Terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna. His new book is Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror. Gunaratna spent five years conducting interviews with al Qaeda members, doing field research and monitoring the group's infiltration in communities in North America and Europe. He is the author of six books on armed conflict and a research fellow at the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence, University of St. Andrews, Scotland. He's lectured worldwide on terrorism and served as consultant to many governments.
Writer James Gavin has produced Deep in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker. It's a biography of the jazz trumpeter and vocalist. Baker came from Oklahoma in the 1950s to become the "prince of cool jazz" on the West Coast. His death in Amsterdam in 1988 seems to have been drug-related. Gavin provides some answers to the riddle of his death. Gavin is a frequent contributor to The New York Times and other publications.
Cherry Jones is currently appearing in Lysistrata at the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia. Jones is a founding member of the American Repertory Theatre and has appeared in 23 A.R.T. productions. Shes won Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League awards. Jones has starred or appeared in many Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. Her film appearances include The Perfect Storm, Cradle Will Rock and the upcoming Signs, directed by M. Night Shyamalan.
Boxer Laila Ali. Shes the only one of heavyweight champ Mohammed Alis nine children to choose a life in the ring. Her recent bout with Jacqui Frazier was the most highly publicized female boxing event ever. Shes written an autobiography called REACH! Finding Strength, Spirit and Personal Power.
She died on June 14 2002, at age 65, from breast cancer. She was one of the most widely published African-American writers. In her poems and political essays, she addressed issues of racism, oppression and dispossession. She was born in Harlem and grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn. She taught English at the University of California at Berkeley.
Pakistani dancer Sheema Kermani. Her performances are rare in Pakistan, and tightly controlled by the government. She practices Indian classical dance, a sensual form of movement that goes against Islamic fundamentalist attitudes toward women and their bodies. Kermani graduated from Croydon College of Art in London and started dancing in Karachi with the Ghanshyan's Dance Troupe. She then went to India to train under several masters of Indian classical dance. She has performed all over the world. She's choreographed two major works.
Arab-American stand-up comics Ahmed Ahmed and Maz Jobrani. They've changed their routines since Sept. 11, cracking jokes about attending flight school and the like. Both have had small parts as terrorists in action films. Jobrani was in a Chuck Norris film and Ahmed was Terrorist #4 in Executive Decision. They live in Los Angeles.
Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Cornershop's new Handcream for a Generation. Cornershop is a British group led by Indian singer-songwriter and producer Tjinder Singh.
He is touring the country promoting his new film, The Bourne Identity, a thriller about a man with amnesia flushed out of the Mediterranean sea, riddled with bullet holes. Damon has been in many hit films, including The Talented Mr Ripley, Saving Private Ryan and Good Will Hunting, which he co-wrote with close friend Ben Affleck.
Science writer Douglas Starr. His book, Blood: An Epic History of Medicine and Commerce, inspired the upcoming PBS series Red Gold: The Epic Story of Blood. The four-part production premieres June 23, 2002. Starr is co-director of the Knight Center for Science and Medical Journalism at Boston University. Starr has contributed to many publications including Time, Sports Illustrated, The Los Angeles Times and Smithsonian Magazine.
She produced and acts in the new film The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys. Foster has won two Oscars for performances in The Silence of the Lambs and The Accused. She was also nominated for her work in Taxi Driver and Nell. She's also served as producer or director on numerous films.
The Corcoran Gallery in Washington DC is currently running the first major retrospective of Rivers' work. It's on display through August 19, 2002 and covers five decades of output. He's been called the father of Pop Art, and is considered one of the most important artists in the figurative tradition. Rivers was part of a loosely knit association of poets and painters who were young, poor and ambitious in New York in the 1950's.
National security expert Loch Johnson. Hes written several books about intelligence and the trade-off of personal freedom, including Bombs, Bugs, Drugs and Thugs: Intelligence and Americas Quest for Security. Johnson is a professor of political science at the University of Georgia. He has served on several US Senate committees on Intelligence.
