Society & Culture

Political consultant Samuel Popkin. He's an advisor to the Clinton campaign and author of "The Reasoning Voter," a book about how voters chose candidates. He'll talk with Marty about the importance of family values on the campaign, as well as the role of the women in the political process.

Policy Director for Pat Buchanan, Terry Jeffrey. He'll talk to guest host Marty Moss-Coane about the conservative agenda that Pat Buchanan and other conservatives are putting forth, and about the religious and cultural war Buchanan spoke about Monday night at the GOP convention.

Sean and Judy Barron. This son and mother have written a book together, "There's A Boy in Here," about Sean's escape from autism. Sean tells of the rigid rules he developed to control the world which had been terrifying to him since birth. Sean's parents refused to let him withdraw, and after years of interrupting his isolation, he gradually emerged. Sean has graduated from college and is pursuing a degree in occupational therapy.

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "American Mythologies" by Marshall Blonsky, which seeks to recover the meaning behind the totality of American cultural production, from fast food to news anchors to pornography. Corrigan admires the project, but says Blonsky doesn't seem to like or respect his subjects.

TV critic Bianculli reviews the new HBO show, as satirical comedy that feeds off the current talk show frenzy.

DiCillo's new film is a strange comedy about a untalented musician and housepainter with a ridiculously high pompadour, and a love for Ricky Nelson. Docillo created the character for a one-man show he performed in New York. Before that, he was cinematographer for two of Jim Jarmusch's early films, "Stranger Than Paradise," and "Permanent Vacation."

Anders' new film is "Gas Food Lodging," about a single mother and her two teenage children living in a trailer. Anders herself was a single mother on welfare with two teenage daughters. Previously, she collaborated on the film "Border Radio."

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new film, "Death Becomes Her," directed by Robert Zemeckis, who also made "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?". Schiff says when Zemeckis tries to write for adults, it just comes across as childish.

Kittredge is best known for his writings about the West of the United States. He grew up on a ranch in southeastern Oregon and ranched himself for ten years. He also taught for years at the University of Montana. His new book is a memoir, "Hole in the Sky," about the land owned by his family for three generations.

Smith will discuss her one-woman show, Fires in the Mirror, which is currently playing to sold-out audiences at the Joseph Papp Public Theater in New York. It's about racial and ethnic tensions between African Americans and Hasidic Jews in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews Wayan's new comedy film. While Schiff admires his ambition, he says the movie is short on humor and offers fraught messages about women, race, and class.

Part II of our interview with "Mr. Horror," writer Stpehen King. He'll talk with Terry about his greatest fear, his first writing efforts and his childhood.

Appiah is Professor of African-American Studies at Harvard. He was born in Ghana to Anglo-Ghanaian parents. His father Ghanaian and his mother British. His new book is "In My Father's House: Africa in the Philosophy of Culture," a collection of essays that one reviewer calls a, "groundbreaking. . . analysis of absurdities and damaging presuppositions that have clouded our discussions on race, Africa, and nationalism since the 19th century."

Part I of a two-part interview with "Mr. Horror," writer Stephen King. To date, he's written 24 novels, 19 feature films, two mini-series, and one TV movie. He ushered in a whole new era of horror with his first novel, "Carrie," published in 1974. He's got a new novel, "Gerald's Game," which deals with sadomasochism.

Producer Naomi Person talks with writer Edward Jones. He's just published a new collection of short stories, "Lost in the City," about the "lives and souls" of black people living in Washington, D.C. This is his first book.

Monette's book "Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir," published in 1988, was one of the first memoirs to be published about AIDS. It told the story of his lover's two year struggle with AIDS. Since then, Monette has watched another lover die of AIDS, and has been diagnosed with AIDS himself. Monette's new memoir about his life before he came out of the closet at the age of 25 is called "Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story."

TV critic David Bianculli takes a look at the proliferation of coverage of the Democratic National Convention and the election more broadly.

John Powers, who's been a film critic for Fresh Air, is covering the Democratic National Convention this week for the L.A. Weekly. He tells Terry about what he's seen on the floor so far.

Writer Alice Walker. Her new book, "Possessing The Secret of Joy," is about Tashi, an African woman who lives most of her life in North America, and yet submits to the tribal custom of female circumcision. Walker's other books include "The Color Purple," which was made into a film starring Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey, and "The Temple of My Familiar." The character Tashi has made peripheral appearances in those books. ("Possessing The Secret of Joy" is published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.)

Book critic John Leonard reviews Alice Walker's new novel, "Possessing the Secret of Joy," (Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich).