Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz just returned from Tanglewood, where composer Elliot Carter was a guest of honor at the Festival Of Contemporary Music. Carter will be 90 on December 11, 1998, and his birthday has been celebrated all year long in recordings and performances. Schwartz has a review of the Tanglewood performance.
We discuss the situation in Kosovo with Miranda Vickers, Britain's leading historian of the Albanian people in general and Kosovo in particular. The conflict continues between Serbs and Albanians for control of the region. Vickers is an Albanian analyst for the International Crisis Group set up after the Dayton accords. Her new book is called "Between Serb and Albanian: A History of Kosovo." (Columbia University Press)
The health of the population in Kosovo is in jeopardy as the fighting there continues. We speak with Keith Ursel, the Doctors Without Borders coordinator of the mobile clinic program. During the day, temperatures rise to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The mobile team has gone to treat several thousand people hiding in the Kosovo hills. The refugees have no shelter, very little food or drinking water.
Jeffrey Rosen is the legal affairs editor of The New Republic, where he writes about constitutional politics. He'll talk about how the courts handle perjury, in light of the Monica Lewinsky situation. Rosen is an associate professor at the George Washington University Law School, where he teaches constitutional law and criminal procedure. His essays and book reviews have appeared in many publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly, Constitutional Commentary, and the Yale Law Journal.
Psychologist Shirley Glass talks about infidelity. Glass is a marriage and family therapist who's been cited for her expertise on sexual and relationship problems in the national media. She is working on a book about the trauma of infidelity. Glass answers questions about relationships on the internet, at www.electra.com. She's also been a guest on NPR's "This American Life," hosted by her son, Ira Glass.
We talk about the Chinese tradition of foot binding with photojournalist Beverly Jackson. Her new book is called "Splendid Slippers: A Thousand Years of An Erotic Tradition." (Ten Speed Press) Jackson is a collector of antique Chinese slippers, and will talk about the history, culture and implications of bound feet.
Schiavelli just written a memoir about growing up in Brooklyn, New York. It's called "Bruculinu, America: Remembrances of Sicilian-American Brooklyn, Told in Stories and Recipes." (Houghton Mifflin) Schiavelli is a character actor who's been in the films "Ghost," "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest," "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and "The People Vs. Larry Flynt."
Azim Khamisa and Ples Felix talk about the 1995 shooting incident that brought them together. Assign's 20 year-old son, Tariq Khamisa was fatally shot by Felix' 14 year-old grandson Tony Hicks. Azim Khamisa reached out to Ples Felix in the aftermath and became friends. Azim later founded the Tarik Khamisa Foundation in San Diego and both men work to educate children on the devastating impact of youth violence. Azim Khamisa has written a new book about his experience in "Azim's Bardo: A Father's Journey from Murder to Forgiveness." (Rising Star Press)
Rock historian Ed Ward tells us the tale of Joe Tex, a black man who longed to be a country singer, a preacher who renounced Christianity, and a life-long teetotaler who died of drug and alcohol abuse.
Linguist Geoff Nunberg talks about the new knowledge fad. He says terms that include the word knowledge, like "knowledge workers" and "knowledge assets" are sweeping corporate and academic America.
Carl Sferrazza Anthony is an authority on First Ladies, and the author of a new biography of the determined and unconventional Florence Harding, wife of Warren G. Harding. She met and married Harding while working for a weekly newspaper. It was she who pushed him to the presidency, and then endured his many adulteries. Her husband died after only two years in office but came to be known as the most "scandalous president." After his mysterious death there was speculation that Florence had a hand in his demise.
Kelly made her directorial debut with the documentary "Full Tilt Boogie," a comedy about the making of the Quentin Tarantino action vampire film, "From Dusk Till Dawn." Kelly previously worked on Tarantino's production team for the films "Killing Zoe" and "Pulp Fiction."
Advocacy Director for Physicians for Human Rights Holly Burkhalter talks to guest host Marty Moss-Coane about the plight of women under Afghanistan's Taliban government.
While writer Fred Haefele's re-evaluated his life's priorities during middle-age, he put together an Indian motorcycle from parts. His memoir is called "Rebuilding the Indian."
Zohra Rasekh, Senior Health Researcher for Physicians for Human Rights, co-authored "The Taliban's War on Women: A Health and Human Rights Crisis in Afghanistan." She's identified several discriminatory policies against women in that country, including the demand they wear a burqa at all times outside the home.
Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews a new release of previously unheard Woody Guthrie lyrics put to music by British folksinger-songwriter Billy Bragg. Bragg composed music for the lyrics with the help of the American band Wilco. It's called "Mermaid Avenue." (Elektra)
