Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews, "Backdraft," the new film about firefighters by director Ron Howard. Schiff says it's full of cliches, but genuinely moving in its portrayal of heroic masculinity.
Smyth is a freelance reporter who has worked for the Village Voice and CBS News. He and photographer Gad Gross were travelling with the Kurds in Iraq when they were pursued by Iraqi soldiers--Smyth was captured and Gross was killed.
Attorney and consumer advocate Carl Oppedahl has compiled a Consumer Reports Book, "The Phone Book: How to Get the Telephone Equipment and Service you want and Pay Less." He joins Fresh Air to share his tips for how to choose a phone carrier and optimize call quality.
The Fresh Air language commentator explains his neologism "cacophomism." It's the opposite of euphemism, and describes all those words that make something sound worse than it is.
Animator John Canemaker's new book is "Felix: The Twisted Tale of the World's Most Famous Cat." The cartoon character was well known on television, but was as famous as Charlie Chaplain during the silent film era.
Television critic David BianculliI reviews Henry Kissinger's guest spot on CBS This Morning. Apparently, the former secretary of state gave a weather report.
Terry talks with two labor leaders about the proposed affiliation between the United Auto Workers (UAW) and the National Writers Union: Phil Wheeler is the district director of the UAW; Jonathan Tasini is President of the National Writers Union.
Dees co-founded the Southern Poverty Law Center and has been involved in civil rights cases for years. In 1988 he made legal history when he fashioned a seven million dollar verdict against the Klu Klux Klan that effectively bankrupted the group. He has a new memoir out, called "A Season for Justice: The Life & Times of Civil Rights Lawyer Morris Dees."
Book critic John Leonard reviews the latest novel by Czechoslovakian writer Milan Kundera. He's the author of "The Unbearable Lightness of Being," and "The Book of Laughter & Forgetting."
Duberman has written a memoir about being gay in the 1950s -- before the gay liberation movement, and at a time when homosexuality was considered deviant behavior by the psychiatrists. It's called "Cures: A Gay Man's Odyssey.
Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Eating," the new film by Henry Jaglom. Using largely improvised dialogue and little plot, it focuses on women's relationship with food.
Lax has written a new biography of the prominent New York actor and director. Lax first interviewed Allen in 1971 during the filming of "Bananas," and over the next 20 years they kept up an on-going conversation.
Journalist Gerald Posner's new book, "Hitler's Children," examines the lives of the sons and daughters of leaders of the Third Reich. It includes the accounts from the children of Dr. Joesph Mengele, Rudolf Hess, and Karl Saur--whose son joins the interview.
Lewis has made two quirky, hilarious documentaries about the problems between humans and animals. His first movie, "Cane Toads: An Unnatural History," chronicles the havoc that ensued after a species of toad was introduced into Australia. His new movie is called "The Wonderful World of Dogs."
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead concludes his look at some current jazz saxophone quartets, this time focusing on the ROVA Saxophone Quartet, which often collaborates with new music composers.
We talk with the Village Voice's food writer. He was diagnosed as a diabetic as a child, an experience that he credits with making him more aware of the role of food in life and family. His new books is called "Learning to Eat.
