Government & Politics

He is the author of the best-selling novels Clockers, about life in the inner-city world of drug dealing, and Freedomland. Price's new book Samaritan is about a man who returns as a teacher to the New Jersey town where he was raised, and the bad consequences of his good intentions. Price also is a screenwriter of such films as Sea of Love, Ransom and The Color of Money.

Edna Gurewitsch is the wife of the late Dr David Gurewitsch who was Eleanor Roosevelt personal physician from 1945 to her death in 1962. Gurewitsch has written a new book about the close personal relationship that developed between her husband and the former first lady, Kindred Souls: Eleanor Roosevelt and David Gurewitsch, 1945-1962 (St. Martin press). Dr Gurewitsch was a handsome, compassionate man, 18 years younger than Mrs Roosevelt, and she feel in love with him. He didn share those feelings, but they maintained a friendship of devotion and respect.

Journalist James Bennet of the New York Times. He’s the paper’s Jerusalem Bureau Chief. He’s been in the Middle East covering how the crisis there is affecting both Israelis and Palestinians.

Constitutional lawyer Douglas Kmiec supports the new security measures instituted since the September 11th attacks. He is Dean and St. Thomas More professor, at the Catholic University of America. He also was head of the Office of Legal Counsel in the Reagan administration. He can often be seen on PBS's News Hour with Jim Lehrer. His most recent book is "Individual Rights and the American Constitution."

A talk about the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness Program, and other post-Sept. 11 security measures. The Total Information Awareness Program would allow federal agencies to share information about American citizens and aliens through the mining of databases from driver's licenses, bank statements, telephone records and more. Lawyer David Cole thinks such measures violate the American tradition of civil liberties.

New York Times reporter and columnist Lisa Belkin writes the "Life's Work" column for the paper. Her recent article "The Grief Payout" in The New York Times Magazine (Dec. 8, 2002) is about the Victim Compensation Fund set up to benefit the families of victims from the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and examines the controversies surrounding how the money is distributed. Lisa Belkin is also the author of the book Life's Work: Confessions of an Unbalanced Mom.

Journalist Owen Bennett Jones is the author of Pakistan: Eye of the Storm. In the book, he examines the country's turbulent 55-year history. He'll discuss Pakistan's history and its current relationship with the United States. Jones lives in England and has written for The Guardian, The Financial Times and The Independent newspapers and the London Review of Books. He has also reported for BBC Radio and BBC World Television.

This year she received the John Humphrey Freedom Award for her 20-plus years in the field of human rights and democratic development in her country. She was noted for her work to promote women's rights in Nigeria. She helped organize civil protests across the country, demonstrating against the planned adoption of a conservative and discriminatory form of law known as Sharia.

She's the chief diplomatic correspondent. Wright has just returned from Iran, Iraq and Kurdistan. She'll talk about the future of the Persian Gulf if the U.S. goes to war with Iraq and ousts Saddam Hussein.

She's an associate professor of Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the George Washington University. Her area of expertise is the privatization of security and military services.

Investigative journalist Bob Woodward is assistant managing editor of The Washington Post. He's the author of eight nonfiction bestsellers, including All the President's Men and The Final Days — both on Watergate and President Nixon — and The Brethren, about the Supreme Court. For his newest book, Bush at War, he had behind-the-scenes access to the Bush administration in the first 100 days after the Sept. 11 attacks.

In his new book, The End of the American Era: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Geopolitics of the Twenty-First Century, Kupchan argues that the era of American dominance may be coming to an end. This demise will not be brought on by the Islamic world or China, but from an integrated Europe. He says that as Europe's political and strategic goals continue to diverge from those of the United States, Europe will rise as a new rival. Kupchan served on the National Security Council during the first Clinton administration.

Parker stars in two films in theaters now: Pipe Dream and Red Dragon. She's part of the The West Wing cast on TV. She starred in the Broadway hit Proof, for which she received the 2001 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress. Her other Broadway turns include Prelude to a Kiss, How I Learned to Drive and the revival of Bus Stop. Her film credits include Fried Green Tomatoes, Grand Canyon and The Client.

Presidential historian Michael Beschloss. His new book is The Conquerors: Roosevelt, Truman and the Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1941-1945 (Simon & Schuster). In the book he reveals new information on how the Allies won World War II and the efforts behind the scenes of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin to ensure that post-war Germany would never produce another Hitler. Beschloss researched newly opened American, British and Soviet archives for the book.

Head of Afghanistan’s Human Rights Commission, Dr. Sima Samar. She was appointed to the position in July. Previously she served as the country’s first Minister for Women’s Affairs appointed by the interim Afghan government. Dr. Samar is an internationally-renowned feminist and human rights activist. Samar defied the Taliban and continued to operate schools for girls and health clinics in Afghanistan’s provinces and refugee camps in Pakistan. Samar was born in Ghazani, Afghanistan and is a Hazara, one of the most persecuted of the ethnic minorities.

We remember Israel's first ambassador to the United Nations and the United States, Abba Eban. He died yesterday in Israel at the age of 87. This interview first aired Dec. 2, 1992

Journalist Bill Keller is a columnist for The New York Times and senior writer for the magazine section. He just returned from a trip to Russia. Hell discuss Russias position on Iraq

The Cuban Missile Crisis took place 40 years ago this week. We talk with historian and former Kennedy aide Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and Peter Kornbluh who directs the National Security Archive's Cuba Project. The organization obtained newly declassified documents about the Crisis. They've published the information in the new book The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962. The National Security Archive also helped organize the historic 40th anniversary conference held in Cuba last week.

Former White House Director of Counterterrorism Daniel Benjamin has co-authored the book The Age of Sacred Terror with Steven Simon, the former Senior Director of Counterterrorism. Benjamin and Simon began writing the book more than a year before Sept. 11, 2001. As director and co-director at the National Security Council, they saw the rise of al Qaeda. In the book, they warn about the new generation of terrorists and set out to understand the enemy. Additionally, the authors wish to explain how we let our defenses down and what to expect in the future.

Journalist Jonathan Landay co-wrote an article in yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer called "Officials' Private Doubts on Iraq War." Landay and his co-writers say that "Intelligence professionals and diplomats... privately have deep misgivings about the administration's double-time march toward war." The report says the White House is spreading misinformation that includes distortion of Saddam Hussein's ties with al Qaeda, overstatement of international support, and understatement of repercussions of a Middle East war.