Pierre Dulaine and Yvonne Marceau, artistic directors of the American Ballroom Theater. In 1984, they formed the American Ballroom Theater to perform and preserve the tradition of ballroom dancing.
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a recording featuring famed Italian tenor Placido Domingo singing pop songs like "Yesterday" and "Maria."
Drs. William Masters, Virginia Johnson and Robert Kolodny discuss their controversial book Crisis: Heterosexual Behavior in the Age of AIDS. They argue in the book that the risk to the heterosexual population posed by the AIDS virus has been dramatically understated. Drs. Masters and Johnson are best-known for their work on sexuality, particularly the book Human Sexual Response. Also, a seven-minute interview with Nancy Padian, who is directing a California study into the transmission of AIDS in heterosexual couples.
Rock historian Ed Ward profiles the glitter rock band The New York Dolls. Their front man was David Johansen, who has since recast himself as the martini-swilling crooner Buster Poindexter.
Book critic John Leonard reviews S, the new novel by John Updike. The novel is a modern story that draws from Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.
Part two of an interview with singer and songwriter David Frishberg, who composed pop hits like "Peel Me a Grape" and "I'm Hip." He'll also perform on the piano.
George Cadwalader. A former Marine captain who was wounded in Vietnam, Cadwalader founded and ran the Penikese Island School for hard-core delinquent boys on a remote island off the coast of Massachusetts. It was run in a strict manner and used the techniques of survival schools like Outward-Bound, hoping to re-build character. But Cadwalader found that almost all of the boys ended up back in prison when they left the school.
Jazz singer, songwriter David Frishberg. This is the first part of two-part interview. Throughout the 60s, Frishberg wrote songs like "I'm Hip" and "Peel Me a Grape." Then in the early 70s, he started singing his own songs. Frishberg will also play a few songs throughout both parts of the interview.
Artist, writer, and poet Françoise Gilot During her l0-year relationship with Pablo Picasso, they had two children, Claude and Paloma. She is now married to Dr. Jonas Salk. She has written the books Life With Picasso, Interface: The Artist and the Mask, and her new book, An Artist's Journey.
Helen Suzman served as an Opposition Member of the South African Parliament from 1953 until 1989 . Suzman was a pioneering political leader in the fight against apartheid and anti-semitism. For thirteen years she was the sole representative in the Parliament to reject race discrimination. She's been twice nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. She'll discuss post-apartheid South Africa. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane).
Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Hairspray," the latest film by director and writer John Waters. "Hairspray," a satire of the teen dance shows of the early 60s, follows a long line of wildly eccentric films like "Polyester," "Pink Flamingos," and "Female Trouble." The cast includes Divine, Debbie Harry, Pia Zadora and Sonny Bono.
Actor Zakes Mokae. He now appears in the film "The Serpent and the Rainbow." He began his acting career in his native South Africa where he and playwright Athol Fugard founded the Serpent Theater. They shocked audiences by becoming the first black and white actors to appear on stage together. Mokae continues to appear in Fugard's plays, in addition to his film career.
Walter Polovchak. Polovchak was a 12-year-old Ukrainian immigrant living with his family in Chicago, when he refused to return with them to the Soviet Union. His decision provoked a storm of controversy from his family and authorities in both countries and attracted worldwide media attention. The court battles continued for five years until Polovchak reached his 18th birthday in 1985 and was sworn in as an American citizen.
Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews "Rock of Life," by Rick Springfield and "Til My Heart Stops," by Lisa Hartman, two TV stars trying to make the rock charts. Springfield plays a doctor on the daytime soap "General Hospital;" Hartman is a cast member of the evening soap "Knot's Landing."
