Places & Travel

A talk with The New York Times' Youssef Ibrahim who is in Baghdad where he's been reporting on the situation in Iraq. Meanwhile, U.S. Military forces remain in the Middle East, waiting for the United Nation's weapons inspections to begin in Iraq. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Rock historian Ed Ward considers the music of Mardi Gras.

Music critic Milo Miles reviews "Hwy X" (Omnium Records) by the Reptile Palace Orchestra from Wisconsin, and "Karnak" (Tinder Records) by the band named Karnak from Brazil.

Film director/writer/producer Jim Sheridan. His films include "My Left Foot" and "In the Name of the Father" both which starred Daniel Day-Lewis. His latest film is "The Boxer" which also stars Day-Lewis. The story is about former IRA member who returns home after 14 years in prison.

New York City is celebrating its centennial this year. Perhaps the man most responsible for the shape of the city and for its parks, expressways, and bridges is Robert Moses. Moses held 14 state, regional, and city offices ranging from city parks commissioner to construction coordinator. Our guest, Robert Caro, won a 1975 Pulitzer Prize for his book about Moses called "The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York." In the January 5th edition of the New Yorker, Caro wrote about Moses' impact on New York City.

Critic Milo Miles reviews reissues of ska albums.

Writer Brendan Gill died Saturday at the age of 83. We'll remember him with a excerpt from a November 1987 interview. He's best known for his work with The New Yorker magazine, for which he was hired in 1936. He wrote 15 books including biographies of Charles Lindberg, Cole Porter, and Tallulah Bankhead, and his best-seller "Here at the New Yorker." He was also an active campaigner for historic preservation in New York City. (REBROADCAST from 11/12/1987)

Iyunolu Osagie (EE-yewn-oh-lu oh-SAW-GEE-ay) an Assistant Professor of English at Penn State University in Pennsylvania. She has researched and written the events of the Amistad slave rebellion and the trial that followed. She is a native of Sierra Leone where the Amistad story begins and ultimately ends.

Charlie Haffner wrote "Amistad Kata-Kata" a play based on the Amistad story. As a native of Sierra Leone, Haffner is critical of the new film “Amistad” now showing in theaters. He says the story neglected many significant events that occurred in Sierra Leone. Haffner currently lives in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "The Gay Metropolis" (Houghton Mifflin) by Charles Kaiser.

Jetsun Pema, sister of the Dalai Lama. She's written an autobiography about Tibet and her work there,"Tibet: My Story" (Element). In it she recounts life in Tibet before the Chinese occupation, exile from Tibet, and her work as the president of the Tibetan Children's Village, which encompasses over 11,000 Tibetan refugees in India. Pema also plays the role of the mother of the young Dalai Lama in the film "Seven Years in Tibet."

Actress Cybill Shepherd. Her TV sitcom, "Cybill," continues in its fourth season on CBS. She also has a CD : Talk Memphis to Me. Shepherd is known for her roles in the films The Last Picture Show,Taxi Driver, and Married To It, as well as her starring role opposite Bruce Willis in the TV series Moonlighting.

Cinematographer David Breashears. The first American to climb Mount Everest twice, he attempted last year to film from Mount Everest's summit on an IMAX camera. But Breashears had to put down his camera to help with the rescue mission of a group of climbers who were part of another expedition at the time, and who were caught on the mountain in a May blizzard. (Chronicled by John Krakauer in his book, "Into Thin Air.") Breashears' film of his own expedition is titled "Everest," and will be released in February. He has won four Emmy awards for his filmmaking.

TV critic David Bianculli previews the upcoming television docudrama Into Thin Air. The movie is based on the 1996 tragedy on Mt Everest in which eight climbers died.

Historian Dayton Duncan. He's the author of the book "Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery -- an Illustrated History" (Knopf). He also co-produced the PBS series of the same name with documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, and is the author of "Out West" (Penguin), in which he re-travels the Merriweather Lewis and William Clark journey.

Film critic John Powers reviews three new foreign films: the French film "Nenette et Bonni," the Palestinian film "Chronicle of a Disappearance," and the film from China, "Happy Together" by director Wong Kar Wai.

Director Wong Kar-Wai . The writer and director of 1994's "Chungking Express," 1995's "Fallen Angels" and this year's "Happy Together," Wong has worked in the Hong Kong film industry for 15 years, and is continuing to gain a strong American following. Wong was named "Best Director" at this year's Cannes film festival for "Happy Together." He is currently working on his next film, "Summer in Beijing."

Sister Cecelia Clegg, a Scottish Roman Catholic nun, works for peace in Northern Ireland by way of her project: "Moving Beyond Sectarianism," a workshop for Catholic and Protestant congregations to speak about their lives and their differences. In the three years she has lived and worked in Belfast, Sister Cecelia has been viewed as a British outsider to Irish Catholics as well as a Catholic outsider to Protestants.

Poet, editor, and novelist Seamus Deane. His first novel, Reading in the Dark," (Knopf) came out earlier this year, a chronicle of a boy growing up in Northern Ireland in the 1950's. Deane recounts the story of a family haunted by a missing uncle and his tie to the greater Troubles surrounding them all. "Reading in the Dark" was short-listed for the United Kingdom's esteemed literary prize, the Booker. Deane is the editor of the Norton "Field Day Anthology," the definitive collection of Irish literature.

Film critic John Powers discusses the film L. A. Confidential with Terry.