Society & Culture

Film critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the new Disney animated film "Beauty and the Beast."

With everyone making plans for Christmas and New Year's Eve, we wondered what magician Penn Jillette (pronounced like "Gillette") would be up to. Jillette's one half of the magic team, Pen and Teller. The pair's latest show, "Penn and Teller Rot In Hell," is now playing off
Broadway.

Why does cross-dressing stir up so much anxiety in our culture? Harvard professor Marjorie Garber talks about where cross dressing has turned up in popular culture, and what it means to wear the clothes of the opposite sex. Garber's new book on the subject is "Vested Interests: Cross-Dressing and Cultural Anxiety." (It's published by Routledge).

Filmmaker Isaac Julien. His new movie, "Young Soul Rebels," explores the rise of British funk clubs in late 70s London.

William Rubenstein ("steen," not "stine"), the director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Lesbian and Gay Rights Project. He'll discuss yesterday's court decision that granted guardianship of a woman left brain-damaged by a car accident to her lesbian companion. This is the first case that has granted rights equal to a spouse to a gay or lesbian partner.

Comic book artist Diane Noomin. She's the editor of (and a contributor to) a new collection of underground comics drawn by women. It's called "Twisted Sisters." It's published by Penguin.

Author David Feinberg. His new novel, "Spontaneous Combustion," is the further adventures of an HIV-positive man in New York City. (It's published by Viking).

Commentator Maureen Corrigan tells us about her latest concession to the sedentary lifestyle...the purchase of a La-Z-Boy recliner.

Teenage mother Leticia Johnson (pseudonym). She's the main focus of a new book that deals examines one family with a legacy of teenage pregnancy. The book's called "Before Their Time: Four Generations of Teenage Mothers," by Joelle Sander. Sander uses oral history to look at the effect poverty and society has had on one family. It's published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Actress Holly Woodlawn. Woodlawn was part of Andy Warhol's New York's scene in the 60s and early 70s. Perhaps her high point came when she starred in Warhol's movie "Trash." Woodlawn was born a boy, her career as a transvestite was immortalized in Lou Reed's song, "Take A Walk On the Wild Side." Woodlawn has a new memoir, called "A Low Life in High Heels: The Holly Woodlawn Story.." (It's published by St Martin's Press).

English professor Arnold Rampersad. He's just edited a new edition of the works of black writer Richard Wright. Wright's novel, "Native Son," was a breakthrough in African American literature when it was published in 1940. It also turns out many scenes dealing with the sexual activities of the main character were removed, to make the novel more palatable to Book Month Club subscribers. Those cuts have been restored in this new edition (by The Library of America).

Today, we examine the Louisiana governor's race, and the controversy surrounding republican candidate David Duke.
First, we talk with Lance Hill, of the Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Naziism. He discusses what he calls Duke's long term strategy to build mass appeal among voters.

Terry talks with Richard Baudouin ("BO-dwahn"), editor of the Times Of Acadiana, a weekly newspaper in Lafayette, Louisiana, the heart of Cajun country. He'll talk about how the Duke and Edwards campaigns are playing in his part of the state.

Finally, we hear from John Slade, editorial cartoonist for the Louisiana Weekly, an African American newspaper based in New Orleans.

Terry next talks to David Touchstone, coordinator of David Duke's campaign in northwest Louisiana. Touchstone is a lawyer in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Soviet emigre, and Manhattan cab driver Vladimir Lobas. In 1977, Lobas was living in New York, and needed some quick cash, so he got a job driving a cab. His first day on the job was also the first time he had Ever driven an automobile. He's written about his experiences in a new memoir, called "Taxi From Hell." (It's published by Soho).

Critic-at-Large Maureen Corrigan reviews Greil Marcus' new book, "Dead Elvis: A Chronicle of a Cultural Obsession." (Doubleday)

Poet Daniel Halpern. Halpern's latest collection of poems, "Foreign Neon," has just been published by Knopf. Halpern himself is also a publisher, the head of Ecco Press, and the editor of the literary journal, "Antaeus" (pronounced "an-es").

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg examines one of the early rules of grammar we all have shoved down our throats,... the difference between can and may.

Television critic David Bianculli reviews a four-hour miniseries starting this weekend on NBC starring country singer Kenny Rodgers in his role as "The Gambler."