Film maker Michael Uys. His latest project is Riding The Rails which he co-wrote, co-produced, and co-directed. The documentary film recounts the experiences of the more than 250 thousand teenagers who left their homes during The Great Depression and hopped on trains in search for a better life.
In this part of the show...Terry Gross talks with two people who as teenagers who left home and road trains during The Great Depression. Jim Mitchell and Peggy DeHart are both featured in Michael Uys' film Riding The Rails. Mitchell was 16 years old in 1933 when he first board a train. DeHart was 15 in 1938.
The former president of NBC Entertainment Brandon Tartikoff died yesterday at the age of 48 from complications from treatment for Hodgkin's disease. We remember him with a 1992 interview excerpt. While at NBC, he was responsible for such hit series as "The Cosby Show," "Cheer," "Miami Vice," and "Hill Street Blues." He went on to become chairman at Paramount Pictures. He wrote a book about his NBC years, "The Last Great Ride." (Turtle Bay Books). (REBROADCAST from 10/20/92)
Music Commentator Milo Miles looks back on the life of Pakistani musician Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan who died this month at the age of 48. He was one of the world's most famous religious singers. He was a Sufi muslim who performed Qawwali (ku-walee)...a type of devotional song intended to induce ecstasy.
TV Critic David Bianculli reviews two shows appearing on cable tv this weekend. "George Wallace" on TNT and "Snow White" which stars Sigourney Weaver on Showtime.
Saturday Night Live cartoonist Robert Smigel. He’s created such popular segments as The Ambiguously Gay Duo, and Fun with Real Audio. Smigel is no stranger to SNL or comedy TV. He was a writer for Saturday Night Live from 1985-93.
Emily Wortis Leider has written a new biography of Mae West, "Becoming Mae West" (Farrar, Straus, Giroux). Leider’s book examines the early, formative years of West who was famous for witty one-liners, promiscuity, and being censored. Mae West started out as a vaudeville performer before launching a successful career in film. In the 1930’s she starred in "She Done Him Wrong," based on her play "Diamond Lil" and "I'm No Angel," two of her biggest films.
Monty Roberts has been studying horses for his entire life. His extraordinary ability to communicate with them has earned him the title "horse whisperer." He has written a new book about his life from studying wild mustangs in the Nevada desert to demonstrating his horse training methods to the Queen of England. The book is called "The Man Who Listens to Horses: The Story of a Real-Life Horse Whisperer" (Random House). Roberts was featured on "Dateline NBC."
Naturalist and biologist Roger Tabor has studied house cats for twenty years. He has prepared television series on felines for the BBC and has written several books on the subject. His latest book is called "Understanding Cats: Their History, Nature, and Behavior" (Reader's Digest).
Dr. Nicholas Dodman, a veterinary behaviorist, is the author of "The Dog Who Loved Too Much: Tales, Treatments, and the Psychology of Dogs" (Bantam) In the book, he describes his own methods for correcting dog behaviors, such as attacking the telephone when it rings or scaring company, and he includes many stories from his own practice.
Author Cheryl Pearl Sucher is the daughter of holocaust survivors. Her debut novel, The Rescue of Memory (Scribner), draws on her own experiences. It is about a young woman who must come to terms with the impact of the holocaust on her parents and her aunt, who were victims of the camps. (Interview by Barbara Bogaev)
Tara VanDerveer coached the Olympic gold medal-winning U.S. Women’s basketball team. The team’s performance drew large crowds and secured the formation of two professional U.S. women’s leagues: the WNBA and the ABL. VanDerveer has written a book about her own experience as a woman in sports. Its called “Shooting from the Outside: How a Coach and her Olympic Team Transformed Women’s Basketball.” (Avon Books) VanDerveer now coaches the Stanford University Women’s basketball team. (Interview by Barbara Bogaev)
Music critic Ed Ward reviews the new Jimi Hendrix album (yes, you read that right), "First Rays of the New Rising Sun" (Experience Hendrix/MCA) the album he left incomplete at the time of his death.
