Music critic Nelson George considers the changing nature of black music. In the past, Nelson says, African American artists, record store owners, and concert promoters were more community oriented. He thinks the focus now is on corporate-backed, commercial success.
David Watts continued the gorilla research of Dian Fossey after her 1985 murder. He served as a consultant on the film Gorillas in the Mist, based on Fossey's book of the same name.
Pat DiNizio fronts the rock band The Smithereens, whose new album is called Green Thoughts. He joins Fresh Air to talk about his musical inspirations and straightforward approach to lyric writing.
TV critic David Bianculli still needs to deliver a column each week, even as the ongoing writers' strike affects programming. He shares some of his more inventive ideas of what to write about.
Patti Smith returns with Dream of Life, her first album in nearly a decade. Rock critic Ken Tucker says her mix of avant-garde lyrics and working-class populism may make her America's John Lennon, but she uses up her best ideas too quickly.
Part II of the Fresh Air interview with Penelope Spheeris. Terry Gross asks the filmmaker about growing up in a carnival, the prophetic power of rock music, and making movies about youth culture. Spheeris's new documentary is The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years.
Film critic Stephen Schiff says that two new crime comedies, A Fish Called Wanda and Midnight Run, don't do justice to the excellent performances of their lead actors.
Part I of Terry Gross's interview with filmmaker Penelope Spheeris. Spheeris talks about her new movie, The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: the Metal Years, a documentary about the heavy metal scene. She thinks stereotypes of the inarticulate and unskilled metal musicians are unfair -- though it's often true that they embrace a drug-fueled, self-destructive lifestyle.
Classical music Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new collection of Renata Tebaldi's performances. The recordings are so good that he's willing to overlook the soprano's sometimes forced, theatrical effects.
Sociologist Barry Glassner's new book Bodies explores the pressures Americans face to conform to particular standards of health and beauty. He says this cultural expectation -- which even extends to the workplace -- has led to a proliferation of diet and exercise programs, which most participants are doomed to fail.
Language commentator Geoff Nunberg wonders about the demand for authentic regional and national accents in motion pictures -- even when its not essential to the plot.
The conceptual artist developed the sets and visual style for science fiction movies like Blade Runner, Short Circuit, and Tron. NASA has also called on him to design Skylab. He joins Fresh Air to talk about how individuals and corporations conceive of the world to come.
The African American writer is known for his experimental style, but in Such Was the Season, Major uses a straightforward narrative to tell the story about an older black woman in Atlanta and her doctor nephew. Guest critic Stuart Klawans says any bookstore that doesn't carry it needs to "wise up."
None of the stories in the writer's debut collection were previously published; magazines hated her dark, sexually charged stories of young women. But the book--and Gaitskill--have now found critical acclaim.
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says the group Five Elements isn't his favorite setting for saxophonist Steve Coleman, but Sine Die is their strongest work yet. Cassandra Wilson contributions are a real highlight; she contributes vocals to four songs.
Novelist Donald Westlake has written everything, from confession stories to westerns to science fiction. But he's found the most success with his mystery and crime stories. He wrote a series of novels under the name Richard Stark featuring an emotionless criminal named Parker; his newest book, Trust Me on This, is a humorous tale of a tabloid journalist.
Writer Fouad Ajami joins Fresh Air to talk about Beirut, and how it attracted Lebanese who lived in the countryside. The civil war in Lebanon, Ajami says, has led to a collapse of the country's cultural and religious pluralism, which is born out in several internecine conflicts.
TV critic David Bianculli wasn't impressed by the often intrusive coverage of last week's DNC. But watching clips of past conventions on C-SPAN, he was thrilled to see footage of politicians in their prime.
