Commentator Maureen Corrigan checks out "Sucker." It's a rock band made of four guys who grew up and got real jobs a long time ago, but still keep their rock and roll dreams alive. "Sucker" consists of: David McCormick (now an editor for the New Yorker) on drums, Wardell Sanders (now a law student) on guitar and bass, Ed Kaiser (who now works in the labor movement in Washington, D.C.) on guitar and bass, and Tim Frueh (now a writer in New York) on guitar, bass, and vocals.
Novelist Tim O'Brien. He was writing about Vietnam long before it became fashionable to do so. His Vietnam memoir, "If I die in a Combat Zone," was published in 1973. O'Brien's 1979 novel "Going After Cacciato" was praised for its depiction of the Vietnam War. It also was the surprise winner of the 1979 National Book Awards -- beating out books by John Irving and John Cheever.
Sportswriters Alexander Wolff and Armen Keteyian. The pair have covered college basketball for years, and now they've collaborated on a new expose of college recruiting practices. It's called "Raw Recruits." (Pocket Books). Terry also talks with David Berst, the head of enforcement for the NCAA.
Language commentator Geoffrey Nunberg has some thoughts on the different accents you'll find in California. Not all of them are as distinctive as those of a "Valley Girl." (originally broadcast 3/9/88).
Author and Journalist T.J. English. His new book is "The Westies: Inside the Hell's Kitchen Irish Mob." From the 1960's to the 1980's the mob led by James Coonan terrorized Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. Testimony from a former hitman of the gang, Mickey Featherstone, eventually broke up the gang. English's book has been called, "a grotesque chronicle" of the gang and "reminiscent of Poe and Dostoyevsky in subject and character," by New York Newsday. English's book is published by Putnam.
Cuban-born poet Heberto Padilla (air-BARE-toe puh-DEE-uh). He was a friend of Castro and an early supporter of the revolution in Cuba. But later he became disillusioned and was imprisoned by Castro as a counter-revolutionary in 1971. He left Cuba in 1980 and has been living and teaching in the U.S. He has a new memoir, "Self Portrait of the Other," published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
A spring medley from stride pianist Dave McKenna. The tunes are: "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most," "Spring is Here," and "It Might as Well Be Spring."
Book critic John Leonard reviews the new biography of French philosopher and mystic Simone Weil (pronounced "vile"). It's called "Utopian Pessimist," and it's by David McLellan.
Pulitzer prize winning biographer Robert A. Caro on Lyndon Baines Johnson. The book focused on Johnson's early years. The Boston Sunday Globe called it, "a powerful, absorbing, at times awe-inspiring, and often deeply alarming story." In the just-published second volume, "Means of Ascent," Caro examines seven years of Johnson's life, from 1941 to 1948.
Rock historian Ed Ward plays some of the lessor known, but more effecting, protest songs about the Vietnam War. Artists include: Charlie and Inez Foxx, Jimmy Cliff, Freda Payne, and Grand Funk Railroad.
Soviet-born artists Vitaly Komar and Aleksandr Melamid. The pair are the creators of two huge, multi-paneled works called "Yalta 1945" and "Winter in Moscow 1977." Both works are being shown in America for the first time at the Brooklyn Museum. "Yalta 1945" is made of 31 4x4 foot panels depicting Lenin and the four leaders from the Yalta Conference. "Winter in Moscow 1977" uses 26 panels to show Komar and Melamid's home town shortly before they fled to the West. (The exhibit runs until June 4th).
Fresh Air producer Amy Salit interviews producer Noel Pearson and director Jim Sheridan of the film "My Left Foot." The film tells the story of Christy Brown, who became a painter and writer in spite of having cerebral palsy. Pearson, who produced the film, knew Christy and his family and Sheridan co-wrote as well as directed it. "My Left Foot," a first film for both, has been nominated for Academy Awards for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Picture.
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews "Coltrane Live At Birdland," a reissued album by tenor and soprano saxophonist John Coltrane. Kevin says this is his favorite Coltrane album. (It's on Impulse).
Television critic David Bianculli reviews two new CBS sitcoms: "Normal Life," starring Frank Zappa's kids, Dweezil and Moon Unit Zappa, and "Sydney," starring Valerie Bertinelli of "One Day at a Time" fame. Bianculli says one is pretty good, and the other needs some polishing.
Critic Maureen Corrigan gives us her family's version of how to celebrate St. Patricks Day, and recommends the novel "Motherland" by Timothy O'Grady as perfect St. Patrick's Day reading.
Historian John Hope Franklin. Years before there were any black history departments, Franklin was researching the stories of free-blacks in the antebellum south. His interest in black history began while he was a graduate student in the 1930's. Since then he has written a number of books on the subject. His latest book "Race and History," is a collection of essays written between 1938 and 1988. Franklin is Professor of Legal History at Duke University.
World music commentator Milo Miles explores the continuing influence of punk rock on Japanese music in the second of his two-part examination of Japanese pop music. Milo looks at two Japanese groups -- The Plastics and The Frank Chickens.
Rock musician Ben Vaughn. Vaughn's been a cult staple for years in the Philadelphia/New Jersey area, where he's become known for his tongue-in-cheek lyrics and tunes that draw from rocks early influences. Vaughn's just put out his fourth album, titled "Dressed In Black." (It's on Enigma records).
Underground cartoonist Kim Deitch. In 1967 he began doing comic strips for the "East Village Other" where he introduced his more famous characters, Waldo the Cat, and Uncle Ed, the India Rubber Man. Since then he has contributed to dozens of underground comics.
