Michael Arlen is the television critic for The New Yorker. Arlen is also a writer. His latest is "The Camera Age," a collection of essays, and his book "Thirty Seconds" was recently released in paperback. He joins the show to discuss his work, television as a form of visual communication, his opinion on its "dangers,"an the perception of the medium as low brow.
Larry Gross is an academic and professor of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. The focus of his research is largely television. He delivers a talk on violence in the medium.
Oliver Lake is a jazz and funk saxophonist and composer. He is in town to play a concert with his newest band Jump. Lake joins the show to discuss his career and audience, the music industry, and what it means to be considered an avant-garde musician. (Interview by Danny Miller)
Liv Ullmann gained fame as an actress in Ingmar Bergman films. Recently, her work has involved traveling around the world and fundraising as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. Bergman has just completed a tour of East Africa. Ullman has also directed a sequence in the film "Acts of Love."
Novelist Joyce Carol Oates delivers a talk at the Free Library of Philadelphia on the topic of "Women in Twentieth Century Literature." Oates traces women in the imaginations male writers of the era including John Updike, William Faulkner, Norman Mailor, William Styron, and D. H. Lawrence.
Activist Falaka Fatah is the co-founder of Umoja House, an organization that currently runs 21 house on North Fraser Street in Northwest Philadelphia serving gang members and street kids. The program began when Fattah and her husband, David, invited a gang to live with them after discovering their son, Robin, had joined. The Fattahs work with gangs led to a city wide meeting and truce among Philadelphia gangs. Their new project is "Boys Town," which will serve ex-offenders. Fattah joins the show to discuss strategies for reaching youth in disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Country musician Kinky Friedman is know by some as "Texas Jew Boy." His songs, including "They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore" and "Ride 'Em Jew Boy," often have anti-semitic, racist, and sexist lyrics. While some take the lyrics seriously, others appreciate the satire. He joins the show to discuss his work.
Novelist Richard Price is the author of "Bloodbrothers," "The Wanderers," and "Ladies' Man." All of his novels have been or will be made into films. Price joins the show to discuss his work.
Robert Edgar is a United States Representative for Delaware County. He is one of the few liberal Democrats who survived the 1980 election. Edgar is the chair of the Northeast-Midwest Coalition and was part of the fact finding mission to El Salvador. He is also a Methodist minister who was once a pastor. He joins the show to discuss the Reagan administration, the role of money and the media in politics, the "moral majority," and working in Congress. He will also answer listener questions.
Sheila Jordan is a jazz singer. Rather than make music she doesn't agree with, Jordan has kept her "day job" as a typist for her entire career. That might be changing as more people become aware of her work. She joins the show to discuss her life and career.
Bobby Short is a singer and pianist who is known for keeping the tradition of the American Songbook alive. He has recently gained fame amongst a new audience for his work in television commercials. He joins the show to discuss American composers such as the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Cy Coleman, Rodgers and Hart, Burt Bacarach, and Stephen Sondheim.
Reverend Ralph Moore is an Episcopal priest and the director of the Christian Association at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Julian Slowinski is a psychologist and former Benedictine monk and theologian. They join the show to discuss the events in Jonestown and the radio documentary on the subject, "Father Cares," which was aired by NPR. They also answer listener calls.
Ronee Blakely is an actress, singer, and pianist. She is best known for her role in the Robert Altman film "Nashville." In the film, her character, a country music star is assassinated. Many have referenced the scene of her death in discussing the murder of John Lennon. Blakely has also worked with Bob Dylan with the Rolling Thunder Review and on the film "Renaldo and Clara." She describes her personal style as "new wave country." She joins the show to discuss her career.
Helen Caldicott is a pediatrician and the president of Physicians for Social Responsibility. The Australian is a leading figure in the fight against nuclear war and the nuclear arms race. She views nuclear arms as a health issue, and has left her job as a pediatrician to devote her time to advocating for nuclear disarmament. She has recently formed the Women's Party for Survival and is planning a march on Mother's Day.
Bobby Seale was one of the co-founders of the Black Panther Party, who was part of the "Chicago Eight," where he was eventually severed from the group's trial. Seale currently works in Washington D.C. where he has started an advocacy group, Advocates Scene, and also offers a self-help program. Seale discusses his past work and how he sees the future of African Americans.
Anthony Jackson is a lawyer who wrote the chapter on the criminal justice system for the Urban League's report "State of Black Philadelphia." For three years, Jackson was the Director of the Police Project at the Public Interest Law Center. He joins the show to discuss race relations and justice in Philadelphia and the entire country.
Critic John Szwed reviews a new collection of old Lennie Tristano recordings, "Lennie Tristano, Requiem." Lennie Tristano is a jazz pianist. (PARTIAL AUDIO)
Historian Philip Foner joins the show again to discuss Black history in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. Foner is the foremost historian on the labor movement in the U. S. He is the author of over eighty works, including a four volume history of the American labor movement, "Organized Labor and the Black Worker," and "Women and the American Labor Movement," the second volume of which was recently published. He is currently a visiting professor at Rutgers University.
Poet Dan Hoffman joins the show to discuss his poem "Brotherly Love," a long poem about William Penn and his vision for the United States. The poem focuses on Penn's treaty with the Native Americans in the area that would become Pennsylvania. Hoffman is the former Poet Laureate of the U. S. and currently works at the University of Pennsylvania.
