Society & Culture

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg on Eurocentric culture.

Rapper and actor Ice-T...one of the most popular of the "gangsta" rappers. Although he does not often get his songs played on the radio, all five of his albums have gone gold. Greg Knot of The Chicago Tribune has written that "Ice-T. is that rare gangster rapper who leads with his brain instead of his gun or his crotch." IIce-T.'s 1992 song "Cop Killer," landed him at the center of a controversy about gangsta rap--is it a legitimate form of expression or is it incendiary hate-mongering. Ice-T.

Shanghai-born author, Anchee Min. She grew up in China during the last years of Mao's Cultural Revolution. In her memoir, "Red Azalea" (Pantheon), Min recounts her experiences as an 11-year old leader in her school's Little Red Guard, then as a laborer at a work camp where she became the secret lover of her female commander. When Madam Mao began her reform of China's film industry, Min was chosen from 20,000 candidates to become a screen actress because she had a face that was thought to represent the working class.

Gregory Alan-WIilliams, Emmy Award winning actor, author and playwright. He has written "A Gathering of Heroes, Reflections on Rage and Responsibility," a memoir of the Los Angeles Riots (Academy Chicago Publishers). On April 29, 1992, Alan-WIilliams, an African American, heard that violence had erupted in South Central L.A. and chose to walk into the heart of the riot. He ended up risking his own life to rescue a Japanese American man who was being brutally beaten by some in the angry crowd.

Caryl Phillips, author of five novels, a work of nonfiction and many scripts for film, theater, radio and television. His new novel,"Crossing the River" (Knopf), tells stories of slavery and the relationships forged by and among some of its perpetrators and victims. Phillips takes liberties with time in following the lives of three African children sold into slavery by their desperate father -- one freed and sent back to Africa as a missionary, one searching for her lost husband and child in the American wild west and one, a World War II GI stationed in Yorkshire, England.

A new interview with Updike. His new novel is "Brazil," (Knopf).

Writer Shirlee Taylor Haizlip. Her book "The Sweeter the Juice: a Family Memoir in Black and White, (Simon & Schuster), chronicles her exploration of six generations of her multiracial family tree. Haizlip is a light-skinned African-American. Her father was a prominent black Baptist minister in Connecticut. Her mother was the descendant of an Irish immigrant and a mulatto slave.

Physicist James Trefil. His new book, "A Scientist in the City," (Doubleday) is a exploration of how the laws of nature and technology came together to make our cities. Trefil starts by looking at cities as natural ecosystems, and then looks at the key scientific discoveries that made cities possible. Trefil has written more than ten books on science, including, "1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Science." Trefil is also a regular commentator for NPR, and he teaches at George Mason University.

Anne Lamott on keeping her son safe AND independent.

Commentator Maureen Corrigan tells us about her trip to the auto show.

Contributing Editor and essayist for Newsweek magazine Ellis Cose. His new book, "The Rage of a Privileged Class: Why are Middle-Class Blacks Angry? Why Should America Care?" (HarperCollins) is about what many middle-class blacks feel, but few white americans understand: that middle-class blacks still struggle against racial stereotyping, discrimination, and alienation, despite their financial success and their best efforts to "play by the rules." Cose argues that many white americans make assumptions about Blacks which are at odds with reality.

Jazz Vibraphonist Gary Burton. He invented a four-mallet grip for the instrument that is used by many contemporary players. Burton left Stan Getz's quartet in the mid 60's (at the age of 24) to form his own combo; a few years later he hired a young guitarist named Pat Metheny, giving Metheny his first taste of big time jazz. Burton has been teaching percussion and improvisation classes at the Berklee School of Music in Boston; in 1985 he was named Dean of Curriculum there. Burton has over fifty albums to his credit and three Grammy award.

Commentator Maureen Corrigan reviews "French Lessons," by Alice Kaplan.

Stephen Schiff reviews the film "Philadelphia."

Jeanne Moreau was an actress of the French new wave who broke the rules both on screen and off. She died Monday in Paris at the age of 89.

Moroccan sociologist and Koranic scholar, Fatima Mernissi. Her new book explores how the sacred texts of Islam are used both by feminists and defenders of democracy as well as the violent fundamentalists which oppose them: "Islam & Democracy" (Addison-Wesley). An earlier book, "The Veil and the Male Elite" (Addison-Wesley) was a feminist interpretation of Women's rights in Islam. Her new book, due out in the summer of 1994 is "Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood".

Terry talks with a young man who has been through the program at the Camden County Youth Center, a juvenile detention center in Camden, New Jersey: Derrek Penny.

Terry talks with two young men who've been through the program at the Camden County Youth Center, a juvenile detention center in Camden, New Jersey: Eddie Budah and Derrek Penny. Budah will read some of his poetry that has appeared in the Center's newsletter, "What's Happening."

Irish author Roddy Doyle, winner of the 1993 Booker Prize for his novel "Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha" (Viking). Doyle taught school in Dublin for fourteen years; during that time he wrote and self-published his first novel, "The Commitments" about a band of musicians who bring soul music to Dublin. (It was made into a popular film here).

Writer Gloria Wade-Gayles. Growing up in Memphis in the 1940's Wade-Gayles experienced Jim Crow discrimination first hand. In her new book of autobiographical essays, "Pushed Back To Strength: A Black Woman's Journey Home" (Beacon), she reflects on her childhood, the civil-rights movements, abortion in the African-American community, and the death of her mother. Wade-Gayles is a professor of English and women's studies at Spelman College. She also wrote "No Crystal Stair: Visions of Race and Sex in Black Women's Fiction" (Pilgrim Press).