History

Maxwell Taylor Kennedy is the youngest son of Robert F. Kennedy. He has edited a new collection of his father's private journal entries called "Make Gentle The Life of this World: The Vision of Robert F. Kennedy." (Harcourt Brace) Max Kennedy, as he is called, has written stories for the Santa Monica News, and for the magazines Doubletake and Conde Nast Traveler. He also served as a prosecutor in Philadelphia. He lives in Boston.

Jack Newfield wrote the highly acclaimed 1969 book "Robert Kennedy: A Memoir by Jack Newfield." (Dutton) This Sunday, The Discovery Channel will air a 3-hour documentary co-produced by Newfield. The series is based on his book.

Blake's music is featured in the Broadway revival, Shuffle Along. Our tribute features live performances of his songs and interviews with pianist Dick Hyman, among others. Originally broadcast in '98.

U.S. Peace negotiator Richard Holbrooke. He was the chief architect of the Dayton Peace Accord that ended the war in the former Yugoslavia. He has just returned from the region. His new book will be published in June "To End A War." (Random House)

President of the University of Cape Town Mamphela Ramphele. During the 1970s she was a leader in the struggle against Apartheid, and was a colleague of Steven Biko. Later she became his lover. Biko was murdered while in detention and Ramphele was pregnant with his child. Ramphele is also a medical doctor and anthropologist. Her new memoir is "Across Boundaries: The Journey of a South African Woman Leader" (The Feminist Press)

Israel's chief negotiator with the PLO from 1993-1996, Uri Savir. He was the first Israeli official to negotiate secretly with a senior representative of the PLO. He participated in the historic peace process in Oslo. He's written a new memoir, "The Process: 1,100 Days That Changed the Middle East" (Random House).

Novelist Robert Stone. His new novel "Damascus Gate" is about the Middle East. Unlike most writers who write about the region, Stone is not Jewish; he's a lapsed Catholic. One reviewer writes of the book that it is "so comprehending of Israel's convoluted workings and its bifurcated culture--where the Biblical fervor of Jerusalem coexists with the disco fever of Tel Aviv--that he makes other writers on the subject seem like the breeziness of literary tourists." Stone is also the author of "Outerbridge Reach" and "Dog Soldiers."

Peter Biskind is author of the new book "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex Drugs and Rock n Roll Generation Saved Hollywood." (Simon and Schuster) Biskind says after the success of the film "Easy Riders" Hollywood opened its doors to a wave of rebellious film makers that invigorated cinema in the 1970s with such films as "Chinatown," "Shampoo," "Nashville," "Taxi Driver," "The Godfather," and "Jaws." He also authored two previous books: "Seeing is Believing," and "The Godfather Companion.&qu

Actor Peter Coyote. He's written a memoir, "Sleeping Where I Fall" (Counterpoint) about the his experiences during the sixties and seventies. The son of an East Coast stockbroker, Coyote was part of the political street theatre, the San Francisco Mime Troupe. Later Coyote lived the communal life, experimenting with sex, drugs, and heady ideals. Coyote has performed in more than 50 films including, "Bitter Moon," "E.T.," "Jagged Edge, "Outrageous Fortune" and the new film "Sphere."

"The Lemon Tree" is a special documentary marking the 50th Anniversary of the State of Israel and the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. It was produced for Fresh Air by Homelands Productions, producers of other public radio documentaries. It is narrated by producer Sandy Tolan and uses excerpts from his conversations with Bashir, a Palestinian man, and Dalia, an Israeli woman, to tell how their 31 year friendship reveals much of the painful history of the last 50 years experienced by both Palestinians and Israelis.

Ben Kiernan is the director of the "Cambodian Genocide Project" at Yale University. Kiernan talks about why he is trying to document the mass killings and what the death of Pol Pot means for Cambodia. Kiernan wants those responsible for the crimes to face a war crimes tribunal. Kiernan is a professor of History at Yale and author of the 1996 book "The Pol Pot Regime" which has just been re-issued by Yale University Press. Pol Pot reportedly died last week of a heart attack at the age of 73. (Interview by Barbara Bogaev)

We remember Linda McCartney, with an excerpt of her September 23, 1992 interview with Amy Salit. McCartney died Friday of cancer.

Wall Street Journal reporter Tony Horwitz has written "Confederates In The Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War". It is published by Pantheon. Horwitz explores the subculture of Civil War re-enactment fanatics. Many of these wannabe rebels will run barefoot, sleep in the rain, and starve themselves to recreate the conditions of battle to get a "period rush". Horwitz won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting at the Wall Street Journal and is the author of "Baghdad Without a Map" and "One for the Road".

Edward Ball has written about his family's role in American Slavery. His book is "Slaves in the Family" which is published by Farrar, Strauss and Giroux. Ball traced his family's history and learned that over six generations his family controlled more than 20 plantations and over four-thousand slaves.

Dr. Benjamin Spock died yesterday at the age of 94. We'll hear a interview with Spock he did in 1988. (Originally aired 10/5/88)

The documentary musical theatre "Band in Berlin" just made it's premiere in Philadelphia by the American Music Theatre Festival. (Currently running thru March 22nd). It tells the story of "The Comedian Harmonists" a popular sextet vocal group in Germany in the late '20s and early 30's. By 1935 the group was forced to disband by the Nazis, because half of the group were Jewish. "Band in Berlin" was created by Susan Feldman with Wilbur Pauley and stars the New York-based contemporary sextet, The Hudson Shad.

Novelist Denise Giardina has written a historical fiction on the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer -- a German pastor and theologian who, along with a group of German government and military officials plotted to assassinate Adolf Hitler and topple his regime. Giardina's new book is "Saints and Villains" (Norton). Giardina is a former Episcopal deacon, who renounced her ordination vows for active lay ministry. She's also the author of the books "Storming Heaven" and "The Unquiet Earth." (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Novelist Russell Banks. His books which often depict working class life include "The Sweet Hereafter" and "Affliction" both of which have been made into films. His newest book is "Cloudsplitter" (HarperCollins) based on the life of John Brown who tried and failed to ignite a slave rebellion in 1859 in Harpers Ferry, Va.

Historian Stanley Kutler. He's edited a collection of the most recently released Nixon tapes." The book is titled "Abuse of Power" (The Free Press). Kutler sued the National Archives and the Nixon Estate for the release of 3000 hours of tapes in 1996, 200 hours of which are now available. Kutler is also the author of "The Wars of Watergate," and historical advisor for the television documentary, "Watergate." (REBROADCAST from 11/19/97)