Pop Culture

Commentator Maureen Corrigan looks at the Nancy Drew mystery series. The venerable series of girls' books have been updated for the 90s.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead looks back on jazz in the 80s...the big figures, the big trends, the big albums, and he takes a guess as to what the 90s will bring.

Language commentator Geoffrey Nunberg discusses choosing children's names.

Terry and film critic Stephen Schiff look back on the movies of the 80s, and how the decade changed film making. Stephen also gives his picks for the best films of the 1980s.

Terry talks with Fresh Air's rock critic, Ken Tucker, about rock in the 80s.

Historian and author Hillel Schwartz. His latest book is "Century's End: A Cultural History of the Fin-de-Siècle From the 990's through the 1990's." (Published by Doubleday.) According to Schwartz, certain events happening now, as we approach the year 2000, are part of a pattern that repeats itself at the end of each century. Schwartz's earlier book about dieting, "Never Satisfied: A Cultural History of Diets, Fantasies, and Fat," has just come out in paperback. (Published by Anchor Books, Doubleday.)

Critic Maureen Corrigan gives us her family's version of how to celebrate St. Patricks Day, and recommends the novel "Motherland" by Timothy O'Grady as perfect St. Patrick's Day reading.

Batman creator Bob Kane. In his new autobiography, "Batman & Me," Kane tells how he came up with the idea for the caped crusader, and what influence he had on the T-V series and last year's movie. Kane drew Batman from its inception in 1939 to the late 60s.

Critic Maureen Corrigan shares her thoughts on celebrity stars, thoughts generated by her recent trip from the East Coast halls of Academe to Hollywood.

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg explains Misapprehensions, a game for people who find Jeopardy too easy.

Critic Maureen Corrigan muses on the complications of buying a wedding dress, and other pre-wedding arrangements.

Commentator Patricia McLaughlin remembers how the tail end of summer left her listless; but, as a busy grown-up, she longs for such uninterrupted stretches of time to relax.

The architect and graphic designer's new book examines contemporary worries over keeping up with an ever-growing body of media. Wurman says one way to alleviate this anxiety is to increase information accessibility through better organization.

The brothers team up to create strips, panels, and movie poster take-offs that appear in Spy Magazine, National Lampoon, and Raw. They are known for their realistic drawings and caustic wit. Their new book is called Warts and All.

Commentator Patricia McLaughlin contemplates the suggestion by some that the November holiday be moved up so it doesn't come so close to Christmas. But maybe it's too late for such a drastic change.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg explores the place factoids have in our lives -- those bits of information that pass off for facts but aren't actually verifiable.

Maureen Corrigan comments on high art and pop culture in her review of the High and Low show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The exhibit sharply divided audiences. Corrigan says she was perversely pleased with everything she saw -- including the inclusion of advertisements, graffiti, and comic books.

Commentator David Gurevitz examines Soviet culture in the wake of the end of the Cold War.

Photographer Annie Leibovitz. She's famous for her portraits of celebrities that capture the person behind the public image. She's photographed John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Ella Fitzgerald, Mick Jagger, Tennessee Williams and others. Her photographs have been featured in Rolling Stone, and Vanity Fair. A new book of her photographs has just been published: "Annie Leibovitz Photographs 1970-1990." (Harper/Collins).

Writer David Rieff (pronounced "reef"). he's the author of the new book, "Los Angeles: Capital of the Third World,"(published by Simon and Schuster). He'll talk to Marty about the recovery movement, the proliferation of such self-help books as "Healing the Child Within," and "Choice-Making for Co-dependents," and the popularity of such pop-psychology gurus as John Bradshaw.