Drummer Arthur Taylor. He's played with Sonny Rollins, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk and he's put together a new expanded collection of interviews he's done with fellow musicians: "Notes and Tones: Musician-to-Musician Interviews," (Da Capo Press). It's one of the few books about black jazz musicians by a black man, and because of that Taylor's subjects were able to talk freely about the role of black artists in white society.
Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the film "Reality Bites," a comedy about Love in the '90's, directed by Ben Stiller and starring Winona Ryder and Ethan Hawke.
Lebanese-born author and journalist Hanan Al-Shaykh. Her novel "The Story of Zahra" (Anchor Books) has just been published in the United States. Several Arab countries have banned the book since its original publication 14 years ago. The Story of Zahra tells of a contemporary Lebanese woman struggling with life in her family and her war-ravaged native city of Beirut. Al-Shaykh's novel "Women of Sand and Myrrh" was published in the United States last year.
Author John Cavanagh. Cavanagh is a Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington D.C. He is the co-author with Richard Barnet, of "Global Dreams: Imperial Corporations & the New World Order" (Simon & Schuster), which examines the growth of multi-national corporations. They profile five of the world's most powerful corporations, and show how they are less accountable to public authorities, are paving the way for future political conflict, and are "stimulating political and social disintegration".
Poet and Professor of English at Yale, Wayne Koestenbaum explores the affinity of gay men for opera in his new book: "The Queen's Throat: Opera, Homosexuality and the Mystery of Desire" (Vintage). Koestenbaum traces the art-form back to its origins in The Camerata, a 16th century group of Florentine gentlemen, who studied ancient Greek musical theory. A self proclaimed "Opera Queen", Koestenbaum explores this rarely examined territory with what one critic has called "a brilliantly obsessive and funny memoir".
Rapper and actor Ice-T...one of the most popular of the "gangsta" rappers. Although he does not often get his songs played on the radio, all five of his albums have gone gold. Greg Knot of The Chicago Tribune has written that "Ice-T. is that rare gangster rapper who leads with his brain instead of his gun or his crotch." IIce-T.'s 1992 song "Cop Killer," landed him at the center of a controversy about gangsta rap--is it a legitimate form of expression or is it incendiary hate-mongering. Ice-T.
Dr. Sherwin Nuland is a surgeon, and he teaches surgery and the history of medicine at Yale. In his new book, "How We Die: Reflections on Life's Final Chapter," (Knopf), he writes that few of us have an understanding of the way people die because 80 percent of Americans die in the hospital, and, for the most part their deaths are concealed. Nuland's new book is an attempt to "demythologize" the process of dying and he presents death in its biological and clinical reality.
Singer, actress, dancer, Ann-Margret (no last name necessary) has written her autobiography, "Ann-Margret: My Story," (with Todd Gold, Putnam). In the book she writes about her relationship with Elvis Presley, her battle with alcohol abuse, and the stage accident that almost ended her career. Ann-Margret has appeared in the movies, "Bye Bye Birdie," "Carnal Knowledge," "Tommy," and others.
Charles Kupchan, Senior Fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations and former Director of European Affairs on the National Security Council in the Clinton White House. He'll discuss the political motivations of the European players in NATO's ultimatum to Bosnian Serb forces. The Bosnian Serbs must withdraw artillery and mortars from their stranglehold positions on Sarajevo by February 21st or face NATO air strikes.
Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new movie "Romeo is Bleeding," a black comedy directed by Peter Medak and starring Gary Oldman, Lena Olin, Annabella Sciorra, Juliette Lewis and Roy Scheider.
Shanghai-born author, Anchee Min. She grew up in China during the last years of Mao's Cultural Revolution. In her memoir, "Red Azalea" (Pantheon), Min recounts her experiences as an 11-year old leader in her school's Little Red Guard, then as a laborer at a work camp where she became the secret lover of her female commander. When Madam Mao began her reform of China's film industry, Min was chosen from 20,000 candidates to become a screen actress because she had a face that was thought to represent the working class.
War surgeon Dr. Chris Giannou, who recently worked through the devastating civil war in the East African country of Burundi. In the ensuing ethnic and political conflict between the Hutu and the Tutsi peoples there, at least two hundred thousand people were been killed, oftentimes not with guns, but with machete knives and spears. Giannou has spent over 12 years working in the world's hotspots: Somalia, Lebanon, Cambodia.
Emmy-Award winning documentary filmmaker and producer, Thomas Lennon. His newest documentary examines the interaction between the tabloid press and the mainstream media: "Tabloid Truth: the Michael Jackson Scandal" (which airs on PBS stations February 15th). By watching the story of alleged sexual abuse swell from verifiable news to national spectacle, Lennon questions the state of American journalism, as CNN fights for the same stories once relegated to the National Inquirer.
