Segments by Date

Regina Resnick. After a forty-year career as an operatic mezzo-soprano, she is now making her debut on Broadway in the revival of the musical "Cabaret."

Humorist Alice Kahn reflects on the bittersweet process of moving.

Pianist Ran Blake. He heads the Third Stream Music Department at the New England Conservatory of Music. Third Stream music, a term coined by composer Gunther Schuller, integrates classical and jazz traditions. Blake has extended the definition to include other kinds of music. A CD of Blake's 1961 recording with singer Jeanne Lee has just been reissued by RCA.

Fresh Air's rock historian Ed Ward discusses the roots of his own musical tastes.

Actor and director Judith Malina. She and Julian Beck founded "The Living Theatre" in the 1940s. It became the most revolutionary theater group, performing in the nude, confronting the audience, and breaking down theater's fourth wall.

Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews "Wingspan," the new recording from pianist Mulgrew Miller and his quintet. This 32-year-old musician was inspired by McCoy Tyner, but his sound is more spare and compressed than Tyner's.

Television Critic David Bianculli reviews "EastEnders," a contemporary drama about the working class in London's East End. "EastEnders" is the most popular serial drama in Britain, and will air in America on PBS.

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone reviews the film Sammy and Rosie Get Laid.

Comedian Richard Belzer. After struggling through a poor and difficult childhood and a rough decade trying to make it as a comic, he is now performing in comedy clubs from coast to coast. He is also appearing in movies, and starring in comedy specials on cable TV.

Paul Grushkin, author of a new book titled The Art of Rock, which traces the last 30 years of rock through the art designed to promote concerts.

Rock Critic Ken Tucker surveys his picks for the year's 10 best releases.

Film Critic Stephen Schiff surveys his picks for the year's ten best, and worst, films.

Fresh Air's Critic-at-Large Laurie Stone, whose writing on contemporary culture appears regularly in The Village Voice.

Book critic John Leonard reviews a collection of essays by Primo Levi.

Classical Music Critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new Angel Records CD of previously unreleased performances of soprano Maria Callas.

David Dinges, a professor of psychology at The University of Pennsylvania. He has recently started a chronobiology research lab to study how cycles of time and light can affect behavior and mental health. He will discuss our internal biological clock, sleep disorders, and how shortage of light can affect our moods.

Language commentator Geoffrey Nunberg addresses the lengths companies go to in order to come up with the right names for new products.

Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead surveys his picks for the year's ten best releases.

Aljean Harmetz. She writes about the personalities and business of Hollywood's film industry for The New York Times.

Poet, essayist and short story writer Tess Gallagher. A collection of her new and earlier poetry has just been published. It's titled Amplitude: New and Selected Poems.