out in the early 1980s, many rappers regarded it as an inspiration and political message. Melle Mel was the original vocalist on the song. (This interview originally aired August 4, 1992.)
Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews A Necessary Spectacle: Billie Jean King, Bobby Riggs, and the Tennis Match that Leveled the Game. It's about the 1973 battle of the sexes match that inspired great bravado and even greater publicity.
Kayla Williams is a former U.S. Army soldier who served in the Middle East as an Arabic interpreter. She recounts her decision to enlist and her experiences during the Iraq war in a new memoir, Love My Rifle More Than You: Young and Female in the U.S. Army. Williams was a sergeant in a military intelligence company of the 101st Airborne Division.
Critic-at-large John Powers comments on the history of roles for offbeat women in Hollywood. Powers recently saw the hit film The 40-Year-Old Virgin and got to thinking about the actress Catherine Keener, who co-stars.
TV critic David Bianculli reviews a new DVD box set of The Dick Cavett Show: Rock Icons. It's a compilation of interviews and performances on the late-night talk show by some of the leading musicians of the 1960s and '70s, including Mick Jagger, Janis Joplin and Stevie Wonder.
Sen. Trent Lott, the Republican from Mississippi, has a new memoir called Herding Cats: A Life in Politics. Lott was the Senate majority leader from June 1996 to January 2001. He resigned from his position in 2002 after making racially divisive remarks.
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews Song X: Twentieth Anniversary, a reissue and remix of a 1985 collaboration between guitarist Pat Metheny and saxophonist Ornette Coleman.
