Ian Buruma has just written the book, "The Wages of Guilt," which explores the different ways in which the people of Germany and Japan remember World War II. He seeks to explain why Germany has a collective sense of guilt over its war crimes, while Japan tries to forget its involvement in the war. Buruma's other books include "God's Dust" and "Playing the Game."
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says that, amidst the apocryphal narratives circulating around the sax player's career, the Verve reissue "The Lester Young Trio" is worth checking out.
David Levy is an amateur astronomer. He's discovered 21 comets, both as an amateur and as part of a professional team. He recently discovered the comet that will crash into Jupiter on July 16th, and the comet is named after him. In a Smithsonian magazine article, he called this comet "the most cataclysmic event observed in our solar system since the dawn of civilization." Levy is a contributor to many astronomical magazines, and is the author of numerous books on astronomy.
Classical Music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new recording of a major Stravinsky score, "Les Noces and Village Wedding Songs" performed by the Pokrovsky Ensemble on the Elektra label. This recording presents the pieces in the style of folk singing, rather than the usual concert style.
Television critic David Bianculli reviews Aaron Spelling's newest Fox network show, "Models, Inc.," about a woman who runs a modeling agency. Spelling is the executive producer of the successful shows "Beverly Hills 90210" and "Melrose Place."
Christopher Buckley has just written a new political satire, "Thank you for Smoking" (Random), which pokes fun at everything and everyone associated with the tobacco industry-- from anti-smoking advocates to tobacco company executives. Buckley was George Bush's speechwriter from 1981-1983 when Bush served as Vice President. The son of William F. Buckley, he is the author of other political and social satires, including "The White House Mess" and "Wet Work." He is the editor of "Forbes FYI" magazine.
James Glab is an airline industry reporter, who is a contributing editor of "Travel and Leisure," "Frequent Flyer" and "Travel Weekly." He recently co-wrote "Rapid Descent," (Simon and Schuster) that looks at how the airline deregulation law, which promised better service and lower airfares, led to chaotic airline fares and deteriorated customer service.
World Music critic Milo Miles reviews guitarist Ry Cooder's two new collaborations: with Indian musician V.M. Bhatt ("A Meeting by the River" -- Water Lily Acoustics label), and with African Guitarist Ali Farka Toure ("Talking Timbuktu" -- on the Hannibal/World Circuit/Rykodisc label).
Father 'Gus' DiNoia is a Dominican Priest and a theologian to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. On May 31, the Pope issued an Apostolic letter to bishops declaring that women could not be ordained as priests. Though not a formal statement of doctrine, the letter was strongly put, and meant to cut off discussion about the issue.
Author/Attorney Stephen Goddard. His new book is "Getting There: The Epic Struggle between Road and Rail in the American Century" (Basic Books). Goddard's interest in trains began as a boy in the 1940s. At that time the regulated railroads were fighting back against the subsidized highways by creating luxurious trains with fancy dining cars that boasted elegant crystal on the tables.
Speech Therapist Sam Chwat. Chwat's New York Speech Improvement Services attracts 200 to 250 clients a week. He taught Robert DeNiro how to gain an Appalachian accent for his role in "Cape Fear." Julia Roberts sought him out to relearn her southern drawl for "Steel Magnolias." He helped another southerner, Andie McDowell, after her lines for "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan" were dubbed by Glenn Close.
New York Times reporter John Darnton. This past Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, Darnton published a series of articles in the Times about the current state of Africa. He was the Times' Africa correspondent in the 70s. This 3-part series is his return to see how conditions have changed. He reports that living standards have declined far below the rest of the world, with most African countries in economic turmoil, replete with famine, war and drought. He says the World Bank has become the new superpower of Africa with the post-cold war pullout of the U.S. and Russia.
Singer-songwriter-poet-performance artist Maggie Estep. Estep calls herself "an angry, sweaty girl." As a teenager, she settled in New York City, and she's been in rock bands since the age of 17. Her current back-up band is called "I love Everybody." She was the cover girl on the February 1994 issue of "High Times" magazine; the article inside called her "the leader of the spoken word pack." She recently had a sold-out one-woman show at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in Manhattan's Lower East Side. Her debut album is called "No More Mr.
A concert and interview with singer/songwriter and musician Dave Alvin. He's best known for his guitar "firepower" with the Blasters (for which he was also primary composer and songwriter). He also had a short stint with the band X. Alvin went solo a few years ago, and began honing his voice. He's just released his third solo album -- his first acoustic one -- "King of California" (HighTone Records).
Authority on complementary cancer treatments Michael Lerner. His book is called "Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Approaches to Cancer" (The MIT Press).
Merchant Seaman Captain Rudolph Patzert. In 1947 he captained a ship that was part of a clandestine effort by the Jewish underground to smuggle Holocaust survivors into Palestine. Palestine at that time was under British rule, and a British air and sea blockade prevented immigration to the country. Patzert's ship, the Paducah, was a 45 year-old rundown converted gunboat, his crew inexperienced; and they were thwarted every step of the way: British intelligence hounded them, preventing them from refueling and re-watering.
