Documentary producer, Glenn Holsten who's recent documentary, "Mothers who March" focuses on the lives and commitment of four mothers who've lost children to Aids. It debuts on PBS television nation-wide tonight (Tuesday May 7).
Actress Lili Taylor the lead character in the new movie "I Shot Andy Warhol" The film is based on a true story and Taylor plays the outraged feminist loner Valerie Solanas, who shot Andy Warhol in June 1968.
Actress Frances McDormand who's currently appearing in the reality-based crime drama, "Fargo." She plays a pregnant chief-of-police in a rural Minnesota town who is confronted by her first homicide investigation. Her previous movies include, "Raising Arizona" and "Mississippi Burning."
Author and Professor of Law, James Boyle. What are intellectual property rights and who owns your genetic information? In his book "Shamans, Software and Spleen" (Harvard University Press), James Boyle explores the dilemmas posed by the information age - the ethical, legal and economic implications of who owns and controls access to information. (Interview by Barbara Bogaev).
Linguist and author Naomi S. Baron. Her book, "Growing up with Language" (Addison-Wesley publishers, 1992) examines the process by which children learn to use language. Baron is Professor of Linguistics and associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at the American University in Washington DC. (Interview by Barbara Bogaev)
Restaurant-owner and chef, Mai Pham. Born in Vietnam and raised in Thailand, Pham came to the United States in 1975 and became the first Vietnamese journalist in this country. Her first cookbook, "The Best of Vietnamese and Thai Cooking" (Prima) is a collection of recipes coupled with memories and reflections of life and food in South East Asian culture. Subtitled, "Favorite Recipes from the Lemon Grass Restaurant and Cafes", the book includes 150 of Pham's recipes that have drawn accolades for her three Sacramento restaurants
Novelist Terry McMillan. The film adaptation of her 1992 novel, "Waiting to Exhale" was last year's box office hit.The book sold nearly 4 million copies. McMillan has recently completed her fourth novel, "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" (Viking) which is available in bookstores this week. It tells the story of a 42-year old career woman on vacation in Jamaica who falls in love with a 20-year old unemployed resort worker. According to McMillan, "it's as close to autobiography as I've written in a long time".
French Composer Michel Legrand. He composed the score for the 1964 classic French film, " The Umbrellas of Cherbourg." In the film every bit of dialogue is sung to Legrand's music. The film has recently been restored; for years it was unavailable because no decent print existed.
Journalist Richard Kluger. He's written a new history of the tobacco industry in America: "Ashes to Ashes: America's Hundred-Year Cigarette War, the Public Health, and the Unabashed Triumph of Philip Morris." (Knopf). Kluger was literary editor of the New York Herald Tribune. He also wrote for The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.
Center for the Houston Rockets, Hakeem Olajuwon He was born in Nigeria, and came to the United States on a basketball scholarship to attend the University of Houston. He helped the team reach the NCAA Final Four. He's written his memoir, "Living the Dream: My Life and Basketball," (Little, Brown).
Ira Kay is the Practice Director of Watson Wyatt's Executive Compensation Practice. He's also the author of "Value at the Top: Solutions to the Executive Compensation Crisis" (Harper Collins).
Compensation expert Graef Crystal. He used to design compensation packages for CEOs. But he's since become critical of the widening gap between what top executives make and what workers do. He recently conducted a preliminary survey of executive compensation in the nation's largest corporations. The survey found that the pay of chief executives has been rising, while that of workers has stagnated.
Classical Music Critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews the new two-cd set of a 1962 performance of the opera "Susannah." It features the legendary American soprano Phyllis Curtin. The cd set is available on the VAI label. Schwartz is Classical Music Editor of the Boston Phoenix.
Poet Donald Hall. A year ago, his wife, poet Jane Kenyon died of leukemia. There's a new collection of her work, "Otherwise: New & Selected Poems" (Graywolf Press). Hall will read from the book, including the last poems she wrote, and discuss their life together. Hall also has a forthcoming book of poetry, "The Old Life," (Houghton Mifflin) to be published in June.