Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "The New Age," starring Judy Davis and Peter Weller. The film is directed by Michael Tolkin, author of "The Player."
China scholar Orville Schell has written nine books about China, as well as contributed to magazines and television. His latest book, "Mandate of Heaven," examines the Tiananmen Square massacre and looks at how the younger generation will come to power. He says popular culture has become the newest arena for dissent and political change.
Journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn were Beijing correspondents for "The New York Times" from 1988 to 1993. They won a Pulitzer Prize for their reporting of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. They have just written a book called "China Wakes: The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power." It explores the contradiction in China of a booming economy paired with terrible human rights abuses, as the country struggles to become a new world power.
British mystery writer Anne Perry is the author of 19 crime novels based in Victorian England. It was recently discovered that, forty years ago, Perry took part in a murder. She was 15 and on medication for an illness she had at the time. She went to jail for five and a half years. Her newly released 20th book, "The Sins of the Wolf" is about a nurse imprisoned for a crime she didn't commit.
Commentator Maureen Corrigan reviews Quindlen's second novel -- Quindlen's first since her announcement that she's going to give up her editorial page column to become a full-time novelist.
Lucas was the number one draft pick for the NBA in 1976, before his career went downhill as a result of drug use. He conquered his addiction and started a recovery program for other drug-addicted athletes. He coached the San Antonio Spurs to the playoffs twice, and is now the head coach, general manager, and vice president of the Philadelphia 76ers. Lucas has just written a memoir, called "Winning a Day at a Time."
In 1990, an American Association of American Women survey found that the self-esteem of young girls plummets during adolescence. A year later, journalist Peggy Orenstein was commissioned to do a follow-up study, which resulted in her new book, "Schoolgirls: Young Women, Self-Esteem, and the Confidence Gap." Orenstein talked to girls in two junior high schools, and examined some of the factors that influenced their feelings about themselves, including schooling, family, and class.
Comedy writer Alan Zweibel discusses his 14 year friendship with Gilda Radner. They met working on the original Saturday Night Live and teamed up to create such memorable characters as Roseanne Roseannadanna and Emily Litella. Zweibel has written a new memoir about their friendship, called "Bunny Bunny: Gilda Radner: A Sort of Love Story."
Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews "Natural Ingredients," the first full-length collection by Lucious Jackson, a four-woman band from lower Manhattan, whose drummer was once a member of the Beastie Boys.
James Carville was President Clinton's chief strategist in the 1992 election. Mary Matalin was a top political aide to George Bush. They dated during the campaign and are now married. They've just written a book together, "All's Fair: Love, War, and Running for President," that tells the story of their unlikely romance.
TV critic David Bianculli previews producer Ken Burns' new, nine-part documentary series, "Baseball." Bianculli says it stopped him in his tracks, and will even appeal to people who aren't fans of the sport.
Sociologist Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot has written a new book about the Black middle class, called "I've Known Rivers: Lives of Loss and Liberation." She follows the lives of six middle-aged, African American people on the "necessary losses" they paid for their privilege. Her book was written, in part, as a response to the 1957 book "Black Bourgeoisie," by the black sociologist Franklin Frazier.
Columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer Steve Lopez. He's just written his first novel, "Third and Indiana" about the hard life of North Philly. The origin of the story was a two-paragraph item Lopez read in the paper about a 14-year-old boy shot and killed on a drug corner. He was disturbed by the casualness and brevity of the report. Terry talks with Lopez about his new book, and about his popular columns.
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a new recording of Charles Mingus's infamous New York Town Hall concert from October 12, 1962. It's the first time a complete recording has been available.
Legal journalist Stephen Adler. He is legal affairs editor of "The Wall Street Journal." He's written a new book about what's wrong with the jury system and how it can be fixed: "The Jury: Trial and Error in the American Courtroom," Adler looks at the history of the jury system and how our attitudes about juries have changed over the years.
Former First Lady, Barbara Bush. She's written her memoir, which she describes as a story of a "life of privilege." The book chronicles her early life, her marriage to George Bush during World War Two at the age of 19, and the political path that took them to the White House. She also writes about a depression she fell into in the mid-1970s in which she wept each night in the arms of her husband, and had thoughts about crashing her car into a tree or oncoming auto. The depression finally lifted on its own.
