Rock historian Ed Ward reviews "On Broadway" (Britain's Westside label) a new collection of lesser-known pop treasures that came out of the Brill Building in the 1950s.
Novelist A.M. Homes. Her new book is "Music for Torching" (Rob Weisbach Books/William Morrow). Her previous novels are "The End of Alice," "In a Country of Mothers," and "Jack." She teaches writing programs at Columbia University and the New School.
Julia Ericksen is the author of the new book "Kiss and Tell: Surveying Sex in the Twentieth Century" (Harvard University Press). Ericksen is Associate Professor of Sociology at Temple University.
Critic Milo Miles tells us about the work of blues guitarist John Jackson whose latest album is "Front Porch Blues" (Alligator Records). He's also got two vintage collections: "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down" and "Country Blues and Ditties" (Arhoolie Records).
Music critic Ken Tucker reviews the latest CD by country music legend George Jones. Titled "Cold Hard Truth." Jones was involved in a serious car accident in March but is recovering.
We feature a panel discussion about the cable-tv series "The Sopranos" recorded recently in L.A. at a Writers' Guild Foundation conference. The participants include show writers David Chase, Frank Renzulli, Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess.The Sopranos is an HBO Original Series depicting the life and times of a modern-day Mafia family living in New Jersey. The series is created by David Chase ("I'll Fly Away"), who also serves as executive producer. It has been nominated for 16 Emmy awards this year including "Outstanding Drama Series."
Executive producer and writer, Tom Fontana of HBO's, "Oz," the realistic drama about life in an experimental unit of a maximum security prison. Fontana also created "Homicide: Life on the Street" and the 1980s drama set in a city hospital, "St. Elsewhere."
World War Two combat veteran Robert Kotlowitz has written about his experiences in "Before Their Time: A Memoir." 1997 Hard cover and just re-printed this year on Anchor Books. Kotlowitz was part of a platoon that was ordered to charge the German front, an order that killed all but 3 men. His previous books included: The Boardwalk, His Master's Voice, Sea Changes, and Somewhere Else. (THIS CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW.)
Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg comments on the history of combing two words to create a new one. i.e. Swirl and Twist = Twirl.This is called a portmanteau. Today, they are common place, such infotainment, Reganomics, and Medicare.
Former fighter pilots Ed Mechenbier and Ron Bliss. During the Vietnam War they were both shot down, and became POWs in Hanoi. They are interviewd in the new documentary "Return with Honor." The film was made by Freida Lee Mock and Terry Sanders, the team that made the Oscar winning film, "Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision."
Stand-up comic Margaret Cho. Her new one-woman show "I'm The One That I Want" is about her foray into the TV sitcom, when she was the first Asian-American to star in her own TV show. The series, "All-american Girl" was short lived, and a nightmare for Cho.
Novelist, screenwriter and biographer A.E. Hotchner. His memoir "Papa Hemingway" (Carroll & Graff) about his friend and colleague, Ernest Hemingway has just been republished. Hotchner met Hemingway when he was a 20-something journalist, on assignment to interview Hemingway for Cosmopolitan magazine. That first interview in 1948 developed into a 14 year friendship.
Singer and songwriter Loudon Wainwright the Third. He has a new CD, "Social Studies," a collection of topical songs, many which were first featured on NPR's Morning Edition. Loudon Wainwright III grew up in the town of Bedford in wealthy Westchester County north of New York City. He became a folk singer/songwriter in the late '60s, singing humorous and autobiographical songs.
Scott Dikkers is editor-in-chief of The Onion, an alternative weekly based in Madison, Wisconsin. He along with the editors of The Onion, have published the new book "Our Dumb Century" (Three Rivers Press) It's a parody of newspaper headlines spanning this century.
Former media critic Tom Rosenstiel, now the director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, created to address the media's role in society and how journalists could do their jobs better. He'll discuss the coverage of the disappearance of John F. Kennedy Jr's plane. Rosenstiel is the former media critic for the Los Angeles Times and the chief Congressional correspondent for Newsweek magazine. Rosenstiel is also the author of "Strange Bedfellows: How Television and the Presidential Candidates Changed American politics, 1992" (Hyperion Press).
