Professor of Islamic law at the University of California at Los Angeles Khaled Abou El Fadl. He's the author of a number of books, including Conference of the Books: The Search for Beauty in Islam (University Press of America), a collection of essays about the problems and challenges that confront Muslims in the contemporary world.
Bluegrass musician Ralph Stanley. He came to fame late in life when his music was featured on the triple-platinum soundtrack of the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? Stanley sings and plays banjo. He won two Grammys this year for his performance of "O Death" on the O Brother record. At age 75, Stanley has just released a self-titled CD and continues to tour. He's recorded over 170 albums in total, and has been performing continuously since 1946.
Actor Tony Shalhoub plays the obsessive-compulsive detective Adrian Monk in the USA Network series Monk. His films include, The Man Who Wasn't There, Spy Kids, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Men in Black and Men in Black II, Big Night, Barton Fink and Honeymoon in Vegas.
Actress Catherine Keener was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in Being John Malkovich. She starred in the independent films The Real Blonde, Walking and Talking, Living in Oblivion and Lovely and Amazing.
Writer/Executive producer Andy Breckman of the new USA Network series, Monk. The program is about a detective with an obsessive-compulsive disorder, and premieres Friday, July 12, 2002. Breckman was one of the original writers of Late Night with David Letterman and has worked with Saturday Night Live.
Writer/director Nicole Holofcener. Her new film Lovely and Amazing is a comedy about the insecurities that many women have about their appearance. It stars Catherine Keener, Brenda Blethyn and Dermot Mulroney. Holofcener also wrote the screenplay for the film Walking and Talking.
Dr. David Zangen, senior pediatrician, and Dr. Radgonde Amer, an ophthalmologist at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. They are part of the group of Arab and Jewish doctors who work side by side at the hospital treating casualties of the conflict in the Middle East.
Novelist Alice Sebold. She's the author of the new book, The Lovely Bones which was reviewed last week on Fresh Air. She's also the author of the memoir, Lucky.
Film director Barry Sonnenfeld. His latest movie is Men in Black II, the sequel to his film Men in Black. Both films star Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. Sonnenfeld's other films include Wild Wild West, Get Shorty and The Addams Family. Before directing, he worked as a cinematographer. He did three films with the Coen brothers - Blood Simple, Raising Arizona and Miller's Crossing. He also worked on Misery, When Harry Met Sally and Big.
DJ and hip hop forefather Grandmaster Flash. At the dawn of hip hop, he recorded with the Furious Five. Their hits included "The Message" and "White Lines (Don't Do it)". Nearly 3 decades ago, Flash created the 'Quick Mix Theory,' the process of blending one music break with another. His chose the songs for the new CD, Essential Mix: Classic Edition. It includes a collection of 70s and 80s dance songs.
We remember film director John Frankenheimer. His films include The Manchurian Candidate, French Connection 2 and The Birdman of Alcatraz. He died this past Saturday, at the age of 72.
We remember the great singer Rosemary Clooney, who died Saturday. We'll hear a concert and interview taped before a live audience in San Francisco on January 18th, 1997, as part of the City Arts & Lectures series. Clooney sings some of her best-known songs, accompanied by a quintet directed by John Oddo. She also talks with Terry about her life.
Record producers Charles Granata and Didier Deutsch have collaborated on the new CD box set, Frank Sinatra In Hollywood (1940-1964) (Reprise records/Turner Classic movies) which collects Sinatra's film recordings - many of them rare. In fact only ten percent of the 160 tracks included on the collection have been released before. Granata is a Sinatra historian and author of Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra And the Art of Recording (A Capella Books, 1999). He was Project Director for the box set: Frank Sinatra: The Best of the Columbia Years 1943-1952.
