Writer David Shipler. A Country of Strangers: Blacks and Whites in America (Knopf) is his newest book. It looks closely at the ever present race question in the United States through interviews of folks across the country and analysis of stereotypes he found. Shipler is the author of Russia and won a Pulitzer Prize for Arab and Jew: Wounded Sprits in a Promised Land.
Writer and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh. Nhat Hanh became a Buddhist monk at age 16, worked on a globally for peace in his native Vietnam during the war, and has written over 75 books on peace. Some of his best-known are "Peace is in Every Step," "Being Peace," and "The Miracle of Mindfulness." His 1995 book, "Living Buddha, Living Christ" (Riverhead) is now available in paperback.
Photojournalists Horst Faas and Tim Page They've compiled and edited a book of photographs by photojournalists who lost their lives covering war in Indochina and Vietnam from the 50's to the mid 70's. The book is titled "Requiem" (Random House). It features 135 different photographers including Robert Capa, Larry Burrows, and Sean Flynn. Horst Faas was an Associated Press photographer in Vietnam and Tim Page worked in Laos and Vietnam for United Press International and "Paris-Match." They were both wounded in Vietnam.
Music legend Johnny Cash. Cash has been recording albums and performing since the 1950's. Representing Cash's varied musical styles, he has been inducted into the Songwriters, Country Music, and Rock and Roll Halls of Fame. He's just released an autobiography called "Cash" (Harper) The book tour for the memoir has been cancelled due to complications with Cash's Parkinson's disease.
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.
David Bianculli previews the last new TV show of the season Sleepwalkers that premieres tomorrow on NBC. And with fall line up in place, David gives us his assessment of the new TV season.
Film director Samuel Fuller died yesterday at the age of 86. Fuller's B-movies of the 50s and 60s have influenced many other directors. His 1982 movie, "White Dog," about a racist who trains a dog to attacks blacks, was considered too controversial to be released in this country. It was finally shown in a retrospective of his work in New York. Among his works: The Big Red One, Verboten, and I Shot Jesse James. (Originally aired 8/2/91).
Writer and Director Paul Thomas Anderson. His latest project is "Boogie Nights," a film about the pornography film industry in the late 70's and early 80's in the San Fernando Valley. Anderson's first film was the independent "Hard Eight" with Gwenyth Paltrow and Samuel L. Jackson.
All Things Considered senior producer Sean Collins will preview the upcoming yearlong NPR series on death and dying. The series will begin airing on Monday November 3rd. The series of reports is called "The End of Life: Exploring Death in America."
Actor Kevin Kline. He can currently be seen in the movies "In and Out" and "The Ice Storm." This winter, he'll also be playing the title role in the Anton Chekhov's play, "Ivanov." Kline's past movies include "Dave," "The Big Chill," and "I Love You to Death." He received an Academy Award for "A Fish Called Wanda."
Playwright and Screenwriter David Mamet. His latest film is "The Edge," and he's recently published two books: "The Old Religion," (Simon & Schuster) is a novel about a southern Jewish man falsely accused of murder. "True and False: Heresy and Common sense for the Actor" (Pantheon) is a guide to acting that negates the common and popular dramatic techniques. Mamet won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for "Glengarry Glen Ross."
Photojournalist Max Aguilera-Hellweg has a new collection of photographs taken in the operating room. Her images capture the inside of the human body as surgeons perform procedures like removal of brain tumors, a radical mastectomy, heart surgery and more. Her book is "The Sacred Heart: An Atlas of the Body Seen Through Invasive Surgery." (Bulfinch Press Book)
Nonfiction writer Ptolemy Tompkins, son of New Age writer Peter Tompkins. Ptolemy has written a memoir, "Paradise Fever: Growing up in the Shadow of the New Age," (Avon) about growing up the son of Peter Tompkins, the author of the cult bestseller "The Secret Life of Plants" who was also a World War II spy. Ptolemy Tompkins is the author of several other nonfiction works.
Basketball expert and playground legend Pee Wee Kirkland. Professor at Long Island University and basketball coach in Manhattan, Kirkland wrote the introduction to John Huet's photography book, "Soul of the Game" (Melcher Media/Workman pub.). It's about the impact playground basketball has on the sport. Kirkland also acted in and served as the Technical Basketball Advisor for the 1994 movie "Above the Rim."
Comedian Drew Carey His ABC Wednesday night sitcom resides in the top twenty, a product of Carey's "every guy" humor. Carey has written a new book, "Dirty Jokes and Beer: Stories of the Unrefined" (Hyperion). It's his autobiography as well as a joke book.
