Vietnam War

Harding died Monday at 82. He wrote several speeches for Martin Luther King Jr., including his controversial 1967 speech opposing the war in Vietnam. Harding spoke to Fresh Air in 1988.

n 1953, President Dwight Eisenhower appointed John Foster Dulles as secretary of state, and Allen Dulles as director of the CIA. In his new book, The Brothers, journalist Stephen Kinzer says the Dulles' actions "helped set off some of the world's most profound long-term crises."

In a new book, Nick Turse says the pressure on U.S. forces to produce a body count during the Vietnam War led to mass civilian deaths. "The idea," he says, "was that the Vietnamese, they weren't really people."

Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Horst Faas, who captured iconic moments during the Vietnam War, has died. In 1997, he talked to Terry Gross about covering the conflict. "Being in Vietnam and being around a major story of the time was always a great shot of adrenaline," he said.

Johanna Skibsrud's award-winning debut novel about an alcoholic father's relationship with his adult daughters was written for a master's thesis at Concordia University. Book critic Maureen Corrigan says the language of the story settles deep into a reader's consciousness.

A recent 13-CD box set called Next Stop Is Vietnam: The War on Record 1961-2008 documents the music that dominated the airwaves during the Vietnam War. Rock historian Ed Ward says the compilation could have used some "conscientious curation."

Max Cleland served in Vietnam — where he lost both legs and his right arm — before being elected to the U.S. Senate. His new memoir is Heart of a Patriot: How I Found the Courage to Survive Vietnam, Walter Reed and Karl Rove.

Former defense secretary Robert McNamara died Monday. In a 1995 interview with Terry Gross, McNamara reflects on Vietnam and admits his serious doubts about US policy and the decision-making that escalated the war.

Director Arthur Penn changed the face of cinema with his film, Bonnie and Clyde. The graphic realism of the last scenes have influenced television and movies since the film's release in 1967.

Director Brett Morgen joins Fresh Air's Terry Gross to discuss his new film, Chicago 10. The film mixes trial footage and animation to tell the story of the "Chicago 8" — protesters held accountable for violence that erupted with police outside the Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1968.

Nicholas Proffitt, who covered the Vietnam War for Newsweek magazine and wrote the book Gardens of Stone, died Nov. 10 at age 63. Gardens of Stone was later made into a film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. This interview originally aired on May 25, 1987.

Danielle Trussoni's just-published memoir is Falling Through the Earth. In the book, Trussoni explores the damaging legacy of her father's military service in Vietnam. Book critic Maureen Corrigan says the memoir is also an unusual testament to the father-daughter bond.

Terry Gross talks with author Taylor Branch, who has written the third in a trilogy of biographies on Martin Luther King Jr. The book is called At Canaan's Edge.

The anti-Vietnam War documentary Winter Soldier is having its first major theatrical release -- 34 years after it was made. It focuses on a three-day gathering in 1971 when Vietnam veterans, including former Marine pilot Rusty Sachs, told of the atrocities they had participated in or witnessed during the war.

Journalist and novelist Philip Caputo's new novel, Acts of Faith, is set in Sudan during that country's civil war. It depicts the consequences — intended and otherwise — the conflict has on aid workers and missionaries involved in relief work.

Hackworth died on Wednesday at the age of 74 from bladder cancer. He was the youngest full colonel in the Vietnam War, and was reputed to the model for the Col. Kurtz character played by Marlon Brando in the movie Apocalypse Now. He later decried the American military effort in Vietnam. When he left the Army, he moved to Australia where he was active in the peace and disarmament movements. This interview was originally broadcast on April 26, 1989.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the language of the Vietnam War and how it's being used today.

Dellinger, a long-time peace activist, editor and author, died on Tuesday at the age of 88. Dellinger was jailed for civil disobedience a generation before Daniel and Philip Berrigan. He was part of the "Chicago Seven," the group of seven anti-war demonstrators at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The convention erupted into violence between demonstrators and police. Dellinger was the author of several books, including an account of his spiritual journey From Yale to Jail. (Rebroadcast from April 9, 1993.)

Rock historian Ed Ward talks about some of the soul music that came out of the Vietnam war.

His new book, Moyers on America (The New Press) is a first-ever collection of his essays and speeches. Moyers is the host of Now with Bill Moyers on PBS. He was one of the organizers of the Peace Corps, spokesperson for President Lyndon Johnson, a senior correspondent for CBS News, and producer of many public TV series. Moyers has won 30 Emmy Awards.