History

William Whyte says that dense, urban areas foster social interaction and a sense of belonging. His bases his claim on research dating back to the 1960s. His new book, which outlines his findings, is called Cities.

Leslie Savan, who writes about advertising for the Village Voice, looks at Pepsi's newest ad campaign in the USSR, and reflects on the relationship between Russian culture and American corporatism.

The new PBS show dramatized news program Timeline features on-the-ground reporting of historical events in order to give viewers a new way of thinking about the past. TV critic David Bianculli praises the show's accuracy, and it's respect for its audience.

The World War II-themed Christabel airs at the same time as Glory! Glory!, about the relationship between a televangist and a punk rocker. Since the latter will play repeatedly on HBO, TV critic David Bianculli recommends first watching the more substantive Christabel.

Lawrence of Arabia has recently been remastered, and a new 70mm print has just been released theatrically. Film critic Stephen Schiff says watching the movie as a child inspired him to become a film critic; watching it again as an adult, he's impressed by its enduring, powerful themes.

Wilson received a lifetime appointment from Ronald Reagan to head the National Archives. The agency became an independent entity after being part of the General Services Administration.

Heinemann served for one year in Vietnam. The experience was so intense that he has built a literary career about it. His book, Paco's Story, won the National Book Award. After releasing two novels, he's working on a nonfiction book about post-traumatic stress disorder.

Peter Nabokov cowrote a book with Robert Easton about the dwellings of American Indians, which he uses as a lens through which to learn more about their lives and traditions. For his research, Easton lived near several reservations and visited the homes of Native American families.

Film critic Stephen Schiff says that the World War II-themed The Dressmaker masterfully follows in the European tradition of what he calls "intimate filmmaking" -- something no American director has yet been able to replicate.

Robert Kaplow and performance group the Punsters give their satirical, dystopian take on how 1989 will turn out. They warn of computer viruses, financial collapse, and a rise of chocolate addiction among teenagers.

Janet Levine is a white, liberal South African woman and anti-apartheid activist. She later resigned from public office and exiled herself in the United States; she believed that whites' unavoidable complicity with racist policies undermined the efforts of black activists. Her memoir new memoir is called Inside Apartheid.

Lady Borton performed humanitarian work in Vietnam during and after the war. Her experiences in that country with refugees had a profound effect on her. She lives simply and, like many combat veterans, grapples with PTSD and flashbacks. Borton's book about Vietnamese refugees is called Sensing the Enemy.

Journalist Taylor Branch says most histories of the African American civil rights movement written by white people are missing heart and context. He seeks to avoid this pitfall in his new book, Parting the Waters. Branch joins Fresh Air to discuss the work of Martin Luther King, Jr. in black churches, and how John F. Kennedy and J. Edgar Hoover attempted to control him for their own ends.

Peter Sichrovsky's lives in Austria, and is the child of Holocaust survivors who grew up alongside the children of former Nazis. He is interested in how the generation after World War II dealt with their parents' experiences during this time, either as perpetrators or victims of violence. Sichrovsky's books include Strangers in Their Own Land and Born Guilty.

Smith is host of a popular PBS television program and author of the best-sellers The Money Game, Supermoney and Paper Money. His new book, titled The Roaring 80s, looks at the previous decade, which he says has been characterized by easy debt, easy spending and an amiable hands-off attitude by Washington. Smith says a camparison with another era of high living - the roaring 20s - is unavoidable.

Book critic John Leonard review Taylor Branch's new book about the Civil Rights era. Branch argues that the early 60s, until now identified as the Kennedy era, ought to be identified with Martin Luther King Jr.

The fiction writer sought adventure, so he followed the Equator around the world. His new book describes the different cultures, colonial vestiges, and natural phenomena of his various stops -- many of which the locals described as the "middle of nowhere."

Critic Ken Tucker reviews the direct-to-video documentary Cover-Up, which alleges that a shadow government conspired to shape foreign policy throughout the 1980s, which led to the Iran-Contra affair. The film has been an unexpected commercial success. Other recent releases include 3 Men and a Baby and She's Having a Baby.

New Yorker art writer Calvin Tompkins looks at the state of the art world. He says there has been a rise in corporate-owned collections, which often exclude more provocative or sexually-themed works.

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone reviews the documentary Hotel Terminus, about Nazi officer Klaus Barbie, who fled to South America after the end of World War II. Despite the dark subject material, Stone says the movie is a pleasure, and praises director Marcel Orphuls unblinking camerawork.