South African journalist Allister Sparks has written about secret negotiations that started in 1986 between South African leaders and then-jailed political prisoner Nelson Mandela. The meetings ultimately led to the dismantling of Apartheid. Sparks' new book is Tomorrow is Another Country. He served as South African Correspondent for The Observer and for The Washington Post from 1981-1992. He lives in Johannesburg, South Africa.
In 1989, Lau became a best-selling author with her first book: Runaway: Diary of a Street Kid, a memoir of her years on the streets as a suicidal drug addicted teenage prostitute. She also wrote two books of her poetry: You Are Not Who You Claim and Oedipal Dreams. Her latest is a collection of short stories titled Fresh Girls and Other Stories. The 23 year old writer lives in Vancouver, Canada.
Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Wonder Boys," by Michael Chabon. His first novel, a best seller, "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" was originally written as his Master's Thesis in college.
Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new film starring Jessica Lange. He says its focus on message over narrative makes it a poor fit for the big screen, better suited for network TV.
Egoyan's newest movie won the International Critics Prize at the Cannes Film Festival at the 1994 awards. Exotica is considered his breakthrough movie. Andrew Sarris of the New York Observer says when the movie ended, "I sat stunned in the theater...Exotica [was] high on my ten best list."
Journalist and rock historian Daniel Wolff has written a new biography, You Send Me: The Life and Times of Sam Cooke. Wolff was aided in his research by many people who were close to Cooke, including S.R. Crain, a co-founder of the Soul Stirrers and later Cooke's manager. Crain also joins the conversation.
Fresh Air rock critic Ken Tucker looks back at the music of Doc Pomus, who died in 1991. There's a new tribute album to him out, called "Till the Night Is Gone."
Tamahori made the New Zealand film "Once Were Warriors." It takes a front-line look at an urban Maori family plagued by poverty, violence and alcoholism. The movie recently became the top grossing film in New Zealand history. Star Rena Owen joins the conversation later in this segment.
Dr. Jody Heymann is a physician, and author of the new book Equal Partners: A Physicians Call for a New Spirit of Medicine. She chronicles her own story of turning from physician to patient overnight after suffering a seizure and consequent brain surgeries. The extremes of care she received revolutionized her perception of a physician's role in patient treatment.
Bass has a new gospel album, "No Ways Tired." Her R&B hit "Rescue Me" came out in 1965. She was given no credits and no royalties for the song. Soon after, disenchanted with the industry, she retired to raise a family. In recent years, she has been on a comeback while getting back to her roots as a gospel singer.
Judith Musick is the director of the Ounce of Prevention Fund, a pregnancy prevention and teenage-parent programs in Illinois, and author of the new book, "Young, Poor and Pregnant: The Psychology of Teenage Motherhood." Musick believes that impoverished adolescent girls become young mothers as an attempt to create a future and an identity.
Michael Tonry is a professor of Law and Public Policy at the University of Minnesota. His new book, Malign Neglect: Race Crime, and Punishment in America, discusses how our current approach to fighting crime victimizes disadvantaged black Americans. He calls for a reform of sentencing and parole policies.
Ann Charters, the biographer of Jack Kerouac, has just edited two new collections of his writings: The Portable Jack Kerouac, and Jack Kerouac: Selected Letters. In this interview,she reads from some of Kerouac's letters, and discusses how he translated his life into his work. Charters teaches at the University of Connecticut.
Fresh Air rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the new album "To Bring You My Love," from the English singer and songwriter PJ Harvey, It is being touted as her artistic -- and possibly commercial -- breakthrough.
Ed Gillespie, co-editor of the book The Contract With America and policy and communications director of the House Republican Conference. He believes the welfare reforms outlined in the Republican agenda are accurate assessments of what is needed to correct the current welfare system.
Director of the National Center on Hunger, Poverty and Nutrition at Tufts University, Dr. Larry Brown. He directed a recent study titled "Statement on Key Welfare Reform Issues: The Empirical Evidence." It revealed the assumptions behind the Republican "Contract With America" regarding welfare reform to be wrong. He agrees reform is necessary but must be focused on the right target.
