Tom Blanton is the editor of the book "White House E-Mail: The Top Secret Computer Messages The Reagan/Bush White House tried to Destroy." It is published by New Press. Blanton is the executive editor of the National Security Archive, a freedom of information advocacy group. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)
Sidney Jones, is regional director of Human Rights Watch in Asia. Recently Human Rights Watch published a report on abandoned children in China, and their treatment in China's state-funded orphanages, "Death by Default: A Policy of Fatal Neglect in China's State Orphanages." The report finds the death rate in the orphanages "staggering," and in some cases constitutes a sinister "systematic program of child elimination." (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane) f
Kay Ann Johnson does research on adoption and abandonment in China, for the Committee for Scholarly Communications with China 1995-1996. She says that the Human Rights Watch report misrepresents the scope of the problem in Chinese state-run orphanages and that she has seen no systematic official policy of letting children die. Johnson is a Professor of Asian Studies and Political Science at Hampshire College. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)
British filmmaker Kate Blewett. Using a concealed camera, Blewett and crew visited eleven state-funded orphanages in China and filmed in nine of them. They documented such things as toddlers whose hands and legs were tied to potty chairs all day, and the rooms where children are left to die. They also say that many of the children were girls, victims of China's One Child Policy, and the Chinese tradition that favors sons over daughters. "The Dying Rooms: China's Darkest Secret" debuts on CINEMAX (Jan 24 at 8 PM). (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)
Janice Neilson, Executive Director of World Association for Children and parents (WACAP), a non-profit organization for parents who are interested in adopting children at risk worldwide. She has worked with Chinese children's institutions since 1991. Neilson says her observations are "at variance" with the conclusions of the Human Rights Watch report. Neilson urges that China not be judged by our standards but by the "standards of the developing world." She says that Chinese authorities are trying to improve the situation. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)
Biologist Joel E. Cohen. He heads the laboratory of populations at Rockefeller University in New York City. His new book is "How Many People Can the Earth Support?" (W.W. Norton). Cohen's book is "neither an alarmist tract nor a cornucopian lullaby." Cohen considers the central population issues: Has rapid population growth, brought us close to destruction? And what is the carrying capacity of the earth?
Arranger and baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan died Saturday, January 20th, from complications due to surgery. He was 68. We will rebroadcast a 1989 interview with him. Mulliagn was an innovator in modern jazz orchestration. Early in his career he was staff arranger for Gene Krupa's big band. In 1949 he collaborated with Gil Evans and Miles Davis in the Nonet. The nine-piece band shook up jazz arrangers and launched the era of so-called cool jazz. He achieved international acclaim when he started a "pianoless" quartet with trumpeter Chet Baker in the early 1950's.
Washington Editor of "The Atlantic Monthly," and NPR commentator James Fallows. He won a National Book award for his 1981 book "National Defense" about the post Vietnam War era national defense establishment. Fallows new book examines what has gone wrong with the media, how it has failed to meet its public responsibilities, and what can be done about it. His new book is "Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy," (Pantheon).
Political satirist Al Franken. He was one of the original writers for Saturday Night Live. He's won four Emmys for his writing on the show. His most popular character is Stuart Smalley, the new age cable TV host. He left the show last season. His new book "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations" (Delacorte Press) is his look at American politics and the Republican revolution. The Kirkus Reviews writes, "he attacks with a wonderful lack of civility. . .and he does it with two murderous weapons: satire and facts. . ."
Novelist/screenwriter Hanif Kureishi. Kureishi has been termed by the British press a "literary terrorist" for his works which encompass racist and sexual themes. He wrote the screenplays for "My Beautiful Laundrette," and "Sammy and Rosie Get Laid." Both were directed by Stephen Frears. His new novel is "The Black Album," (Scribner). Kureishi was born and brought up in south London; his father is Pakistani, his mother English.
Computer security expert Tsutomu Shimomura and reporter John Markoff. Markoff writes about computers and technology for the New York Times. The two have collaborated on a new book, "Takedown: The Pursuit and Capture of Kevin Mitnick, America's Most Wanted Computer Outlaw-By the Man Who Did It." (Hyperion). Mitnick was the most wanted computer hacker in the world, having stolen thousands of data files, and 20,000 credit card numbers. For two years he had eluded the FBI. Mitnick broke into Shimomura's home computer, and Shimomura joined the search.
Actor/director/writer Sean Penn. The "reluctant actor" is starring in the new film "Dead Man Walking" directed by Tim Robbins, co-starring Susan Sarandon. (It's based on the book, of the same title, by Sister Helen Prejean). Penn has moved away from acting in favor of writing/directing: the 1991 film "The Indian Runner" which he wrote based on a Bruce Springsteen song, and last year's "The Crossing Guard" starring Angelica Huston and Jack Nicholson.
