Society & Culture

Film critic Lisa Schwarzbaum reviews "She's the One," a sex-obsessed rom-com featuring Jennifer Aniston's big screen debut.

An excerpt from the NPR program "This American Life" produced by Ira Glass. This is the story of a Tom Jones impersonator produced by Jay Allison and narrated by Dan Gediman -- brother of the ersatz celebrity.

The former Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus was a five-term U.S Congressman for Maryland, and is of the most respected African American politicians. Earlier this year he was appointed the head of the NAACP. He has a new memoir, "No Free Ride: From the Mean Streets to the Mainstream."

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the new novel by Marilyn French, "My Summer With George."

Linguist Geoff Nunberg compares the different ways France and the U.S. covered the Olympics -- and what they say about these countries' attitudes toward their respective languages.

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg has completed a computer-generated summary of a large number of Republican convention speeches delivered this week. The software analyzed the frequency of key words and recurring themes and produced a five sentence platform for the party.

Film critic John Powers reviews "Tin Cup," which once again pairs actor Kevin Costner with director Ron Shelton.

The opera soprano and Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees Barbara Hendricks has appeared on over fifty recordings and has won critical acclaim in performances with all the major opera companies in the world--but she remains a relatively obscure figure in the United States. This is her seventh year with the UN Commission and she says through her music, she has been able "to get people to listen in a way they wouldn't listen to a diplomat or bureaucrat."

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews two novels from the series,"Old School Books": "The Angry Ones" by John A. Williams and "The Scene" by Clarence Cooper, Jr. "Old School Books" is a reprint series of black pulp novels originally published between the mid 1950s and the 1970s.

The Fresh Air classical music critic reads a new poem about his mother.

Vilar's memoir "A Message from God in the Atomic Age" chronicles three generations of self-destructive behavior: in 1954, her grandmother was imprisoned for opening fire at the U.S. House of Representatives; in 1977, her mother leapt to her death from a speeding car; and in 1988, Vilar herself was committed to a psychiatric hospital after attempting suicide. Alternating between her notes from the psychiatric ward and the chronicling of the history of her family, Vilar tells of her own attempts to come to terms with her family history.

Film critic John Powers reviews "Manny and Lo," a low-budget film about runway orphan sisters.

Vachon's newest movie is "Stonewall," a fictional account of the real life 1969 uprising by gays after police stormed the Stonewall Inn in New York's Greenwich Village. Her other film credits include a string of art house hits: "I Shot Andy Warhol," "Go Fish," "Kids."

O'Donnell's book is "Getting Over Homer" from Knopf. He's has also written two other books "Elementary Education," and "Vertigo Park: and Other Tall Tales." O'Donnell also did a stint writing for TV's Saturday Night Live. His twin brother, Steve, writes for David Letterman.

Mitford died of cancer at the age of 78 on Tuesday (July 23). She was considered one of the premiere investigative journalists of her day, a muckraker in the tradition of Sinclair Lewis and John Dos Passos. Her targets included the Famous Writers School, a Midwest correspondence school, and the U.S. penal system ("Kind and Usual Punishment: The Prison Business"). Mitford's most recent book, "The American Way of Birth" (1992), declares that doctors perform too many C-Sections and de-legitimize midwifery.

The organizer and former Black Panther member was born to a white mother and black father in the South. When he was six years old, he was adopted by a black family in California. His mother sent him away for his own safety, but he never understood why, and grew up feeling abandoned. At 17 he was sent to prison after killing a man during an aborted mugging. In prison he met George Jackson who changed his life by exposing him to the teachings of the Black Panther movement. Spain became a leader in the Black Panther Movement in prison.

The psychosexual therapist, along with Ben Yagoda, wrote a new book about the well-being of the American family, "The Value of Family: A Blueprint for the 21st Century." Much of her perspective is informed by her experience fleeing the Holocaust as a child.

Singer, songwriter, guitarist and actor Willie Nelson recently released two new albums. With "Spirit," Nelson is the first country musician to record with Island Records. He recorded "How Great Thou Art" with his sister, Bobbie Nelson. That CD is a collection of gospel standards, like "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" and "Just A Closer Walk With Thee."

Political advisor David Mixner. His new book, Stranger Among Friends, is a memoir of the 1992 Clinton campaign and life inside the Clinton White House. Mixner was pivotal in getting then-Governor Clinton the support of gay voters and was hopeful that the Democratic victory would expand civil rights to gays and lesbians. With Clinton’s watered-down support of gays in the military and recent rejection of gay marriage, Mixner has become disillusioned with the administration, and his book reflects this.

Crowley's works were recently re-published in a book, "3 Plays by Mart Crowley" (Alyson Publications). "The Boys in the Band" (1968), is the classic portrait of a gay artist living in New York and was one of the first plays to break the taboo on the portrayal of homosexuality. A revival of "The Boys in the Band" opened in June and the film version is being featured at the Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival this summer.