United States

Writer Sarah Vowell is a contributing editor for public radio's This American Life. She's also the author of the book Take the Cannoli, and the new book of her pieces, The Partly Cloudy Patriot

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Birds of America" (Knopf) by Lorrie Moore.

Historian Eric Foner is a DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University. His new book is an examination of the concept of freedom in the United States: "The Story of American Freedom" (W.W. Norton) He writes "the meaning of freedom is as multifaceted, contentious, and ever-changing as America itself." Foner is also the author of "Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution 1863-1877."

Linguist Geoff Nunberg compares the different ways France and the U.S. covered the Olympics -- and what they say about these countries' attitudes toward their respective languages.

Director of the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University, Manning Marable. His new book is Beyond Black & White, (Verso). In the book he argues that race is "essentially a social construction, not a permanent fact of biology or genetics." He calls for a politics that goes beyond "racial-identity" where the goal is "a black face in a high place."

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the movement to make English the official language.

Rock Historian Ed Ward looks at why "Pop" music has hit the charts around the world but remains buried in the subculture in America. "Pop" music, as it is known internationally, is not to be mistaken with Top 40. Ward says American radio stations in the late 1970s and early 80s didn't pick up the sound and a lot of the "Pop" music went unheard.

Terry Gross talks with the Croatian writer about her book Have a Nice Day: From the Balkan War to the American Dream. Part memoir, part short story collection, the book chronicles the writer's transplanted life as a lecturer in Middletown, Connecticut, a world away from the brutal Balkan war.

Professor Michael Kazin's new book, "The Populist Persuasion: An American History," explores the rise and change of populism and its effect on the political structure. He examines populism's roots as a leftist, liberal movement, and how populist ideas came to be used as rhetoric of conservative Presidents Nixon and Reagan.

Commentator Maureen Corrigan reviews the new biography "Thomas Paine: Apostle of Freedom," by Jack Fruchtman, Jr.

Burns is the director of the hit PBS documentaries "The Civil War" and "Baseball." The former was the network's highest rated series. Burns' other documentaries include "The Brooklyn Bridge," "The Statue of Liberty," and "Empire of the Air," about the early history of radio. This interview was recorded in front of an audience at the Flynn Theater on October 27, in a benefit for Vermont Public Radio.

Commentator Maureen Corrigan reviews "Fables of Abundance: A Cultural History of Advertising in America," by Jackson Lears.

Commentator Maureen Corrigan reviews "You Can't be Neutral on a Moving Train," the new autobiography by Howard Zinn.

Maureen Corrigan with a review of Martin Amis' new collection of Essays, "Visiting Mrs. Nabokov and Other Excursions" (Random House).

Economics correspondent for CBS This Morning Robert Krulwich discusses President Clinton's economic plan. A former NPR correspondent, he's best known for making money matters interesting and accessible.

Maureen Corrigan reviews, "The Dialectic of Sex," by Shulamith Fireston. First published in the 1970s, it serves as an important document of second-wave feminism.

Award-winning historian Michael Beschloss just co-authored a new book, "At the Highest Levels: The Inside Story of the End of the Cold War." He and co-author Strobe Talbot were in contact with officials in both American and Soviet governments, and in NATO. They show the close tie between George Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev, which "eventually caused both men to lose touch with their domestic constituencies."

Kremlin insider Georgi Arbatov. His new book, "The System," is a memoir of his long political career as Director of the Institute for the USA and Canada, the Soviet Union's most influential foreign policy think-tank. He was not a dissident or an enemy of the system; rather, he worked within it. His book begins with his World War II career, chronicles the repressive Stalin era, the Cold War, the August 1991 coup attempt and its aftermath. He's been an adviser to every Soviet leader from Khruschev to Yeltsin.

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "American Mythologies" by Marshall Blonsky, which seeks to recover the meaning behind the totality of American cultural production, from fast food to news anchors to pornography. Corrigan admires the project, but says Blonsky doesn't seem to like or respect his subjects.

Reporter Scott Armstrong. Jones has an article in the current issue of "Mother Jones" magazine, describing the long history of secret military agreements between the governments of the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. Armstrong contends the military deals, which cost more than 150 billion dollars, violate the Constitution.