Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz has a review of a never-before-recorded Kurt Weill (Vile) opera. Weill is best-known for his collaborations with playwright Bertolt Brecht, such as "The Threepenny Opera" and "The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahogany".
Computer expert Clifford Stoll. When Stoll discovered a 75-cent accounting discrepancy in his work as systems manager at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, he thought the intruder was a student prankster. But after tracking the hacker for almost a year, Stoll discovered an international spy ring, operating out of West Germany, which sold the data it collected to the Soviets. This is the subject of his book "The Cuckoo's Egg".
Buck Henry. He's best-known as a frequent guest host on Saturday Night Live. Henry's other accomplishments include writing the screenplays for "The Graduate" and "Catch-22," creating the TV series "Get Smart" in collaboration with Mel Brooks, and co-directing the film "Heaven Can Wait" with Warren Beatty.
Rock and roll historian Ed Ward talks about what happened to the blues from 1966 to the present. They were supposed to be dead during this period, but he says there are some eternals that keep going on no matter what.
British crime writer Ruth Rendell. She's written over 30 mysteries which fall into several categories--detective novels with main character Chief Inspector Reg Wexford, psychological thrillers exploring the darker side of the human mind, and a new series of "more feminine, less bossy" mysteries under the pseudonym of Barbara Vine. Her latest novel, "The Bridesmaid," continues in the tradition of the psychological thriller. It's about a young woman who informs her lover that he must prove his love to her by committing murder.
Television critic David Bianculli reviews the last of the new fall shows to premiere. Robert Loggia stars as an F.B.I. detective in a spin off of last year's NBC miniseries, "Favorite Son," called "Mancuso, F.B.I."
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead tells us about a milestone in jazz history -- the 50th anniversary of tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins' recording of "Body and Soul." He says Hawkins was the best tenor saxophonist ever...and "Body and Soul" was his greatest masterpiece.
Commentator Owen Gleiberman (GLY-ber-man) reviews "Bloodsport," a 1987 martial arts film which has just been released on video. The film stars Jean Claude Van Damme, the successor to martial arts film star Bruce Lee. His current film, "Kickboxer," is currently being shown in theaters, but "Bloodsport" is the film that introduced Van Damme to martial arts audiences.
Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews a new David Bowie CD collection. The 46-song retrospective includes Bowie classics like "Space Oddity" and "Changes," as well as some music that's never been released before.
Dmitri Nabokov. Son of writer Vladimir Nabokov and a writer himself, as well as a translator of his father's works. He has just edited a volume of his father's letters dating from 1940-1977. The letters trace Nabokov's struggles beginning with his arrival in America from Russia, to his legal battles over censorship of his most famous novel, "Lolita."
Film director Bill Forsyth. He's the first Scottish director to make internationally successful films, including "Gregory's Girl," "Local Hero," and "Comfort and Joy." His latest film, "Breaking In," has a screenplay by John Sayles and stars Burt Reynolds as a professional safecracker.
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new RCA Victor recording called Marian Anderson: Bach, Brahms, Schubert. The album also includes a recording of Marion Anderson's 1955 debut performance at the Metropolitan Opera singing an aria from Verdi's "A Masked Ball".
Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "An Innocent Man." It stars Tom Selleck as a man falsely accused of being a drug dealer and sentenced to a 6-year term in a maximum-security prison.
British novelist Margaret Drabble. She made a name for herself in the early 60's as one of the first woman writers to make domestic life the focus of her novels. But after the publication of "The Middle Ground" in 1980, Drabble took a seven-year break from fiction to concentrate on revising "The Oxford Companion to English Literature." Since then she has published two more novels, "The Radiant Way" and "A Natural Curiosity," which reflect a shift in focus to more external, societal concerns.
Film director Harold Becker. His latest film is the steamy thriller "Sea of Love," starring Al Pacino. He also directed James Woods in the 1979 film "The Onion Field," a terrifying portrayal of a policeman's murder.
NFL referee Jerry Markbreit (MARK-brite). His book, Born To Referee, is an inside look at the world of football through the eyes of a referee. Markbreit began calling the shots at high school games and made his way up to the pros.
Writer Saul Bellow. His short stories and novels have won him three National Book Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and a Nobel Prize. His newest novel is "The Bellarosa Connection," a story about the meaning of memory.
Novelist Russell Banks often depicts ordinary people coping with difficulties in contemporary society. His new book "Affliction," takes on the subject of male violence, following the story of Wade Whitehouse, "a good man beset by the dark side of the macho mentality." Banks has also written for "Esquire," "Vanity Fair," "The Nation," and other publications.
