His new biography of Bing Crosby is called, Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams—the Early Years, 1903-1940 (Little Brown and Company). From 1930s to the 50s, Crosby was a pop culture icon, dominating American entertainment with his hit records and movies. In this first volume of the biography, Giddins chronicles the rise of Crosbys career. Giddins may be best known as a jazz columnist for the Village Voice. He won the 1998 National Book Critics Circle Award for his book Visions of Jazz. He was one of the experts featured in Ken Burns Jazz series on PBS.
She made her debut at the Grand Ole Opry in 1959. Since then shes written thousands of songs, including the hits Coat of Many Colors, Jolene, and I Will Always Love You. And shes had hits on both the country and pop charts. Parton wrote her autobiography in 1994, My Life and Other Unfinished Business. Her new all-accoustic CD is Little Sparrow
He discusses the state of politics today. He published his memoir, Time Present, Time Past in 1996. In addition to his political career, Bradley was also a star basketball player with the New York Knicks. His latest book is called The Journey from Here
Doctor Muriel Gillick talks about the problems associated with care for the elderly. As life expectancy increases, how can we properly care for the elderly? Gillick's new book is called Lifelines: Living Longer, Growing Frail, Taking Heart.
Actor Willem Dafoe stars in Shadow of The Vampire. We feature two interviews with Dafoe, one by film critic Roger Ebert, recorded live at the Cannes Film Festival last year, in which he discussed Shadow of the Vampire.
The new film Shadow of The Vampire opens this week; Actor Nicolas Cage is one of the producers of the film. His acting film credits include The Family Man, Gone in 60 Seconds, Face Off, Wild at Heart, Leaving Las Vegas, Birdy, Moonstruck, and Raising Arizona.
Satirist and host of the public radio program Le Show, Harry Shearer considers the upcoming Presidential inauguration of George W. Bush and has some parting remarks about President Clinton.
Now the head of the Peace Corps, he served on President Clintons transition team as Deputy Director in 1992. He's been Assistant to the President, Director of Communications, and White House Chief of Staff. Under his direction, the Peace Corps has expanded its efforts to South Africa and Jordan in addition to opening a new section for crisis and natural disaster. And, Boyden Gray. He was George Bush, Sr.s Director of the Office of Transition Counsel. He counseled the elder Bush when he was President and Vice President.
Rhythm and blues singer, songwriter, and Guitarist Barbara Lynn. The left-handed guitarist was one of the first female practioners of the instrument. Her signature song is the 1962 hit Youll Lose a Good Thing. The Rolling Stones recorded her song Oh Baby (We Got a Good Thing Going) in 1964. After a lengthy hiatus to raise a family, Lynn made a come back in 1986. Her new album is Hot Night Tonight (Antone Records).
T.V. critic David Bianculli reviews the two new reality based TV shows: The Mole, which premiered last night on ABC, and Temptation Island which premieres tonight on FOX.
