We talk more about HIV and AIDS in South Africa with journalist Phillip Van Niekerk (fawn-KNEE-kirk). Recently, the president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki (TAH-boh mm-BEK-eh) has become very involved in the AIDs policy in his country. Mr. Mbeki is focusing on a medical theory that states that the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, does not cause AIDS. Many leading scientists have criticized MR. Mbeki for wasting his time on what they see as a discredited theory about AIDS. The International AIDS conference is scheduled to be held in South Africa this summer.
Journalist Orville Schell talks about his new book Virtual Tibet: Searching for Shangri-La from the Himalayas to Hollywood (Metropolitan Books). For centuries now, the mountainous and remote nation of Tibet has been the object of Western fascination. Today, Tibet is the subject of movies and Hollywood celebrities have taken on Tibetan Freedom as their cause. Schell talks about Tibet, real and imagined, and takes us through the history of the West’s infatuation. Schell has covered China and Tibet for many years.
We meet Veton Surroi (vi-TON sir-ROY), publisher of the leading independent Albanian newspaper in Kosovo, called Koha Dotire (CO-ha DE TOR-ray). Surroi has just received a democracy award from the National Endowment for Democracy, a US non profit bipartisan organization. During NATO’s bombing of Kosovo, Surroi was in hiding and his newspaper was published underground.
Description (Program)
Fresh Air TV Critic David Bianculli talks with Joss Whedon (Joss is pronounced like “Floss,” Whedon is WE-den). He’s the creator of the movie and TV series “Buffy The Vampire Slayer.” He is executive producer of “Buffy” and co-executive producer of the Buffy Spin-off “Angel.” Whedon also writes for both shows. Before working on Buffy, Whedon wrote for the TV series “Roseanne.” He also writes screenplays. He has worked on the scripts for such films as Alien Resurrection, Twister, Toy Story, Speed, and this summer’s X-Men. (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW.)
These days, there’s a lot of public concern about objectionable content on the Web. Fresh Air’s Linguist Geoff Nunberg discusses the problems with so-called “censorware”, the software programs that claim to screen out pornography and other offensive material.
Writer Philip Roth. His new book “Human Stain” (Houghton Mifflin) is the third of his trilogy which includes “American Pastoral” and “I Married a Communist”. The book takes on issues of ethnic identity, and political correctness. (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW).
The new documentary “Well-Founded Fear” goes inside the Immigration and Naturalization Service to document the process by which asylum agents grant or deny asylum to refugees. The INS gave the filmmakers, Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini, unprecedented access. Terry talks with the two, and with Asylum Officer Robert Gerald Brown. (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW).
Three veteran book editors discuss the state of publishing today. . .when mergers create mega publishing houses, the bottom-line dominates decision making, and e-technology threatens the book itself. The three are: Michael Korda, editor-in chief of Simon & Schuster, Robert Loomis, executive editor at Random House, and Jonathan Galassi, editor-in-chief at Farrar, Straus and Giroux. (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW).
Writer Stacy Schiff. She’s the author of “Vera” (now in paperback, Modern Library), about Vera Nabokov, and her 52 year marriage to Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov, the author of “Lolita”. The book is a literary story and a love story, revealing how important Vera was in shaping Nabokov’s work, and how devoted the two were to each other. (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES THRU THE END OF THE SHOW)
Professor of Architecture and Gerontolgy Victor Regnier (Ruh-NEAR) teaches at the University of Southern California. In 1997 he published a book (Assisted Living Housing for the Elderly: Design Innovations from the United States and Europe” (Wiley) comparing the Northern European and U.S. approaches to caring for the elderly. The European model helps the elderly to stay in their homes, with the help of assisted living programs. This week he is presenting a paper on the subject at the AIA (American Institute of Architects) convention in Philadelphia.
Writer Ted Conover (CON-over) spent a year as a prison guard inside New York State’s infamous Sing Sing prison. He wanted to experience first hand the conditions within a prison. He writes about it in his new book “Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing” (Random House). Conover’s previous books chronicled his time spent with illegal aliens (“Coyotes”) and railroad hoboes (“Rolling Nowhere”). Conover is a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine.
Novelist Francine Prose. Her new book “Blue Angel” (Harper Collins) echoes the title of the film classic about a German teacher who becomes infatuated with a show girl (played by Marlene Dietrich). In Prose’s novel, a creative writing teacher falls in love with his talented student. Recently Prose wrote an article in the New York Times Magazine (Feb 13, 2000) about the problems with cultural programing ‘for women, by women.’
Singer/guitarist Alex Chilton has been playing music for decades. As a teenager he was a member of the Memphis Band Box Tops. He was 16 years old when they recorded their hit, the R&B song “The Letter.” Later with the band “Big Star” he became a underground hero. After dropping out of sight to kick an alcohol addiction, Chilton returned to performing. By then many younger bands, REM and The Bangles, considered him a legend. Chilton’s new release (as a part of a trio) “Set” (bar-none) was recorded on the spur of the moment, and without overdubbing.
Film critic John Powers reviews “Time Code” the new film by Mike Figgis that features four different stories on the screen at one time, by dividing the screen into quadrants. Figgis did this by using four digital cameras, recording each story in real time without edits.
Director Sofia Coppola is the daughter of film director Francis Ford Coppola. She’s directed the new film “The Virgin Suicides” based on the novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, about five teenage sisters and the domino effect after the youngest kills herself.
