A discussion with two of the makers of the feminist film "Girls Town," Jim McKay, the co-writer and director, and Lili Taylor, the lead. Taylor plays Patti Lucci, an abused teen mother who struggles to understand the suicide of her friend, Nikki. Patti and her two best friends learn that Nikki killed herself because she was raped--they then boldly confront the man who did it. Taylor recently starred in the film version of "I Shot Andy Warhol;" McKay got his start shooting music videos for REM. "Girls Town" is his first feature film.
Lambert trained for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, but was not allowed on the German team because she is Jewish. She emigrated to the United States in 1937 and worked as a masseuse, maid and physical therapist. That same year, she won the U.S. high jump and shot-put titles. This year, Lambert accepted an invitation by the German Olympic committee to attend the Atlanta Games.
Scientists Dr. Joseph B. McCormick and Dr. Susan Fisher-Hoch. Their book, in collaboration with Leslie Alan Horvitz, is "Level 4: Virus Hunters of the CDC." It's a personal account of this husband/wife team's work with the world's most horrible diseases: Ebola, Lassa fever, Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever, and AIDS. McCormick was instrumental in the creation of the high-tech "hot zone" lab at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta. Fisher-Hoch was a pioneer in research on Legionnaire's Disease, Ebola and Lassa Fever.
Director and writer of the film version of Jane Austen's "Emma," Douglas McGrath. Already known as a playwright, screenwriter and columnist, this is his debut as a director. "Emma" is generally regarded as Austen's most accomplished and wittiest novel--a matchmaker doing all the wrong things for all the right reasons. McGrath is author of the New Republic column, "Flapjack File."
The opera soprano and Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees Barbara Hendricks has appeared on over fifty recordings and has won critical acclaim in performances with all the major opera companies in the world--but she remains a relatively obscure figure in the United States. This is her seventh year with the UN Commission and she says through her music, she has been able "to get people to listen in a way they wouldn't listen to a diplomat or bureaucrat."
Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews two novels from the series,"Old School Books": "The Angry Ones" by John A. Williams and "The Scene" by Clarence Cooper, Jr. "Old School Books" is a reprint series of black pulp novels originally published between the mid 1950s and the 1970s.
Another excerpt from "This American Life" Sarah Vowell tells us about a fan of the Seattle pop-punk band Fastbacks. He's no ordinary groupie, though, and dedicates as much energy to fandom as many performers devote to their music. "This American Life" airs weekly on public radio stations and is produced by Ira Glass at Chicago's WBEZ.
Retired Republican political consultant Ed Rollins has just written a book chronicling his 30 years in American politics, "Bare Knuckles and Back Rooms: My Life in American Politics." He began his political life a Democrat, working for Bobby Kennedy's campaign in 1968. After an experience at a violent demonstration he became a Republican and worked his way up to become President Reagan's top political advisor.
New York Times writer Jason DeParle. He covers poverty and social welfare issues for the Times. This month President Clinton will sign a welfare reform bill that will cut benefits off to recipients after two years. DeParle talks about what changes the new law will bring and about the evolution of the welfare program.
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reflects on some of the performances he saw at this year's Lincoln Center Festival 96. It is a three week festival in New York City that celebrates the performing arts.
Edward Tenner is author of "Why Things Bite Back" from Knopf. It's about the unintended effects that new technological breakthroughs bring. Tenner is also a researcher at Princeton University in the Department of Geological and Geophysical Sciences.
Vilar's memoir "A Message from God in the Atomic Age" chronicles three generations of self-destructive behavior: in 1954, her grandmother was imprisoned for opening fire at the U.S. House of Representatives; in 1977, her mother leapt to her death from a speeding car; and in 1988, Vilar herself was committed to a psychiatric hospital after attempting suicide. Alternating between her notes from the psychiatric ward and the chronicling of the history of her family, Vilar tells of her own attempts to come to terms with her family history.
Posner has just written a biography about the founder of the Reform Party, Ross Perot, called "Citizen Perot: His Life & Times." This month, the party will hold two conventions to decide who will be their candidate for President. Perot is expected to win the nomination. Posner's book is the result of two years of research--including exclusive access to Perot himself. It explores how Perot made his billions, influenced Presidents, rescued his employees from Iran, and much more about the life of this eccentric and controversial business man and politician.
Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Typhoid Mary," by Judith Walzer Leavitt, about the woman unwittingly responsible for an outbreak of typhoid fever in New York City.
