Actor Raul Julia. His films include "Kiss of the Spider Woman," "Moon Over Parador," "Tango Bar" and the recent "Tequila Sunrise." His latest film, "Romero," is based on the life, and assassination, of the Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero.
Jazz Critic KEVIN WHITEHEAD reviews the latest album by jazz drummer and big band leader Louie Bellson. Bellson, the husband of Pearl Bailey, has been drumming since three. When he was 17, he won a nationwide competition sponsored by Gene Kruppa that launched his career. He's played for Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James and Duke Ellington.
A concert with singer and songwriter Loudon Wainwright III. He writes very personal, eccentric songs that take a darkly humorous, sometimes caustic view of life. He first gained fame with his hit song "Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road." His new album is titled "Therapy." (Interview with Sedge Thomson)
Guest film critic Owen Gleiberman reviews the home video release of "Naked Gun," the police farce produced and directed by the makers of "Airplane." "Naked Gun," which premiered on movie screens early last spring, was based on the six-episode TV program "Police Squad," which recently aired on cable TV.
Guest critic Milo Miles has a primer on world music, and he examines why it should, by all rights, be more popular in the U.S. than it is. Miles is the former rock critic for The Boston Phoenix.
Writer Martin Cruz Smith. His latest novel, Polar Star, is his sequel to his 1981 best-seller Gorky Park. In Polar Star, Cruz Smith revives Arkady Renko, the intrepid police investigator hero of Gorky Park. Smith is also the author of Stallion Gate, a novel about the making of the atomic bomb. (Interview with Sedge Thomson)
African-American sociologist Terry Williams. He's the coauthor of Growing Up Poor, a highly-praised analysis of the effects of poverty that persists through several generations. His new book, The Cocaine Kids, is the story of a teenage drug ring. Since 1982 he has spent much of his time hanging out with teenage cocaine dealers in cocaine bars, after-hours clubs, discos, restaurants, crack houses, on street corners and at family gatherings and parties. What emerges is a portrait of the urban cocaine business. (Interview by Sedge Thomson)
Rock critic Ken Tucker continues his look at current rap releases. This week he explores the music of The Beastie Boys, Queen Latifah and the 2 Live Crew.
Ronald Takaki. He's the grandson of Japanese immigrants and a professor of Ethnic Studies at Berkeley. His book, Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans, tells the diverse stories of Asian immigrants who have come to the United States during the past century and a half. Takaki relates the personal testimonies of new immigrants and their American-born children.
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a recording of what he considers two of Mozart's most beautiful works of chamber music for string quartet and winds. The recording features the British Gabrieli String Quartet.
Literary agent Richard Curtis. He's represented many bestselling authors, and has written some award-winning fiction of his own. He was the first president of the Independent Literary Agents Association, and he writes "Agent's Corner," a column for Locus magazine. His new book is called Beyond the Bestseller: A Literary Agent Takes You Inside the Book Business. It's an insider's guide to the literary world that includes discussion of literary agencies, advances, fees, royalties, expenses, and other advice for authors. (Interview with Sedge Thomson)
Writer and naturalist David Rains Wallace. His new book, Bulow Hammock: Mind in a Forest, chronicles his lifelong intrigue with the wild beauty of Bulow Hammock, a subtropical woodland near Daytona, Florida. Wallace is also the author of The Klamath Knot, The Turquoise Dragon, The Wilder Shore, and Idle Weeds. (Interview by Sedge Thomson)
Critic-at-large Laurie Stone, just back from the "Just for Laughs Festival," a stand up comedy festival in Montreal, assesses the current state of standup.
Writer Pico Iyer. His book Video Night in Kathmandu explores the subtle and often humorous Westernization of the Far East. Iyer, who reported for Time Magazine for four years, found the West's influence in mohawk haircuts in Bali, six Filipino girls doing a perfect rendition of a Madonna hit, Japan's baseball mania and a Chinese cafeteria that served dishes like "Yes, Sir, Cheese My Baby," and "Ike and Tuna Tuner." Video Night in Kathmandu has just been published in paperback. (Interview by Sedge Thomson)
Songwriter Fred Koller. He's one of Nashville's top songwriters. His songs have been recorded by Loretta Lynn, Jerry Lee Lewis, Dave Edmunds and Hank Williams Jr. He has also collaborated with John Prine, John Hiatt and Pat Alger. But in his book How to Pitch and Promote Your Song, Koller guides the novice songwriter through the music business, with tips on how best to present your songs. (Interview by Sedge Thomson)
Rock historian Ed Ward profiles Bob Dylan as songwriter, focusing on Dylan's rocky transition from a folk singer into a rock and roller. The key, Ed says, was getting other people to do pop covers of Dylan's folk hits.
Shelley Winters. With two Oscars and well over 100 films to her credit, Winters is a star in the classic Hollywood mode. But she is almost as well known for her off-screen adventures and irrepressible life style that made her a staple in the gossip columns.
