Government & Politics

Ken Herman has been covering Texas politics for over 20 years and is currently in Washington, covering the first six months of President George W. Bushs administration. Hell talk about the differences between George W. Bush the governor and George W. Bush the President. Herman will also talk about President Bushs first few months in office- his new policies, the outcome of his campaign promises, and the press corps reaction to Bush.

Joseph Hallinan been writing about the criminal-justice system for about a decade. For his new book, Going Up the River: Travels in Prison Nation he looks at the consequences of our country's prison boom. The prison-industrial complex is our nations biggest growth industry. Hallinan currently writes for The Wall Street Journal.

Former Chicago policewoman Gina Gallo. While she was part of the force, she also wrote about her work in columns for NYCop online magazine and Blue Murders online magazine. They were collected in the book Crime Scenes (Blue Murder Press). She has a new memoir, Armed & Dangerous: Memoirs of a Chicago Policewoman

His string of bestsellers, such as The Bourne Identity, The Osterman Weekend, and The Icarus Agenda, established him as one of literature's most successful espionage novelists. Ludlum died yesterday of a heart attack. He was 74 years old.

Shlaim is the author of the new book, The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World. Shlaims book is a revisionist interpretation of Israel's policy toward the Arab world, based on newly released documents, and on interviews with policymakers and participants in events.

Junger traveled to Afghanistan to profile Ahmad Shah Massoud, (known as the Lion of Panjshir), the legendary leader of the guerrilla war against the Soviets, who is now fighting the Taliban. Junger traveled with photographer Reza Deghati who spent several years covering the war there. Jungers article The Lion in Winter appears in the March/April issue of National Geographics Adventure magazine. Its also the subject of a National Geographic Explorer program Into the Forbidden which aired march 4 on CNBC.

Last week the Taliban, the Islamic Militants ruling Afghanistan issued a decree to demolish all pre-Islamic religious images. Reportedly they have partially demolished the 175 feet and 120 feet seventh-century Buddhas 100 miles west of Kabul, considered two of the most important ancient works. A talk with the Director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies At the University of Omaha, Thomas E. Gouttierre .

He's written six historical spy novels, all taking place in Europe just before World War II. They include Night Soldiers, Dark Star, The World at Night and his new one, Kingdom of Shadows.

Military affairs correspondent for the New York Times, Michael Gordon. He former Moscow bureau chief for the paper. He covered the war in Chechnya when the Times was one of only two Western news organizations allowed in Chechnya by the Russian military. Gordon also covered the Gulf War and the war in Kosovo, and is co-author of the book The Generals' War about the Gulf War.

Maureen Corrigan reviews Demonology

This Friday, George W. Bush embarks on his first presidential trip outside the US. He will travel to Mexico to meet the new president of Mexico, Vincente Fox. We talk about Mexico with Journalist Sam Quinones. He has been covering Mexico for 7 years. His new book is called, True Tales from Another Mexico: The Lynch Mob, the Popsicle Kings, Chalino, and the Bronx. Quinones work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, LA Weekly, and Ms Magazine.

Film critic Henry Sheehan reviews the new film "Hannibal" starring Anthony Hopkins and Julianne Moore.

Peter Hessler is the author of River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze (HarperCollins). Its about his two years in Fuling, China as a Peace Corps volunteer, teaching English and American literature at a local college. The book was serialized in The New Yorker.

Humanitarian aid worker Kenneth Gluck. He was working with Doctors Without Borders in Chechnya when he was kidnapped and held for 26 days. He was released on February 3rd. Gluck still isn't sure who kidnapped him or who freed him. It could have been Chechen gangs, who have seized other humanitarian workers. Or it could have been Russian authorities who staged the abduction for propaganda purposes. The Russians claimed credit for freeing him.

Kraft was NASAs first flight director, from the first forays into space in the 1960s to after Neil Armstrong landed on the moon in 1969. Kraft also created Mission Control. He has written a new book, –Flight: My Life In Mission Control.

Iranian born novelist Salar Abdoh. His first novel The Poet Game, (2000, Picador USA) is a fictitious account of an Iranian secret agent sent to New York City to investigate rumored terrorist plots, in the wake of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The main character, Sami Amir poses as a terrorist to try and stop the attacks. Salar Abdoh fled Iran with his father and brothers following the revolution in 1979. Abdoh earned a master degree in Creative Writing from the City College of New York. He lives in New York City.

FBI special agent Christopher Whitcomb. He was part of the agency hostage rescue team. The team is the equivalent to the Navy SEALs and the Army Delta Force. As such he particpated in the missions at Waco, Ruby Ridge and Kosovo. He is currently director of strategic information management for the Critical Incident Response Group. He written the new book: Cold Zero: Inside the FBI Hostage Rescue Team

Venkatesh, an Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of African American Studies at Columbia University in New York. His newest book –American Project: The Rise and Fall of the Modern Ghetto,— (Harvard 2000) was awarded the 2000 Professional/ Scholarly Publishing Award of the Association of American Publishers. His research interests are based in investigating the social organization of poor urban neighborhoods. He lives in New York City.

Tom Fontana of HBO's, Oz, the realistic drama about life in an experimental unit of a maximum security prison. Fontana also created Homicide: Life on the Street and the 1980s drama set in a city hospital, St. Elsewhere.

Hes the bestselling author of Great Political Wit. His new book, called Great Presidential Wit (I Wish I was in the Book), is a collection of funny anecdotes and quotations by or about American Presidents. Dole was the longest-serving Republican leader in Senate history. He is currently serving as the chairman of the World War II Memorial campaign and as chairman of the International Commission on Missing Persons in the Former Yugoslavia. Dole was also a commentator for Comedy Centrals Indecision 2000.