Society & Culture

Film critic David Edelstein reviews Manito, a small budget film by first-time director Eric Eason. Manito won prizes at Sundance. It's being distributed in a novel way. It is getting a limited run in big cities and is also a part of a new DVD subscription service.

John is the son of jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli. John's albums include Live At Birdland, The Rare Delights of You and Kisses in the Rain. This interview first aired October 23, 1997.

He's been called the most inventive American tenor player in creative music. His father, Rodd Keith (also known as Rod Rodgers) was killed when he was struck by cars on the Hollywood Freeway after leaping or falling from the Santa Monica Boulevard overpass. Eskelin only knew his father for the first eighteen months of his life. As he grew up he was inspired and intrigued by the continuous stories he heard about him and his musical talent. He has produced a collection of his father's recordings titled I died Today - Music of Rodd Keith.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg on acronyms.

Novelist David Benioff is the author of 25th Hour, about a drug dealer who has one day left on the outside before beginning his seven-year prison sentence. It's the basis of the Spike Lee film of the same name, starring Edward Norton.

Kaige is the director, writer, producer and acts in the new film Together, a coming-of-age tale about a 13-year-old Chinese boy who plays violin. The boy's father takes him from their provincial Chinese city to Beijing, seeking prominence. But plans change as the boy grows up and ultimately chooses his own path. Kaige is best known for his film Farewell My Concubine, which was nominated for an Oscar. His other films include Yellow Earth, The Big Parade and Killing Me Softly.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg on cultures that are missing words. The Oxford dictionary of quotations published its list of the top sayings of 2002. George W. Bush was quoted as saying to Tony Blair, "The problem with the French is that they have no word for entrepreneur." The British Prime minister denied that Bush said it, but the story is plausible because people are always saying similar things about other cultures.

He's best known for his cult films Tales From the Gimli Hospital (1998) and Careful (1992). In 1995, Maddin was the youngest person to receive the Telluride Medal for Lifetime Achievement. His short film The Heart of the World won a special award from the National Society of Film Critics and was voted one of the 10 best films of the year by J. Hoberman of The Village Voice and A.O. Scott of The New York Times. His new film, Dracula: Pages From a Virgin's Diary, transforms the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's interpretation of Bram Stoker's classic story into a silent film.

His new book is Uncle Andy's: A faabbbulous visit with Andy Warhol. It's a children's story about going to visit Warhol, in which Warhola chronicles one of the many trips he took with his family from Pittsburgh to New York City.

He won an Academy Award for his performance as John Laroche in the film Adaptation. His latest project is the HBO film My House in Umbria, starring Maggie Smith, which debuts May 25, 2003. Cooper is also in the soon-to-be-released Seabiscuit, and he had roles in American Beauty, The Bourne Identity, and The Horse Whisperer.

Writer Sarah Waters is the author of three novels which she calls "lesbo-Victorian romps." The lesbian-themed books are: Tipping the Velvet (about "a sort of Moll Flanders in drag"); Affinity (a historical book set in a Victorian women's prison); and Fingersmith (a gothic melodrama). Fingersmith was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Tipping the Velvet was made into a BBC miniseries and it will be shown on BBC America, beginning Friday, May 23.

We remember former Episcopal Bishop of New York, Paul Moore. He died Thursday at the age of 83. Moore was known for his activism and concern for human rights. He was part of the civil rights movement and protested against the Vietnam War. As Bishop, he brought the church into dialogue with the poor and oppressed in New York. And he transformed the Cathedral of St. John the Divine into a thriving place for the community. In 1997 he published his memoir, Presences: A Bishop's Life in the City. This interview first aired December 15, 1997.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg on the stylistic differences between writers on the political left and right.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg on the language wars.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the new novel “The Wife”(Scribner) by Meg Wolitzer.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Family History, the new novel by Dani Shapiro.

Edward Wong covers the aviation industry for The New York Times. Many airlines are in a precarious position: the war, fear of terrorism and a weak economy has left them with fewer travelers, facing cutbacks and bankruptcy. He will discuss the state of the airline industry.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the way politicians and journalists are pronouncing place names associated with the war on Iraq.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the new memoir, The Only Girl in the Car by Kathy Dobie.

Novelist Scott Spencer. His newest book is "A Ship Made of Paper," and it's receiving critical acclaim. Our book critic, Maureen Corrigan, describes Spencer as a brilliant storyteller. Spencer is the author of seven previous novels, including "Endless Love" which sold over 2 million copies. He's also written for Rolling Stone, the New York Times and The New Yorker.