Actor John Malkovich is making his directorial debut with the new film The Dancer Upstairs. Malkovich has been nominated twice for an Academy Award for his work in the films In the Line of Fire and Places in the Heart. His other films include Heart of Darkness, Being John Malkovich, Shadow of the Vampire, Woody Allen's Shadows and Fog and Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun. Malkovich is also a founding member of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company.
Author of The Iron Triangle: Inside the Secret World of the Carlyle Group (Wiley). The Carlyle Group is one of the most powerful and well-connected private equity firms in the world. Its investments — most notably — in timely defense and aerospace industries has made it highly profitable. The group's roster includes or has included former President George Bush, Sr., (advisor), former Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci (former chairman), Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal (investor) and former Secretary of State, James Baker III (managing director and senior counselor).
Christian missionaries — mainline and evangelical — want to go to Iraq to provide humanitarian aid. But their presence would be troubling for many Muslims who are suspicious that aid is just a cover for another motive — converting Muslims to Christianity. We talk with two individuals with opposing views on the subject: Albert Mohler is a minister and president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He's considered a leader among American evangelicals. Southern Baptists are pledging to go into Iraq to provide humanitarian aid.
We remember former Episcopal Bishop of New York, Paul Moore. He died Thursday at the age of 83. Moore was known for his activism and concern for human rights. He was part of the civil rights movement and protested against the Vietnam War. As Bishop, he brought the church into dialogue with the poor and oppressed in New York. And he transformed the Cathedral of St. John the Divine into a thriving place for the community. In 1997 he published his memoir, Presences: A Bishop's Life in the City. This interview first aired December 15, 1997.
Rostrup is the international president of the medical relief organization Doctors Without Borders. He was the organization's medical coordinator in Baghdad. Rostrup just returned from five weeks in Baghdad. He was there before and during the war.
He's part of the free-jazz movement in New York City (along with saxophonist David S. Ware, bassist William Parker and violinist Mat Maneri). One of his influences has been avante-garde pianist Cecil Taylor. Shipp's style has been described as "a distinctive combination of Mr. Taylor's percussive attack and Chopin's languid rubatos." He's been recording since the early 1990s, and has over 20 albums to his credit as leader and sideman. Since 1999, Shipp has been artistic director the Thirsty Ear Records' Blue Series.
Founder and owner of the Chicago-based jazz and blues label Delmark, Bob Koester. The label celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Artists Junior Wells, Little Walter, Big Joe Williams, Coleman Hawkings, Muhal Richard Abrams and Sun Ra & The Arkestra have all recorded on the label. Delmark has issued a 50th-anniversary collection.
He's a longtime correspondent on health and science policy for The New York Times. In his new book, Protecting America's Health: the FDA, Business, and One Hundred Years of Regulation, he chronicles the history of the Food and Drug Administration from its start during the administration of Teddy Roosevelt. Hilts also broke the now-famous story of the Brown and Williamson tobacco industry papers, and is the author of Smoke Screen: The Truth Behind the Tobacco Industry Cover-Up.
Ravitch is the author of the new book, The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn. In her book she chronicles the efforts of school boards and bias and sensitivity committees to edit and shape the textbooks that end up in classrooms. Some examples of this include: omitting the mention of Jews in an Isaac Bashevis Singer story about prewar Poland, changing the expression "My God!" to "You don't mean it," and recommending that children not be shown as disobedient or in conflict with adults.
She is professor of history at the University of Toronto and the author of the new book, Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World, about the Peace Conference after World War I in which delegations from around the world convened to find an alternative to war. During the six months of the conference, new boundaries were drawn up in the Middle East. Out of that conference Iraq was born, and was for a time under British control. MacMillan's book, published under the title Peacemakers in England, was the winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize.
Critic Milo Miles reviews the new documentary and soundtrack Amandla! about protest music in black communities of South Africa during the Apartheid years.
Film critic John Powers reviews Better Luck Tomorrow, the controversial new independent film about a group of Asian American teenagers. It was made by MTV films.
In his new book, The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People, he rethinks the relationship between war and political power. Schell writes that military power is not as effective as it once was, and that a more useful approach is one of cooperation with other nations. Schell is also the author of the 1982 classic The Fate of the Earth. He has written for The Nation, The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine and The Atlantic Monthly.
