Society & Culture

The Environmental Protection Agency recently released a report that examined the link between race and pollution. That report said that while things like toxic waste dumps are disproportionately located in poor areas, they're NOT disproportionately located in black areas. We look at both sides of the question...
1) First, Terry talks with sociologist Robert Bullard, author of the book, "Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environmental Quality." He disagrees with the EPA report.

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg reviews "Fifty Years Among the New Words," a new collection of columns from the journal "American Speech."

Terry Gross talks with two people who are working to spread the word about AIDS.
1) Rashidah Hassan ("reh-shee-dah heh-ssan") is the Executive Director of BEBASHI ("beh-bah-shee"), short for "Blacks Educating Blacks About Sexual Health Issues." It's a Philadelphia-based group that used down-to-earth strategies to warn people of color about AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Indian born film maker Mira Nair. Her new movie, "Mississippi Masala," is the story of an African-American man and an African Indian woman who come together in a little Southern town. Nair's previous film, "Salaam Bombay," got an Oscar nomination for best foreign film and won the Camera d'Or at Cannes.

In the final few hours before the Super Bowl, linguist Geoffrey Nunberg compares the literary language of football and baseball.

Ronald Walters, chairman of the department of political science at Howard University. He'll discuss the influence of the black vote in the presidential election.

Continuing our look at the future of the civil rights movement, Terry talks with journalist and professor Roger Wilkins. He'll discuss how there's a vacuum in leadership in the civil rights movement. Wilkins says more and more, the traditional organizations like the NAACP are seen to be of a previous generation, and not adequately addressing the current issues.

On Martin Luther King, Junior Day, we devote the show to a look at the present and future of the Civil Rights movement. Terry talks with columnist, radio commentator, and professor Manning Marable. He'll discuss what issues the civil rights movement should address, now that the basic legal rights that Martin Luther King, Junior worked for have largely been secured.

Travel writer Pico Iyer (rhymes with 'tire"). Iyer has an article on traveling to Vietnam in the new edition of "Conde Nast Traveler." Iyer's the author of "Video Night In Kathmandu" and the new book, "The Lady and the Monk: Four Seasons in Kyoto".

We look back on the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait one year later:
1) CNN producer Robert Wiener (wee-ner). Wiener was executive producer in Baghdad for 5 months leading up to and including the beginning of the war. His book, Live From Baghdad, tells how Wiener worked with Iraqi officials to cover the war from inside.
2) We speak with Aziz Abu Hamad, senior researcher on Kuwait for Middle East Watch about the current state of human rights in Kuwait..

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the new collection of writings by African-American author Richard Wright.

On the anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther King, junior, we discus his legacy with Clayborne Carson, the Director and Senior Editor of the Martin Luther King, Junior Papers Project. Next month, they release the first of 14 volumes of Kings's writings. Carson is a professor of history at Stanford University.

The second half of a two-part interview with historian Ann Charters. She's spent 30 years studying the literature of Beat movement writers such as William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, and Allen Ginsberg. She's the editor of a new compilation called "The Portable Beat Reader" (published by Viking).

The first of a two-part interview with historian Ann Charters. She's spent 30 years studying the literature of Beat movement writers such as William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, and Allen Ginsberg. She's the editor of a new compilation called "The Portable Beat Reader" (published by Viking). Today, Charters discusses writer William Burroughs, his seminal novel, "Naked Lunch," and its new film adaptation. Tomorrow, Charters talks about her work with Jack Kerouac and the larger significance of the Beat movement.

Writer Patrick McGilligan. He's just written a new biography of film director George Cukor (KOOK-er), "A Double Life, George Cukor: A Biography of the Gentleman Director." (published by St. Martin's Press). Cukor's films included, "Little Women," "GasLight," "The Philadelphia Story," and "Dinner at Eight." This new biography reveals the part of his life that he kept private while he was alive, his homosexuality.

Journalist Soledad Santiago and her children were homeless fourteen years ago. From there she went on to become a journalist and she headed the press office for New York State Controller Ned Regan. She talks to Terry about her life, about raising children in a dangerous urban environment, and the difficult choices she's had to make. Her new novel is called "Room 9." (Perfect Crime Press).

Cinematographer Ernest Dickerson. He shot all of Spike Lee's films. He's now making his debut as a film director with the movie, "Juice," for which he also wrote the script.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new film version of William Burrough's novel, "Naked Lunch."

Writer Maxine Hong Kingston shares her thoughts at the end of the year. Her novel, "Tripmaster Monkey," was a huge critical success in 1989. This year, Kingston lost the only copy of the manuscript for her new novel when her house in Oakland, California burned down earlier this year.