Former Istanbul bureau chief for the New York Times, Stephen Kinzer. He written the new book Crescent & Star: Turkey Between Two Worlds, (Farrar, Straus & Giroux). He describes a country caught between the entrenched ruling elite and its younger, well-educated population who want democracy. He describes a country of talented –writers, thinkers, university professors and business executives— who have been excluded from positions of power. Kinzer is currently the Timesnational culture correspondent based in Chicago.
Nick Lowe brings his guitar to the studio for music and conversation. The British singer-songwriter and producer has had a long and varied career. In the late sixties, he played bass and sang for the pop band Kippington Lodge. In the seventies, he produced albums for Graham Parker and the Rumour, The Damned, Dave Edmunds and Elvis Costello. Lowe co-founded Stiff Records, one of the premier labels for punk rock. Then, his own solo career took off with the release of the single "I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass." He has continued to both produce and sing.
Lawyer and humanitarian aid worker John Sifton. He was working in Pakistan and Afghanistan earlier this year. He returns to Pakistan soon. His story about what he observed as a humanitarian worker in Afghanistan is featured in this Sundays (Sept 30th) issue of the New York Times Sunday Magazine.
Documentary film director Ric Burns. He directed the 7-part Emmy-awarded winning PBS series, New York: A Documentary Film. The last two episodes of the series air on most stations September 30th and October 1st. Also commentator Peter Quinn who appears in the film. Quinn is a novelist, essayist and third generation Irish-American. He is the author of the historical novel Banished Children of Eve.
Anthony Vidler discusses urban planning and architecture in the wake of the terrorist attacks. Vidler is Dean of the Cooper Union School of Architecture and professor of art and architecture at UCLA.
Professor of Politics with an expertise on the Arab World, Mamoun Fandy. He teaches at the Near-East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University. He written for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and regularly for The Christian Science Monitor. His latest book is Saudi Arabia and the Politics of Dissent.
Linguist Geoff Nunberg on the practice of giving names to military operations, like the misconceived Operation Infinite Justice that was pulled from use.
Our new U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins. His new collection of poems is Sailing Alone Around the Room (Random House). His other collections include Picnic, Lightning (Univ of Pittsburgh), The Art of Drowning (Univ of Pittsburgh Press), and Questions about Angels (William Morrow & Co). John Updike says of Collins' poetry, "Billy Collins writes lovely poems...
Executive director of the USA division of the French medical relief organization Doctors without Borders, Nicolas De Torrente. During August, he was in the Northern Territory of Afghanistan checking on the work of the organization. To do their work, Doctors without Borders had to negotiate with the Taliban. After the attacks, the organization had to evacuate all foreign workers out of the country, leaving their Afhani staff behind. De Torrente was flying to JFK airport on Sept. 11, and his plane was one of the last international planes to land in the U.S.
Journalist Sebastian Junger. Last year he traveled to Afghanistan to profile Ahmad Shah Massoud, (known as the "Lion of Panjshir"), the legendary leader of the guerrilla war against the Soviets, who had been fighting the Taliban. Massoud was assassinated by Osama bin Ladens associates about two weeks ago.
Journalist Mark Bowden is a staff writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer. He is the author of the award-winning bestseller Black Hawk Down about the 1993 ill-fated mission by the U.S. in Somalia. Theres currently a film adaptation of the book. Hes also the author of Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the Worlds Greatest Outlaw an investigation into the U.S. government's role in bringing down Colombian cocaine kingpin and terrorist Pablo Escobar. Bowden will talk about the U.S. military strategy in the war against terrorism.
Film director Andrew Davis. His films include The Fugitive, and Under Seige. His latest film Collateral Damage starring Arnold Schwarzenegger was about to go into distribution but was pulled after the attacks on the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon.
The arts organization brought art, dance, and performance to World Trade Center Plaza. They had offices in WTC building five; a number of their artists had studio space in tower one. One of their artists, sculptor Michael Richards was killed in the attack. Liz Thompson was at a meeting in tower one when the attack took place.
