Society & Culture

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the way brands are used now.

Film critic John Powers reviews ."My Son the Fanatic." Miramax Films describes it as a contemporary love story set against a comic clash of generations and cultures. Eastern fundamentalism meets Western hedonism over the kitchen table of a Pakistani family in the industrial north.

We feature excerpts from a panel of Hollywood screenwriters discussing violence in movies. This was held 6/4/99 in Santa Monica, California. The seminar was title "Guns Don't Kill People." Among the panelists were Callie Khouri who wrote "Thelma and Louis," William Mastrosimone who penned "Extremities, and The Burning Season," Steven De Souza who wrote the first two Die Hard movies, and Miguel Tejada-Flores, who wrote "Revenge of the Nerds:" and Jack Valenti, a Washington lobbyist for the top Hollywood studios.

John Callahan has edited the manuscript, "Juneteenth," of a never before published book by Ralph Ellison who died in 1994. Ellison's first and only book released in 1952, "Invisible Man," won the National Book Award. Callahan was named Ellison's literary executor and is editor of "The Collected Essays of Ralph Ellison." Callahan is a professor of humanities at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon.

An interview recorded with Sergei Khrushchev before taking his citizenship exam today. Sergei, who is now 63, has lived with his wife in Providence, Rhode Island, since 1991. He is a senior research scholar and lecturer at Brown University's Center for Foreign Policy Development. His father had led the Soviet Union for about a decade when he was ousted in 1964. Sergei edited his father's memoirs, is the author of "Khrushchev on Khrushchev," and is finishing a new book about his father.

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg comments on the diminished stature of epigraphy. This refers to the ancient art of putting writing on walls. This includes signs, posters, banners and graffiti.

Former president of South Africa, F.W. Deklerk. He dismantled apartheid, released Nelson Mandela from prison, and later shared a Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela. Deklerk has a new autobiography, "F.W. DeKlerk: The Last Trek A New Beginning (St. Martin's Press).

Teenage gay rights activist Michael Bisogno (bis-SOYN-yo) talks about being the victim of gay-bashing in New Jersey. Bisogno who served as co-president of his school's Gay-Straight Alliance group was brutally assaulted by 15 of his fellow high school students. Following his recovery, Bisogno later filed charges and is now an advocate fighting against hate-crimes.

Gay rights activist Kelli Peterson talks about her controversial efforts to a gay and lesbian support group in her high school. She is the subject of the recent film "Out of the Past" which received the 1998 Sundance Film Festival's Audience Award for "Best Documentary." Peterson's effort was suppressed by the School board and the Utah legislature which passed a law banning all extra-curricular clubs in schools. THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW.

Actor Roger Guenveur Smith stars in the one-man stage show "A Huey P. Newton Story." Drawing from Newton's own writings and interviews, Smith performs in character as Huey Newton, the co-founder of The Black Panther Party. Roger Guenveur Smith has appeared in a number of Spike Lee films including: "Do The Right Thing," "Malcolm X," "He Got Game," and "School Daze." His other film credits include: "Tales from the Hood," "Poetic Justice," "King of New York," and "Panther."

Former U.S. Senator from Maine, George Mitchell. After leaving the Senate he chaired the Northern Ireland peace talks. His new book is about that, "Making Peace: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of the Negotiations that Culminated in the Signing of the Northern Ireland Peace Accord, told by the American Senator who Served as Independent Chairman of the Talks" (Knopf).

The host of NPR's Talk of the Nation, Ray Suarez. He's the author of the new book, "The Old Neighborhood: What We Lost in the Great Suburban Migration, 1966-1999" (The Free Press)

Linguist Geoff Nunberg reports from Rome where he's been watching the coverage on the NATO bombings, and the Kosovo refugees.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Show Me a Hero : A Tale of Murder, Suicide, Race, and Redemption" by New York Times reporter Lisa Belkin. It examines the fallout from a federal court order requiring Yonkers, NY, to desegregate by moving hundreds of its poor minority residents into public housing on the middle-class side of town.
Description (Program)

New York Times science writer Natalie Angier talks about her new book "Woman: An Intimate Geography." (Houghton Mifflin)She is also a Pulitzer Prize recipient for her writing in The Times. Her other books include: "The Beauty of the Beastly," and "Natural Obsessions." She lives in Takoma Park, Maryland.

Journalist David Goodman. He's written a new book about post-apartheid South Africa, "Fault Lines: Journeys into the New South Africa" (University of California Press). He tells the story of four South Africans whose lives are divided by race and/or class. Goodman has written for The New Yorker, The Nation, Boston Globe, and the Village Voice. Archbishop Desmond Tutu says of his book, "A searingly honest b

Linguist Geoff Nunberg reflects on the borrowing of English words in Europe.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg reflects on Europanto, a form of language aimed at allowing Europeans to talk with each other without using English all the time.

Novelist Arthur Golden wrote the bestseller, "Memoirs of a Geisha" which was on the New York Times Bestseller List for one year. It's now out in paperback, and a movie version will be made by Stephen Spielberg. "Memoirs of a Geisha" was GOLDEN's debut as a novelist.(

This Monday, 2/8/99, PBS will air the documentary "The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords." This is the first documentary to provide an in-depth examination of the history of African-American newspapers. We'll hear from the film's producer, Stanley Nelson and from Vernon Jarrett, a black journalist featured in the project.