Society & Culture

Director Norman René and playwright Craig Lucas They collaborated on the film, "Longtime Companion."

Jazz drummer Tony Williams.

Byllye Avery of the National Black Women's Health Project.

Women's health....Nancy Hawley and Esther Rome of the Boston Women's Health Collective, the authors of "Our Bodies Our Selves."

Native American activist Mary Crow Dog (Mary Brave Bird). Her memoir's called "Lakota Woman."

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg examines the current state of black english.

Critic Laurie Stone comments on two newsworthy comedy events from last weekend--comic Andrew Dice Clay's controversial appearance on Saturday Night Live, and the Comedy Relief special on HBO.

Mahoney, who died Sunday, was born in Britain and didn't start acting until he was 37. He went on to appear in films like Say Anything and Barton Fink. Originally broadcast 1990.

Actor John Mahoney. He started out in Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater. His film roles include "Tin Men," "Eight Men Out," the randy professor in "Moonstruck," and the father in "Say Anything."

Critic Maureen Corrigan muses on the complications of buying a wedding dress, and other pre-wedding arrangements.

Guest film critic Owen Gleiberman reviews "Longtime Companion." It's about how AIDS affected the gay community in New York in the 1980's. The film, written by playwright Craig Lucas, was originally produced for the PBS series American Playhouse.

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg examines what has happened to underworld slang. He says it no longer thrives the way it did in centuries gone by.

Musicians Tom and Ian Spanic. Together, the pair form the rock and roll band, The Spanic Boys. The band plays a country-twang influenced type of rock and they just released their first album, also called "The Spanic Boys." It's on Rounder Records.

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg explains Misapprehensions, a game for people who find Jeopardy too easy.

South African journalist Allister Sparks. He's been a correspondent for The Economist, the Washington Post, and The Observer. Sparks' new book, "The Mind of South Africa," is a historical study of that country, and an analysis of the roots of apartheid.

Biographer Deirdre Bair. Her latest book is a biography of French writer, intellectual and feminist Simone De Beauvoir. Bair has also written a biography of Samuel Beckett.

Writer Jessica Hagedorn. Her debut novel, "The Dogeaters," is set amid the mixture of cultures that makes up the Philippines. Hagedorn herself was born and raised in the Philippines. Prior to this novel, she's been a poet, performance artist, playwright, and commentator for "Crossroads." ("The Dogeaters" is published by Pantheon).

Commentator Maureen Corrigan reviews two new autobiographies by women: "How I Became Hettie Jones," by Hettie Jones, and "Love and Other Infectious Diseases," by Molly Haskell.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews "That's a Serious Thing," a new reissue featuring trombonist Jack Teagarden. Kevin says the album shows how Teagarden brought a country influence into jazz. The album's on the RCA/Bluebird label and it features Teagarden performances from 1929 to 1957.

Writer Allan Bérubé (bah-RUE-bay). To research his new book is "Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women In World War II," Bérubé spent ten years interviewing gay and lesbian veterans, searching out wartime letters, and consulting newly declassified government documents. Bérubé found that hundreds of thousands of gays entered the military despite a procedure for screening out homosexuals. In his interview with Terry, Bérubé, talks about what it was like in World War II and the situation now for gays in the military.