Women's Issues

Author and historian Joan Jacobs Brumberg. Her new book, "The Body Project," attempts to trace back through the century to discover why young women report unhappiness with their bodies now more than ever. Working with girls' diaries from the 1830's up to the present day, Brumberg outlines the shifting pressures that have altered the way females define themselves.

Emily Wortis Leider has written a new biography of Mae West, "Becoming Mae West" (Farrar, Straus, Giroux). Leider’s book examines the early, formative years of West who was famous for witty one-liners, promiscuity, and being censored. Mae West started out as a vaudeville performer before launching a successful career in film. In the 1930’s she starred in "She Done Him Wrong," based on her play "Diamond Lil" and "I'm No Angel," two of her biggest films.

NPR correspondent Margot Adler's commitment to political causes began in her childhood: she grew up in a household of communist sympathizers during the McCarthy era. As a student at Berkeley, she continued her activism. During this time, she exchanged letters with an American soldier in Vietnam. Her life in the sixties is the subject of her memoir, "Heretic's Heart: A Journey Through Spirit and Revolution." (Beacon Press) Adler is now an expert on witchcraft and paganism.

Smith's work has won acclaim in the independent film community, including awards at the Cannes and the Sundance film festivals. His new film "Chasing Amy" is the third installment of his New Jersey Trilogy, a series set in central New Jersey, where Smith grew up and still lives. "Chasing Amy," like Smith's other films, deals with the complexities of human relationships during the confusing time before adulthood with an off-beat sense of humor.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Down by the River," by Edna O'Brien.

Alda was the star of the TV show M*A*S*H, for which he won Emmys for acting, writing, and directing. He's in Woody Allen's latest "Everyone Says I Love You," and hosts Scientific American Frontiers on PBS.

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the new novel by South African writer Andre Brink. It is titled "Imaginings of Sand." Brink first made a name for himself in the 1960s as one of a new generation of African writers who wanted their work to be more politically outspoken.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the new novel by Marilyn French, "My Summer With George."

Singer and actress Cher. She's just released "It's a Man's World" (Warner Brothers), her first CD in five years. She talks Terry about her early life and career.

Film director Bernardo Bertolucci. His new film is "Stealing Beauty". It's the first time in 15 years that he has worked in his native country, Italy. At the age of 20, he began his career working for filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini and wrote his first screenplay the next year. In 1973, Bertolucci achieved international, critical and commercial success with the release of the controversial "Last Tango in Paris" with Marlon Brando.

Film critic John Powers reviews director Bernardo Bertolucci's latest film. "Stealing Beauty" stars Liv Tyler and Jeremy Irons.

Writer Rebecca Walker. She's a contributing editor to Ms. Magazine, and is cofounder of Third Wave, a national, multicultural organization devoted to encouraging young women's activism. She has edited a new book of writings about feminism today, To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism. (Anchor Books).

An inside account of the world of high-fashion. Nina Blanchard is founder of Nina Blanchard Agency which is considered one of nation’s most prestigious modeling agencies. Blanchard herself discovered supermodel Cheryl Tiegs. She’s been called The Beauty Broker. She has written a novel based on the fashion world The Look, (Dutton 1995) Blanchard talks about what it takes to be a model, the pressures they’re under and why she herself finally had enough.

Journalist George Lardner, Jr. is an investigative reporter for The Washington Post. In 1993 he had to investigate the murder of his own daughter, who was stalked and killed by an ex-boyfriend. Lardner won a Pulitzer Prize for his story which showed how the system had failed to protect his daughter, Kristin. His new book is The Stalking of Kristin: A Father Investigates the Murder of his Daughter. (Atlantic Monthly Press). (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Political scientist, specializing in women's studies, Amrita Basu. She teaches at Amherst College, and has just edited a collection of essays on women's movements worldwide, The Challenge Local Feminisms: Women's Movements in Global Perspective, (Westview Press).

Reporter Vicky Que is a reporter at WHYY in Philadelphia, and is attending the NGO Forum on Women, and the Conference on Women in Beijing.

Professor of American Studies and History at the Univ. of Minnesota Elaine Tyler May. Her new book Barren in the Promised Land: Childless Americans and the Pursuit of Happiness (Basic) is said to be the first book to examine the history of childlessness in America in all its complexities, from infertility to forced sterilization to childfree by choice." MAY is the author three previous books including Great Expectations, and Homeward Bound. She has also written widely in the scholarly and popular press, including articles in The New York Times, and Los Angeles Times.

Judith Musick is the director of the Ounce of Prevention Fund, a pregnancy prevention and teenage-parent programs in Illinois, and author of the new book, "Young, Poor and Pregnant: The Psychology of Teenage Motherhood." Musick believes that impoverished adolescent girls become young mothers as an attempt to create a future and an identity.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the novel "A Feather on the Breath of God," about a second-generation immigrant born to Chinese and German parents.

Redgrave appeared in over 50 films, including "Morgan!", "Blow Up", "Julia" and "Howards End". Her stage work has included Shakespeare, Chekhov, Noel Coward and Tennessee Williams. She comes from a celebrated theater family, and her daughters are both actresses. Redgrave is also well known for her political activism, including support for Nuclear Disarmament and Palestinian causes. Her memoirs have just been published by Random House.

Film critic Stephen Schiff has a review of Little Women, the latest of many adaptations of Louisa May Alcott's classic novel.