Race & Identity

The show revolves around a murder case in which nearly all the characters are part victim and part aggressor. Creator John Ridley and actor Benito Martinez explain.

T. Geronimo Johnson's latest follows four Berkeley students who take an American history class that leads to disaster. It's an ambitious book about race that wants to say something big about America.

Lear, who co-created All In The Family, has written a new memoir at the age of 92. He tells Fresh Air about getting involved in politics and how his storylines addressed subjects like racism.

Novelist Richard Price talks about his latest book "Freedomland". (Broadway Books) It's a story that examines race relations in a fictional urban New Jersey town. Inspired by the real life Susan Smith incident in which she alleged a black man carjacked her and took her two children. Price's story follows a similar theme and how the events affect the community. Price's earlier novel "Clockers" about life in the inner city world of drug dealing was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award.

TV critic David Bianculli previews the premiere of "I'll Fly Away," the drama series set in the south at the time of the civil rights movement. It used to air on NBC; PBS has just picked it up and added tonights episode to it.

Writer ThulaniI (pronounced "tah-lawn-nee") Davis. Her new novel, "1959," is the story of a young black girl coming of age at the dawn of the civil rights movement. Davis' earlier works include reporting for The New York Times and The Washington Post, and writing the libretto for the opera "X: The Life and Times of Malcom X." ("1959" is published by Grove Weidenfeld.)

Book critic John Leonard reviews Quinn's Book, the new novel by William Kennedy.

Athol Fugard is a white South African playwright, director, and actor. His work as a playwright is acclaimed for exploring the social and psychological consequences of apartheid. Fugard formed an integrated theater company in the 1960s in defiance of South African norms. Many of his plays have been produced in the United States.