Cartoonist Daniel Clowes. Drawn in 1950s pop culture style, his comics are darkly humorous satires of middle class America. His graphic novel Ghost World (first published in 1993) is the basis of the film of the same name. Ghost World has just been nominated for an academy award in the Adapted Screenplay division. Clowes' first comic book series was Lloyd Llewellyn, followed by Eightball
Country music star Waylon Jennings died this week at the age of 64. Born in 1937 in Littlefield, Texas, he was a disc jockey at 14, and had already formed his own band at the age of 12, making guest appearances on local station KDAV's Sunday Party, where he met Buddy Holly in 1955. Jennings became Holly's bass player. It was Jennings who gave his seat up to the Big Bopper on the plane that crashed and killed Buddy Holly.
Music critic Milo Miles remembers Dave Van Ronk, the folk performer who died last Sunday at the age of 65. He was an early leader of the urban folk movement in the late 1950s.
Film critic John Powers reviews Iris, about the life of Iris Murdoch. It stars Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent and Kate Winslet. All three actors have been nominated for Oscars.
Reverend Christopher Keenan is the Chaplain of the Fire Department of New York. He succeeds the Rev. Mychal Judge, who was killed on September 11th 2001 when hit by falling debris at the World Trade Center. Keenan is a Franciscan friar who was born in New York City. In the 80s, he established hospices for AIDS patients, and more recently, he's worked with the homeless.
Chris Giannou, surgeon for the International Committee of the Red Cross. For about 20 years he has been a medic in war torn parts of the world including Burundi, Somalia, and in a Palestinian Refugee Camp. As such he has seen the devastation on human beings from landmines. Giannou is currently leading the Red Cross's campaign for a ban on anti-personnel landmines worldwide, which kill or injure hundreds of civilians each week. Giannou has just returned from six weeks in Afghanistan.
Cass Sunstein talks about the precedent the 1942 case set for the Bush Administration in setting up military tribunals for the al Qaeda suspects. Sunstein is considered by many to be one of the nations authorities when it comes to interpreting the U.S. Constitution. Hes the author of One Case at a Time: Judicial Minimalism on the Supreme Court, (Harvard University Press). Sunstein teaches at the University of Chicago.
Journalist Gary Cohen's article in this months Atlantic Monthly is about the World War II case that the Bush administration says sets the precedent for use of military tribunals. Cohen studied 3,000 pages of trial transcripts at the National Archives and the Roosevelt Presidential Library, in Hyde Park, New York for the article. Cohen is a former member of the investigative unit at US News & World Report.
The Oh Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack sold more than 4 million copies. This surge of interest in american roots music prompted many of the performers to go on the road together in the Down From the Mountain tour. Critic Milo Miles caught up with them in Boston.
Actor Nicolas Cage stars in the new film Windtalkers. A group of Navajo soldiers developed an unbreakable code based on their language for use during World War II. Cage plays Joe Enders, a Marine guard assigned to protect the Native American code talkers. Cage won an Academy award for his role in the film Leaving Las Vegas. He's starred in many other hit films, including Raising Arizona, Moonstruck and The Rock.
Film critic John Powers reviews the new film Road to Perdition directed by Sam Mendes, starring Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Rudd is known for his work with groundbreaking groups and musicians like Herbie Nichols, the New York Art Quartet, Cecil Taylor, Archie Shepp, and Carla Bley. He has been playing traditional and avant-garde jazz for some 60 years. His latest CD is a live recording with Archie Shepp called Live in New York.
He is considered the top American male alpine snowboarder. In July 2000, he underwent a liver transplant to cure a serious and rare degenerative liver ailment. Klug was back on the slopes within months, competing in the World Cup races. Snowboarding made its Olympic debut at the 1998 Nagano games. Klug began skiing at the age of two. He was born and lives in Colorado. For more information, go to www.chrisklug.com.
The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. is in the midst of a festival of Steven Sondheim musicals. Company, Sweeney Todd and Sunday in the Park with George have already been featured. Still to be staged are A Little Night Music, Merrily We Roll Along and Passion. We rebroadcast our interview with composer and lyricist Steven Sondheim. He discusses his work on West Side Story and Gypsy, for which he wrote the lyrics, and his own musical Sweeney Todd. Sondheim learned his craft from Oscar Hammerstein, who was a neighbor and surrogate father to him. This interview first aired Nov. 10, 1988.
Broadway music director Paul Gemingani. He's been the musical director of almost every Stephen Sondheim work over the last 30 years. His other productions include Kiss Me, Kate, Crazy for You and High Society. Last year he received a lifetime achievement award at the Tony Awards. This interview first aired May 30, 2001.
We speak with Clinton Lacy, a longtime program director of Friends of the Island Academy. FOIA was founded in 1989 by the first principal of the high school on Riker's Island. The program is designed to break the cycle of return to Riker's by providing education and counseling. Each year, FOIA works with 350 young people.
We speak with two people involved with "Youth Portraits," a radio skills training program for ex-offenders released from Riker's Island prison in New York City. Riker's Island is the biggest jail in North America. "Youth Portraits" is a joint project of Friends of the Island Academy and Sound Portraits Productions. First, we hear from Andre Vaughn, a 21-year-old ex-offender who was released from Riker's and became involved with the "Youth Portraits" program. He was caught stealing at the age of 17 and subsequently served three sentences.
