Health & Medicine

Playwrights William M. Hoffman and Larry Kramer are gay men whose recent work has grappled with the effect of AIDS on their communities. They share their frustrations with the inaction both amongst government agencies and gay people themselves to meaningfully address the epidemic.

Poet Jim Carroll is best known for his book The Basketball Diaries. He joins Fresh Air's Terry Gross to talk about his history of heroin addiction, writing, and sobriety.

Bly's work has dealt with nature, the Vietnam War, and gender differences. He considers the impact living simply in Minnesota has had on his writing.

Novelist and memoirist Susan Cheever never thought she'd follow in her father John Cheever's footsteps as a writer. Drawing on the memories of his final days, her newest book, Doctors and Women, deals with cancer patients and their families.

Sarah Paretsky's novels feature women detectives who are every bit as tough as their hard-boiled male counterparts. Her work subverts classic tropes of vulnerable virgins and femme fatales. Her newest book is called Bitter Medicine.

After watching the re-release of Disney's classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, critic Stephen Schiff says the movie is a powerful story about a girl's sexual awakening--only without the sex. He recommends it for it for viewers of all ages.

Guest critic David Marc looks at the growing popularity of 1950s TV sitcoms. He thinks the trend reveals a troubling desire for an idealized suburban culture where whiteness and paternal authority ruled.

The actress, daughter of Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, is best known for her role as Princess Leia in Star Wars. Her new autobiographical novel deals with drug abuse and depression.

Fifty-one-year-old author Avery Corman has a new book called 50. He joins Fresh Air guest host Liane Hansen to talk about the different ways men and women view aging. Corman first rose to prominence with his novel Kramer Versus Kramer.

Dr. Perri Klass writes extensively for magazines and newspapers, and has published a collection of short stories. Her new memoir, A Not Entirely Benign Procedure, details her experiences as a med student at Harvard.

Humorist Alice Kahn considers the scientific and cultural debate over the existence of G-spot, and the affect it's had on women's sexuality.

Singer Dion, from Dion and the Belmonts, is making a comeback singing Christian songs. He joins Fresh Air's Terry Gross to talk about his early career, growing older, and getting sober.

Writer Jay Stevens has a new book about the creation of LSD in the 1940s, research into its therapeutic and weaponized potential in the 1950s, and its role in the 1960s counterculture--fueled in part by the influence of people like Timothy Leary, Ken Kesey and Aldous Huxley.

Dr. Allan Brandt, a researcher in the history of science and medicine will discuss the social history of sexually transmitted diseases such as VD and AIDS.

Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson, a star player for the Dallas Cowboys throughout the 70s. He fell victim to a cocaine addiction and was one of the first professional athletes to admit to his problem.

Rock historian Ed Ward will profile the career of Esquerita, a gay, black piano player whose flamboyant style (and hairdoo) was an inspiration to Little Richard.

Mamie Van Doren, one of Hollywood's blond bombshells in the fifties and sixties. She starred in the cult classics "Untamed Youth," "High School Confidential," and "Born Reckless." She's written a kiss-and-tell memoir called Playing the Field.

Critic-at-Large Laurie Stone will discuss the interaction between women and hairy monsters as seen in the new television shows "Werewolf," and "Beauty and the Beast."

James Conaway, author of The Kingdom in the Country, which looks at the wide expanse of public lands in the West and how the myths of the west - cowboys, gunslingers, gold miners - are enduring.

Critic-at-Large Laurie Stone looks at the new sexism as typified in the female leads in the films "Fatal Attraction," "The Big Easy" and "Baby Boom," three of the most successful fall films.