Government & Politics

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. Friedman spent the last decade covering the Middle East, work that won him two Pulitzer Prizes. His book, From Beirut to Jerusalem has recently been updated, to include information on the Peace Process. It's now available in paperback. The book looked at the inside of Arab and Israeli power circles, and examined the Intifada and the perceptions American and Israeli Jews have of each other.

Ze'ev Chafets columnist for "The Jerusalem Report," a news magazine published in Israel. Chafets is an Israeli who grew up in Pontiac, Michigan. He was the director of the government press office under prime minister Menachem Begin. He's also the author of several novels.

Co-creator, executive producer and head writer of "NYPD Blue," David Milch, and Detective Bill Clark who is a consultant to the show. Clark is a former New York City homicide detective. Many of the story lines for the show, come from the cases he worked on. The two have collaborated on a new book, True Blue: The Real Stories Behind NYPD Blue (William Morrow).

Co-creator, executive producer and head writer of "NYPD Blue," David Milch, and Detective Bill Clark who is a consultant to the show. Clark is a former New York City homicide detective. Many of the story lines for the show, come from the cases he worked on. The two have collaborated on a new book, True Blue: The Real Stories Behind NYPD Blue (William Morrow).

Former press secretary for Reagan and Bush, Marlin Fitzwater. He spent 17 years as a government flak before being appointed to his position in the Reagan White House. In his new memoir, Call the Briefing! Reagan and Bush, Sam and Helen: A Decade with Presidents and the Press (Times Books). Fitzwater writes about the relationship between the press secretary, the White House, and the press.

Robert Carter is a clinical social worker with Project RAP (Reduce Abuse Program) part of the Family Service of Philadelphia. He counsels men who are abusive with their partners and family. Carter is also a group facilitator working with adolescent fathers, and he meets with pre-teen and teen groups in a prevention to violence program. (Family Service of Philadelphia, 215-875-3300).

Psychologist Donald Dutton is a pioneer in the study and treatment of abusive men. He is a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia, and the director of the Assaultive Husbands Program in Vancouver, Canada. Recently Dutton was an expert witness for the prosecution in the pretrial of O.J. Simpson. His new book (co-authored with Susan Golant) is The Batterer: A Psychological Profile (Basic Books). (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES through THE HALF HOUR).

Journalist Evan Thomas. He is Assistant Managing Editor and Washington Bureau Chief at Newsweek. His new book is The Very Best Men: Four Who Dared: The Early Years of the CIA (Simon & Schuster). In the book he tells about the men who ran the CIA's covert operations during the worst of the cold war years. Thomas had access to the CIA's own records about their operations, and he interviewed many of the men involved. Thomas was the only person to have such access to the CIA's archives. (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW).

South African playwright and actor Athol Fugard. For years Fugard fought apartheid on the stage in his plays including "My Children! My Children," "The Blood Knot," (in which he put a black actor alongside a white actor on the same stage) and "Sizwe Banzi is Dead." For his efforts Fugard's passport was revoked, and he was put under virtual house arrest from 1967-1971. His new play "Valley Song" is his first play in the post-apartheid Africa.

Political and social comic, Jimmy Tingle. He was featured on the album of political humor "Strange Bedfellows." He's also appeared on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson," "HBO's One Night Stand," and in Showtime's documentary "But Seriously" about American social satirists. Tingle has a new one-man show, "Jimmy Tingle's Uncommon Sense," which had an off-Broadway run last year. It's just been held over through November 4th at the Hasty Pudding Theatre in Cambridge.

Former Secretary of State James Baker talks about his role during the Bush Administration. His new autobiography is The Politics of Diplomacy: Revolution, War & Peace, 1989-1992.It was co-written with Thomas M. DeFrank and published by G.P. Putnam's Sons 1995. As the 61st Secretary of State, James Baker oversaw U.S. relations during many historic geo-political changes. Among those include The Persian Gulf War, Tiananmen Square, and The fall of the Berlin Wall.

Former Soviet Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Dobrynin. Dobrynin has written his autobiography In Confidence: Moscow's Ambassador to America's Six Cold War Presidents published by Times Books 1995. Dobrynin was Ambassador from 1962 (Kennedy) through 1986 (Reagan). He was a key diplomat in many U.S./Soviet conflicts including The Cuban Missile Crisis. Dobrynin, now 76 years old, is still active in Russian diplomacy as senior advisor to the Foreign Ministry. He lives in Moscow.

Ronald Williams is Executive Director of New York Therapeutic Communities Inc. It was founded in 1977 to pilot a program called "Stay'n Out." The program provides substance abuse treatment to New York state's prisons. The program is to reduce recidivism in prisons. 212-971-6033.

Marc Mauer is a co-author for a new study that says there has been a sharp increase over the past five years in the number of African-American males age 20-29 in jail, on probation or on parole. The study finds, on any given day, one in three black men in their 20s is under some form of court supervision. Five years ago, a similar study found that the percentage at one in four blacks. The study is titled Young Black Americans and the Criminal Justice System: Five Years Later. it's two authors are Marc Mauer and Tracy Huling.

Editorial writer for the New York Times Brent Staples. He wrote a memoir last year: Parallel Time: Growing Up in Black & White (Pantheon). In 1984, Staples' younger brother, a cocaine dealer, was murdered. Staples began a process of reconsideration of the major questions in his life: his distance from his family by graduate study at the University of Chicago; the demise and racial divisions of his industrial hometown in Pennsylvania.

Journalist Jim Crogan is a freelance writer with the L.A. Weekly and Newsweek. He covered the O.J. Simpson trial for the past 15 months, and the Los Angeles Police Department for several years.

Journalist Stephen Adler. He is former legal affairs editor of The Wall Street Journal and is now the paper's investigative editor. Terry will discuss with him the O.J. Simpson trial and the jury process. Last year Adler's book about what's wrong with the jury system and how it can be fixed, was published: The Jury: Trial and Error in the American Courtroom, (Times Books/Random House). Adler looked at the history of the jury system and how our attitudes about juries changed over the years.

Satirist, columnist, one of the creators of and performers in the mock-rock group Spinal Tap, and host of the syndicated radio program, "Le Show," Harry Shearer. He also does several voices on "The Simpsons." Shearer has collected onto a CD his satirical pieces about the O.J. Simpson trial: "O.J. on Trial: The Early Years." (to order call, 1-800-YES-OJ-CD). These pieces originally were aired on "Le Show."

Nicholas Pileggi discusses his book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas. (Simon & Schuster Oct. 1995) It is based on the true story of Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal and his account of how the mob controlled several casinos in Las Vegas in the 1970s and early 80s. Pileggi also wrote the screenplay for a movie based on "Casino." A film directed by Martin Scorsese starring Robert DeNiro, Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci. Pileggi's best-selling book Wiseguy was used as the basis for the film "Goodfellas." Pileggi lives in New York City.

San Antonio Police officer Roger Mangum. In 1982, he shot and killed a man in the line of duty. Recently he and other officers set up a support group for officers involved in "critical incidents." The group is called, Police Officer Support Team (P.O.S.T.). In 1992 Mangum left the police force, and began teaching at the San Antonio Police Academy.