Government & Politics

Terry talks with Albert Mokhiber, President of the American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee, about the FBI's recent questioning of prominent members of the Arab American community. She also speaks with Bill Baker, the Assistant Director of FBI's Criminal Investigative Division, who defends the practice, which many find invasive or discriminatory, claiming it's intended to protect Arab Americans from hate crimes.

Book critic John Leonard reviews "The Half Man," George Packer's novel of a journalist in a small Pacific Rim country.

Soviet journalist Artem Borovik Borovik covered the Soviet war in Afghanistan. His first hand account of that war has given him insight into the difficulties associated with combat in harsh climates -- conditions American soldiers may face during any intervention in the Gulf crisis.

Rashid Khalidi is a professor of modern Middle East history at the University of Chicago. He and Terry talk about the proposal for an international peace conference on the Mideast, which includes calls for further negotiations in the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The famed astronomer and writer is co-author of the new book, "A Path Where No Man Thought." It's about the theory that even a small nuclear war would lead to a nuclear winter that would devastate the earth.

We talk about the crisis in the Gulf and the state of the Israeli and Palestine with Joel Brinkley, the Jerusalem Bureau Chief for the New York Times.

Television's "second season" is underway, and television critic David Bianculli reviews a couple of new shows: "Sons and Daughters" and "Undercover."

Writer Frank White's book "The SETI Factor," looks at the ongoing search for extraterrestrial intelligence. In 1992, NASA will begin a comprehensive scan of the heavens for radio signals from other solar systems. White says, as a result of that search, it's quite likely that within the next 25 years we'll finally know if we're alone in the universe.

Film critic Stephen Schiff review the new film, in which the muscled actor plays a cop who goes undercover as a teacher to capture a drug kingpin. Schiff says the movie tries to be all things to all people, but it somehow works.

Film critic Stephen Schiff and book critic John Leonard look back at the movies and books of 1990. They give us their favorites from the year, and consider trends and highlights in popular culture.

Political cartoonist Mark Alan Stamaty writes the comic strip "Washingtoon," which lampoons the news of the day. Stamaty joins Fresh Air to share his perspective on the events of the past year.

Kevin Whitehead, who normally reviews jazz for Fresh Air, looks at the new movie "The Russia House," an adaptation of the recent John LeCarre spy novel. Whitehead says it's neither good nor bad, but he likes Sean Connery's performance.

Sherry Ettleson is a staff attorney for Public Citizen's Congress Watch, and a member of the financial democracy campaign. She did research for the new book, "Who Robbed America?," and joins Fresh Air to discuss current legislation regarding who should bail out the banks.

Journalist Lawrence Weschler is a staff writer for the New Yorker and has been covering Eastern Europe for the past decade. He joins Fresh Air to talk about labor leader Lech Walesa's successful democratic election, and the fallout of Poland's changing government and economy.

Reporter Steven Mufson covered South Africa for three years; he was expelled by the country's government in 1987. His new book, "Fighting Years," is about the conflicts among black communities over the which forms of resistance against the apartheid government are most effective.

In light of the Gulf crisis, Terry talks with Andrew Whitley, executive director of Middle East Watch. That group is a division of Human Rights Watch, an organization that monitors human rights violations in different regions of the world. Next, Terry talks with Sergeant George Rowen, of the of the New York National Guard. Rowen leaves for the Gulf in two weeks; his wife, who's also in the Guard, is stationed in Saudi Arabia.

Daniel Yergi is president of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, an international energy consulting firm. He is one of the leading authorities on the oil business, and has a new book called, "The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power," which details how European interventions in the Middle East in the wake of World War I shaped the modern petroleum trade.

Terry talks with Marie Burke, a wife and mother in Calhoun, Georgia. Burke has three sons, all of whom are in the Georgia National Guard and have been called to active duty.

Journalist Hedrick Smith was a reporter for the New York Times for 26 years. He reported from the Soviet Union from 1971-1974. His new book, The New Russians, considers the changing political, economic and social cultures of the country under Mikhail Gorbachev's liberalizing reforms.

National Organization for Women vice president Patricia Ireland says that the cultural place and treatment of women both in Arab countries and the American military is evidence of a gender apartheid. She joins Fresh Air to explain her organization's positions.