Society & Culture

Language Commentator Geoffrey Nunberg explores American Sign Language and its cultural significance within the deaf community.

Writer Geoffrey O'Brien. His new book, Dream Time: Chapters from the Sixties, is an exploration of the phenomena of the 60s, from strobe lights and miniskirts to Be-Ins and Transcendental Meditation. O'Brien attempts to capture the cultural, social and political ferment of the era, as opposed to an objective, historical accounting. O'Brien is also the author of Hard Boiled America," a survey of paperback crime fiction.

Writer Paul Theroux. Since his first book, Waldo, was published in 1966, Theroux has written prolifically. His extensive travels have taken him through Africa, Asia and Central America, and a central theme of his work is the ironic examination of the clashing and mingling of Western and Third World cultures. Theroux's newest book, Riding the Iron Rooster, is an account of his travels by train through China.

Language Commentator Geoffrey Nunberg explores the language and sounds of talking computers and how they handle the subtlety of vocal inflection. (Segment)

Writer Doris Lessing. Since her first novel, The Grass is Singing, published in 1950, she has written many books and plays, including the Children of Violence series, The Golden Notebook, and more recently Shikasta and her "space-fiction" series. Her new novel is titled The Fifth Child. Fresh Air book critic John Leonard once described Mrs. Lessing as "one of the half-dozen most interesting minds to have chosen to write fiction in English in this century."

Language Commentator Geoffrey Nunberg examines the idioms of Berkeley, California, one of the most liberal and tolerant communities in America.

Book critic John Leonard reviews Dream Time by poet and literary critic Geoffrey O'Brien. The book is a meditation on the turbulence of the sixties.

Film director William Friedkin. He won an Academy Award for the thriller "The French Connection." His other films include "The Exorcist," "The Boys in the Band" and "The Night They Raided Minsky's." His latest work is an action-adventure film for television. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Cinematographer Nestor Almendros. The films he has photographed include "Sophie's Choice," "Kramer vs. Kramer" and "Days of Heaven," for which he won the Academy Award. He has directed the photography for films by Eric Rohmer and Francois Truffaut. Almendros worked in Havana in the early years of the Castro regime before he had a falling out with the authorities.

Painter Jacob Lawrence. For nearly five decades, Lawrence has been widely regarded as one of America's most important black artists. His work depicts the black American experience from the Civil War to the Civil Rights movement. In 1986, a major traveling retrospective of his work was brought together by the Seattle Art Museum.

Poet W.S.Merwin. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his 1970 work, The Carriers of Ladders. His books of poetry include The Song of Roland, The Compass Flower and, his latest collection, The Rain in the Trees.

Language commentator Geoffrey Nunberg comments on recent activity at the federal level regarding bi-lingual education policies, and a proposed constitutional amendment to make English the nation's official language.

Television Critic David Bianculli previews this week's "American Playhouse" presentation on PBS titled "The Trial of Bernhard Goetz." Goetz was acquitted last year of assault charges stemming from his shooting of four black youths in a New York City subway car after, Goetz contended, the youths tried to rob him. The trial, which dominated the New York City press for several weeks, was known as "The Subway Vigilante" trial.

Book critic John Leonard reviews Quinn's Book, the new novel by William Kennedy.

Thomas Martinez. His book Brotherhood of Murder, details his involvement with The Order, the extremist, right wing hate group that was implicated in numerous bank robberies and three assassinations, including the murder of Denver talk show host Alan Berg. The book details how Martinez, who grew up in a white slum in Philadelphia, was persuaded by The Order's teachings and how he was recruited for the criminal activities that supported the group. He later turned informant for the FBI.

Actor John Lithgow. He's currently starring in the Broadway play "M Butterfly." His film roles include "Terms of Endearment" and "The World According to Garp."

Language commentator Geoffrey Nunberg looks back on the long nights he spent in a private club in Rome where the only requirement for membership was that you be a native-English speaker. He reflects on how the language brought together people who otherwise had nothing in common.

Short story writer and novelist Alice Adams. Her fiction deals often with women in transit and transition. She's best known for the 1984 novel Superior Women. Her new novel is titled Second Chances.

Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar. He compares his films, like "Law of Desire" and "What Have I Done To Deserve This?," to the films of the American film director John Waters. Like Waters, Almodovar's films take a humorous view of popular culture's cliches.

George Whitmore, author of Someone Was Here, profiles of people whose lives have been transformed by AIDS, like the 32-year-old New York advertising executive, a counselor in a gay men's health center, health workers at an AIDS clinic in a municipal hospital. The book grew out of a highly acclaimed 1985 article in The New York Times Magazine about a man with AIDS and his counselor at a health center.