Places & Travel

The Nobel Prize winner and activist talks with Terry about his newest book "The Open Sore of a Continent: A Personal Narrative of the Nigerian Crisis." It's been nearly a year since the Nigerian military government executed dissident writer Ken Saro-Wiwa. The killing sparked international protests that today has left Nigeria politically isolated. The events that led up to the execution in November 1995 mark Nigeria's decline from a thriving post-colonial state to its present military dictatorship.

Washington Post reporter Leon Dash won a Pulitzer Prize in 1994 for his eight part series "Rosa Lee's Story." He has turned that into the new book ,"Rosa Lee: A Mother and Her Family in Urban America." It shows Lee's day to day life in one of Washington D.C.'s poorest neighborhoods.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Angela's Ashes," a new memoir by Frank McCourt. It's the 60-year-old author's first book.

Journalist Peter Godwin. His new memoir is "Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa," about growing up in Rhodesia in 1964 as the British colony is collapsing. Godwin was formerly a foreign correspondent for the London Sunday Times. He now makes television documentaries for the BBC.

Breedlove plays with the Jamaican group, The Skatalites. They're credited with creating the music known as ska, a precursor to reggae, which is often mistaken for reggae. The group got their start in the 1960s. Breedlove is an American musician who worked with Lionel Hampton, and began playing with The Skatalites about seven years ago. The Skatalites have a new album, "Greetings from Skamania."

Linguist Geoff Nunberg compares the different ways France and the U.S. covered the Olympics -- and what they say about these countries' attitudes toward their respective languages.

Film critic Lisa Schwarzbaum reviews Hong Kong marshall arts master Jackie Chan's new film, "Supercop."

Commentator Milo Miles has this profile of late Nigerian Juju music master I.K. Dairo. His music became very popular in Africa in the 1960's.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Typhoid Mary," by Judith Walzer Leavitt, about the woman unwittingly responsible for an outbreak of typhoid fever in New York City.

Rock Critic Ken Tucker reviews two books on punk rock: "Please Kill Me: The Uncensored History of Punk," by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, and the novel "Go Now" by Richard Hell.

Fresh Air film critic John Power reviews the movie version of John Grisham's novel, "A Time To Kill."

Assistant Professor of Political Science, Sarah Mendelson. She spent a year in Moscow working for the National Democratic Institute. Her work helped the Russian reformist political parties in their preparation of the Parliamentary and Presidential elections. The goal of the Institute is to bring modern Western campaign techniques into Russian elections. Mendelson also talks to Terry about being a young American expatriate in the former Soviet Union. She currently teaches poltiical science at the State University of New York at Albany.

Journalist Chris Hedges. He's been covering the Bosnian conflict for the New York Times and offers insight to the current political and social atmosphere in the former Yugoslavia. This week marks the anniversary of the slaughter of thousands of Muslims in Srebrenica as they were attempting to retreat from the Serbs. Investigators from the international war crimes tribunal are currently exhuming the graves of that former U.N. "safe area."

Toussaint has been making hit records for nearly 40 years. He has a new record label, NYNO, on which he released "Connected" his first full-length national release in two decades.

Author and journalist and NPR reporter Alan Berlow's new book is "Dead Season: A Story of Murder and Revenge on the Philippine Island of Negros." It's an investigation into a massacre of a peasant family which was linked to a series of interrelated crimes. Berlow also examines the broader problems facing the Philippines and the impact of American colonialism and imperialism.

World Music critic Milo Miles reviews Positive Black Soul's rap album "Salaam."

Nigerian journalist Dapo Olorunyomi... He is the editor of five of the country's leading opposition publications. His work uncovering corruption in the Nigerian Government helped him win the World Press Review 1995 Editor-of-the-Year Award. Olorunyomi is now in exile in the United States. It's the third anniversary of the democratic elections annulled by the military.

Film critic Lisa Schwarzbaum reviews the BBC movie "Cold Comfort Farm."

Mountain climber and writer Jon Krakauer was with the group of climbers who were climbing Mt. Everest May 10-11 when a storm hit. Eight climbers were killed. Jon Krakauer was covering the climb for Outside Magazine. Terry Gross will talk with him about it. Krakauer is also the author of the book "Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains" (1990, paperback Dell)

Writer Karen Armstrong is the author of the best-seller "A History of God." Her new book examines how the city of Jerusalem became the holy city for Jews, Christians and Muslims. Armstrong's new book is "Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths," (Knopf)