Musicians Joe Hunter and Jack Ashford were part of the group of musicians known as the Funk Brothers whose sound defined Motown in the 1960s and 70s. They worked with such legendary performers as Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, The Miracles and many more. The Funk Brothers are the subject of the new documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown.
We remember Israel's first ambassador to the United Nations and the United States, Abba Eban. He died yesterday in Israel at the age of 87. This interview first aired Dec. 2, 1992
Journalist Bill Keller is a columnist for The New York Times and senior writer for the magazine section. He just returned from a trip to Russia. Hell discuss Russias position on Iraq
Actress Lupe Ontiveros stars in the new film Real Women Have Curves as a mother at odds with her two teenage daughters. She recently starred in the independent film Chuck and Buck. Her other films include Todd Solontzs Storytelling. and James Brooks As Good as it Gets. In 1983 she had a major role in the movie El Norte. Ontiveros is a founding member of LAs Latino Theatre Company.
Music Critic Milo Miles reviews the reissue of Michael Hurley's 1965 debut album, First Songs. It's been reissued under the title Blueberry Wine (Locust Label).
Shes currently starring in the new sitcom Life with Bonnie, playing a TV morning show host, doctors wife and harried mother. It airs on ABC, Tuesday nights at 9 PM. Its Hunts third sitcom. Hunt came out of the Second City Comedy Troupe.
The Cuban Missile Crisis took place 40 years ago this week. We talk with historian and former Kennedy aide Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and Peter Kornbluh who directs the National Security Archive's Cuba Project. The organization obtained newly declassified documents about the Crisis. They've published the information in the new book The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962. The National Security Archive also helped organize the historic 40th anniversary conference held in Cuba last week.
Filmmaker Burr Steers is making his feature film debut with Igby Goes Down which he wrote and directed. It's about a disaffected teenager from a well-heeled but financially strapped family.
Jazz bassist Ron Carter has more than 2,000 recordings to his credit. From 1963-1968 he was part of the Miles Davis Quintet with Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams and Wayne Shorter. Over the years he's played with Randy Weston, Herbie Mann, Betty Carter, Eric Dolphy, Sony Rollins, McCoy Tyner and others. Carter's new CD is Stardust.
Writer and director Paul Schrader directed the new film Autofocus, about the life of actor Bob Crane. Schrader wrote the screenplays for a number of classic films, including Taxi Driver and Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese directed). Films he directed include Affliction, The Comfort of Strangers and American Gigolo.
We remember historian Stephen Ambrose who died Sunday at the age of 66. A college professor, Ambrose became a best-selling author late in life with his book D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II. He wrote several military history volumes including Citizen Soldiers. He was consultant for the film Saving Private Ryan and his book Band of Brothers was the basis of the 2001 HBO mini-series. Ambrose also wrote Undaunted Courage about the Lewis and Clark exploration to the West. This interview first aired Aug. 15, 2001.
Film critic John Powers reviews Punch Drunk Love, the new film from writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson. Anderson's previous films include Magnolia and Boogie Nights.
T.V. critic David Bianculli reviews two made-for-TV movies airing this Sunday: Gleason, on CBS, about the life of comic Jackie Gleason, and Showtimes Bang, Bang, Youre Dead, a one-act play that recalls the dramatic programming of TVs early days.
We remember Anthony Mazzocchi, who died Saturday at the age of 76. He was a lifelong labor activist and a longtime union official who led the drive for the Occupational Safety and Health Act. In 1996, he founded the Labor Party in the United States. This interview first aired July 26, 1995.
Investigative journalist Robert Bryce. His new book is Pipe Dreams: Greed, Ego and the Death of Enron. It's a gossipy, irreverent analysis of the Enron scandal. Bryce has written about Enron since 1997.
Former White House Director of Counterterrorism Daniel Benjamin has co-authored the book The Age of Sacred Terror with Steven Simon, the former Senior Director of Counterterrorism. Benjamin and Simon began writing the book more than a year before Sept. 11, 2001. As director and co-director at the National Security Council, they saw the rise of al Qaeda. In the book, they warn about the new generation of terrorists and set out to understand the enemy. Additionally, the authors wish to explain how we let our defenses down and what to expect in the future.
Journalist Jonathan Landay co-wrote an article in yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer called "Officials' Private Doubts on Iraq War." Landay and his co-writers say that "Intelligence professionals and diplomats... privately have deep misgivings about the administration's double-time march toward war." The report says the White House is spreading misinformation that includes distortion of Saddam Hussein's ties with al Qaeda, overstatement of international support, and understatement of repercussions of a Middle East war.
Pulitzer Prize-winning economist Daniel Yergin will talk about the changing economy of oil in light of the possibility of war with Iraq. Yergin's 1991 book, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power, is highly acclaimed. He is president of Cambridge Energy Research Associates. His new book, co-authored with Dr. Joseph A. Stanislaw, is The Commanding Heights: The Battle Between Government and the Marketplace that is Remaking the Modern World. The Prize was adapted into an eight-hour PBS/BBC series.
Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller, authors of the new book, Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live (Little Brown and Company). The book is a history of the late-night comedy mainstay, which first aired in 1975. Shales and Miller interviewed the shows' producers, writers, cast members and guest hosts, including Lorne Michaels, Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Al Franken, Will Farrell, Tom Hanks and many more. Tom Shales is the Pulitzer Prize-winning television critic of The Washington Post and a movie critic for NPR's Morning Edition.
