Society & Culture

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg reflects on his home city, and the cultural and linguistic differences that separate the natives from the tourists.

Contrary to many other feminist activists, Bright believes that the anti-pornography movement discourages women from exploring their sexuality and developing what she calls an "erotic literacy." She edits the S&M-themed magazine On Our Backs, which revels in fantasies that are at once controlled and dangerous.

Author and poet Al Young reads some of his autobiographical writing about the African American experience in the 1930s, and the cultural impact Coleman Hawkins' recording of "Body and Soul" had on his family.

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone review Sarah P. Stuart's debut novel -- a fast-moving coming-of-age story about a sister and her emotionally unstable brothers.

Hamill's first book of fiction is called Loving Women, about a man who joins the Navy in the 1950s. Hamill wrote for a number of New York City newspapers, and recently left the New York Post after an editorial dispute.

Johnson was part of the 1950s Beat community and had a relationship with Jack Kerouac. Her experience in the literary counterculture - and the peripheral place of women within it -- has influenced much of her work, including her memoir Minor Characters and her new novel, In the Night Cafe.

The holiday has been a perpetual cause of stress for children since it was established by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914. Guest commentator Ilene Segalove reflects on the anxiety she felt over the years deciding on the perfect gift for her own mother, only to realize that something simple, homemade, and from the heart was best.

Book critic John Leonard reviews Tolstaya's new book, On the Golden Porch. The author is descended from Leo and Alexander Tolstoy, and has garnered comparisons to Chekov. But Leonard says Tolstaya most reminds him of John Cheever for the way she captures sadness on the page.

Anderson was a street performer and con artist before he was cast in the first season of Cheers. That part eventually led to his role in the show Night Court. Anderson has a new book called Games You Can't Lose: A Guide for Suckers.

Maureen Corrigan has regularly read the Sunday New York Times wedding announcements. She says the kind of information that's printed -- and the kinds of couples who are highlighted might say as much about the paper's editorial slant as much as it does the current state of marriage.

Band leader and composer Mercer Ellington is the son of Duke Ellington, and leads the Duke Ellington Band. As a young man, Mercer Ellington played trombone, French horn and trumpet in his father's ensemble. Two recent Mercer Ellington albums have won wide acclaim: "Digital Duke" and "For Ellington," performed by the Modern Jazz Quartet.

Wayans is the brother of actor and director Keenan Ivory Wayans, and has been pursuing a career in stand-up. He's been appearing in films recently like Beverly Hills Cop, though he's frustrated by the lack of complex and varied roles for black actors. Wayans' forthcoming movie is called Earth Girls are Easy.

Writer ALICE WALKER. She's best known for the novel The Color Purple, a seminal account of the life of poor, rural blacks in the south as experienced by the women. The novel revolves around letters that Celie, the principal character, addesses to God after her father has impregnated her for the second time. The Color Purple won the American Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and was later adapted for the screen by Steven Speilberg.

Winfield won an Academy Award for his role in Sounders, and is a featured actor in the television show Wiseguy. He joins Fresh Air to talk about his career to date, and his involvement with black arts and civil rights movements.

Colonel David Hackworth was the model for the character of Kurtz in the film Apocalypse Now. He served in the Vietnam War, and grew frustrated by what he saw as a failure of leadership. Hackworth is currently the most decorated soldier in U.S. history. His new memoir, about his experience on the battlefield and his eventual retirement from the Army, is called About Face.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg reflects on the use of racist terminology in the musical Show Boat. He says that later revisions were still problematic: they illustrated the enduring assumption that white liberals can accurately and authentically portray African American culture.

Kingston's new book, Tripmaster Monkey, is about a fifth-generation Chinese American man in the 1960s, who tries to find a balance between his two cultures. She joins Fresh Air to talk about her life as a first-generation immigrant, her relationship with her mother, and how she developed her voice as a storyteller.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews Cameron Crowe's directorial debut, about a lovestruck high school graduate, the beautiful overachiever he desires, and her doting father. Schiff says the plot is remarkably similar to The Graduate -- only Say Anything is the better movie.

Ken Tucker reviews the home video release of I Wanna Hold Your Hand, about a group of teenage Beatles fans in New Jersey. The film, directed by Robert Zemeckis, was a commercial fop, but Tucker, who says it's insightful without indulging in cliches, hopes it will find a new audience on tape.

The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, once on NBC, has found new life on the Lifetime network. TV critic David Bianculli says the performance of star Blair Brown is reason enough to tune in.