Consumer advocate Alice Tepper Marlin. Marlin's executive director of the Council on Economic Priorities and one of the authors of "Shopping For a Better World: A Quick and Easy Guide to Socially Responsible Supermarket Shopping." The guide helps consumers choose what items to buy, based on the environmental, social, and employment practices of the manufacturers. The guide rates more than 1800 supermarket items and 168 companies for factors such as environment, employee family benefits, ties to South Africa, and management opportunities for women.
German film director Volker Schlöndorff. He just finished the film adaptation of Margaret Atwood's best-selling novel, "The Handmaid's Tale." It stars Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway, Elizabeth McGovern, and Robert Duval. Schlondorf's other films include "The Tin Drum," which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, "The Lost Honor of Katherina Blum," and "Swann in Love."
Television critic David Bianculli reviews an episode of "Rescue 911," the CBS series that sends a film crew out on emergency police calls. Their most famous piece of tape yet is the call from Charles Stuart in Boston to say he and his pregnant wife had been shot by a black assailant (this turned out to be a cover up for Stuart, who apparently murdered his wife and shot himself). Bits of the tape have been shown on newscasts, but this is its first full airing on the show.
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a new album by German jazz organist Barbara Dennerlein (DEN-er-line). The album, "Straight Ahead!" is her first to be released in the U.S. and Kevin says part of the reason for its success is that Dennerlein doesn't sound like other jazz organists.
World music commentator Milo Miles gives an overview of the Japanese pop scene, focusing on Ryuichi Sakamoto (ree-OO-chee sa-kuh-MO-to), who starred with David Bowie in the film, "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence," and composed the soundtrack. Milo says Sakamoto manages to combine many musical styles into a harmonious whole.
Historian and author Hillel Schwartz. His latest book is "Century's End: A Cultural History of the Fin-de-Siècle From the 990's through the 1990's." (Published by Doubleday.) According to Schwartz, certain events happening now, as we approach the year 2000, are part of a pattern that repeats itself at the end of each century. Schwartz's earlier book about dieting, "Never Satisfied: A Cultural History of Diets, Fantasies, and Fat," has just come out in paperback. (Published by Anchor Books, Doubleday.)
Critic Laurie Stone comments on a successful little book being sold at bookstore cash registers. It's called "A Kiss is Just a Kiss" and it's a collection of photographs of people kissing. Laurie says the book could have been too sappy, but it's not.
We debrief our rock historian Ed Ward about the music he heard during recent trips to Europe. He sat in on a recording session with an underground East Berlin band which is now making its first album, and he also brought back some Polish punk and dance music from Belgium.
Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the new albums from The Residents and Kris Kristofferson. The Residents are a bizarre California-based art band, who make spooky, dreary, multi-layered music. Recently, the Residents have been releasing a series of albums paying homage to great American composers and performers. After having covered artists such as John Phillip Sousa and Hank Wiliams, the group has just issued "The King and I," their homage to Elvis Presley (it's on Enigma). Kristofferson's new album is called "Third World Warrior," (on Mercury).
Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews John Boorman's new movie, "Where the Heart Is." It's a farce about three rich kids forced by their father to make it on their own. It stars Dabney Coleman, Uma Thurman, Joanna Cassidy, Crispin Glover, and Christopher Plummer. Boorman's earlier films include "Deliverance," "The Emerald Forest," and "Hope and Glory."
Record producer and folklorist Chris Strachwitz (rhymes with "crock-witz"). In 1960, Strachwitz started Arhoolie records as a leading outlet for many types of music that were disappearing our outside the mainstream. Today, the label has hundreds of titles, featuring blues, cajun, country and bluegrass, Tex-Mex, and many other styles.
Actor Timothy Busfield. He plays Elliot Weston on the ABC series, "thirtysomething." (he's the one with the red hair). He also appeared last summer in the movie, "Field of Dreams." Those roles follow a career that included commercials, parts in "Revenge of the Nerds," "Reggie," and "Trapper John M.D." Next week, Busfield is hosting a Lifetime cable special called "Don't Divorce the Children," about the trauma of childhood separation and divorce.
Roy Ahmaogak lives in Barrow, Alaska and during the whaling season hunts bow head whales for food. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather were also whalers. Ahmaogak was the person who spotted the three gray whales trapped in the ice in Barrow that drew such media attention. A recent book by Tom Rose about the trapped whales has drawn criticism from residents of Barrow who feel they were misrepresented by Rose. We talk to Ahmaogak about whaling and native life in Barrow.
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews some newly reissued recordings of Haydn symphonies by the English conductor Sir Thomas Beecham. He says Beecham is one of the few conductors who understands how Haydn should be played. (the recording's on EMI records).
Rock historian Ed Ward traces the history of 2 Tone, a musical movement that started in industrial England in the late 70's. It was started by groups like The Specials, the Selecter, the Beat, and Madness, playing ska, a form of pre-reggae Jamaican music.
Film maker Peter Wang (it's spelled "wang," but it's pronounced "Wong"). Wang wrote, produced, directed, and acts in his new movie, "The Laser Man." It's a suspense-comedy about a Chinese-American physicist who discovers his laser research is being used for evil purposes. Much the same thing happened to Wang himself. He holds a PhD. in laser technology but left the field after deciding he could no longer use his skills to help create new weapons systems. After a stint teaching, Wang migrated into acting and film.
Theatre critic, director, and educator Robert Brustein (pronounced "steen," not "stein"). Brustein is a venerable voice in the American theatre...he's the founder and Artistic Director of the American Repertory Company, director of the Harvard Drama Center (he held a similar position at Yale for 13 years), drama critic for the New Republic for more than 30 years and the author of seven books on the theatre.
Book critic John Leonard reviews presidential speechwriter Peggy Noonan's book "What I Saw At the Revolution" about her experiences writing speeches for Ronald Reagan and George Bush. Some of their most memorable lines, like "Read my lips" and "A thousand points of light" were written by Noonan. (Published by Random House).
