Columnist Cynthia Heimel ("HIGH-mel") tells us what the new year holds for her. Heimel writes about the perils of being a single woman in the 90s for both The Village Voice and Playboy. There's a recent collection of her columns, titled "If You Can't Live Without Me, Why Aren't You Dead Yet?" (It's published by Atlantic).
Writer Maxine Hong Kingston shares her thoughts at the end of the year. Her novel, "Tripmaster Monkey," was a huge critical success in 1989. This year, Kingston lost the only copy of the manuscript for her new novel when her house in Oakland, California burned down earlier this year.
Financial writer Jane Bryant Quinn discusses what the new lower interest rates mean to the economy, and the average consumer. Quinn's finance columns appear in "Newsweek," and "Woman's Day," and she's written a new guide to personal finance, "Making the Most of Your Money: Smart Ways to Create Wealth and Plan Your Finances in the '90s." (published by Simon & Schuster.)
Filmmaker and screenwriter James Toback. Toback wrote the script for Warren Beatty's new gangster movie, "Bugsy." His previous films include "The Pickup Artist" and "The Big Bang."
Book critic John Leonard reviews "The Devil's Candy," Wall Street Journal reporter Julie Salamon's account of the making of the movie, "The Bonfire of The Vanities."
Maureen Corrigan considers the New York City subway system. She reviews Jim Dwyer's new book, "Subway Lives," and she discusses an exhibit of Walker Evans subway photographs from the 1930s and 40s. It's now at the National Gallery in Washington.
Singer Lesley Gore. In 1963, when she was only 16, Lesley Gore recorded one of the greatest songs in rock and roll history, "It's My Party, and I'll Cry If I Want To." Gore has stayed in the business since the 60s, and she's currently appearing at the New York City club, "Rainbow and Stars." Also, Rhino records has recently released a two record retrospective of her greatest hits. (Rebroadcast. Original date 10/25/91).
With everyone making plans for Christmas and New Year's Eve, we wondered what magician Penn Jillette (pronounced like "Gillette") would be up to. Jillette's one half of the magic team, Pen and Teller. The pair's latest show, "Penn and Teller Rot In Hell," is now playing off
Broadway.
Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar. He made the campy comedies "Women On The Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" and "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down." His new movie, "High Heels" is a more sober story, the tale of a romantic triangle involving a mother, her daughter, and a murder.
There's been a flood of CD anthologies this year documenting the careers of many great early rock and rollers. Rock historian Ed Ward tells us what ones he likes best, and what ones would make the best Christmas presents.
We examine the controversy surrounding Vice President Dan Quayle's Council on Competitiveness. We talk with New York Times reporter Phil Hilts, who covers the Council.
Why does cross-dressing stir up so much anxiety in our culture? Harvard professor Marjorie Garber talks about where cross dressing has turned up in popular culture, and what it means to wear the clothes of the opposite sex. Garber's new book on the subject is "Vested Interests: Cross-Dressing and Cultural Anxiety." (It's published by Routledge).
Until the mid 1870s, most of Africa remained untouched by slave traders and explorers. And then, in a little over three decades of conquest, Western European countries carved up and colonized all of Africa. Thomas Pakenham ("packin-em") has written "The Scramble for Africa" (Random House), a comprehensive account of this period where the white man invaded the Dark Continent.
