Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews a debut album by two Japanese women from the Lower East side of Manhattan, "Viva! La Woman" by Miho Hatori and Yuka Honda. The name of their duo is Cibo Matto.
Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Before and After" the new film starring Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson. . . This will be Stephen's last Fresh Air film review. He'll be going on to a new career in screenwriting. His adaptation for "Lolita" will hit the screen this Fall.
Steve Jobs is one of the founders of Apple Computers; and he led the development of the Macintosh computer. In 1985 he founded NeXT Computer. It's mission is to develop customized software for businesses; two of their applications are OPENSTEP and NEXTSTEP. Jobs is also the owner of the computer animation company, Pixar. They've made the first feature-length computer-animated film, "Toy Story," in conjunction with Walt Disney, Inc. Jobs will talk with Terry about the future of computer technology.
Music critic Milo Miles comments on the final tour of the Ramones. After the tour the group is disbanding. Also an excerpt of a 09/08/1988 interview with Joey Ramone.
John Updike. America's preeminent writer has written forty-six books, including 17 novels. His latest work is a four-generation saga, a historical novel, "In the Beauty of the Lilies." (Knopf).
Art historian and curator Mark Rosenthal. He is curator of the new exhibition "Abstraction in the Twentieth Century: Total Risk, Freedom, Discipline" at the Guggenheim Museum in New York (Feb 9 - May 12). There's also a companion book to the exhibition, same title, published by Guggenheim. Rosenthal is Curator of Twentieth Century at the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. and formerly Consultative Curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Lieutenant Nun: The Memoir of a Basque Transvestite in the New World" by Catalina De Erauso (published by Beacon).
Anthropologist Elizabeth McAlister is an expert on Haitian Vodou and she's studied Haitian Vodou in Brooklyn and in Haiti. She's compiled a new album of sacred and ceremonial music recorded in Haiti and in New York, "Rhythms of Rapture" and contributed to a new book "Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou." (Smithsonian Folkways).
Singer/songwriter/guitarist Dennis Brennan. His new album is "Jack-In-The-Pulpit" (Upstart Records). Brennan names Barry & the Remains, Howlin' Wold, Buck Owens, Otis Redding, and the Stones as his influences. Brennan is from Boston and a review in The Boston Globe calls him "one of the city's foremost melodic-rock songwriters. He has a raw survivor's voice, but he delves under the skin like Elvis Costello. . .then rocks with the populist abandon of Bruce Springsteen and the Stones."
Professor of Religion, and distinguished scholar Huston Smith. His book "The World's Religions" (formerly "The Religions of Man") has been the most widely-used textbook for courses in world religion for thirty years. There's now an illustrated version of his book, a companion to Bill Moyer's upcoming series featuring Smith. ("The Wisdom of Faith" premiers MARCH 26 - APRIL 23 on PBS.) "The Illustrated World's Religions: a Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions" is published by Harper.
Bruce Taylor, President and Chief Counsel of the National Law Center for Children and Families. His organization is a resource and education center which assists law enforcement and prosecutors in the enforcement of obscenity and child exploitation laws. He helped draft the legislation in the Communications Decency Act. (The National Law Center Children and Families is located in Fairfax, VA, (703) 691-4626.)
Two weeks ago Congress passed a sweeping new telecommunications bill, the biggest overhaul of telecommunications law in 62 years. The bill contains a provision (the Communications Decency Act) which makes obscenity on the internet illegal, punishable by fines of up to $100,000 and prison sentences to "knowingly" transmit to minors material deemed "indecent" on on-line services.
Jerry Berman is Executive Director of the Center for Democracy and Technology. Its mission is to develop public policies that advance democratic values and constitutional civil liberties in new computer and communications technologies. His group has joined a coalition of on line services, telecommunications companies, librarians, and others in filing a federal suit seeking less restrictive means to protect minors on the internet. (The Center for Democracy and Technology is located in Washington, D.C. (202) 637-9800.)
Dr. Fred Sheftell is the co-founder of The New England Center for Headache and the co-author of the book, Headache Relief. He's also co-authored the new book, Headache Relief for Women: How You Can Manage and Prevent Pain (Little, Brown & Co.) (The New England Center for Headache is located in Stamford, Connecticut).
