Government & Politics

Helen Prejean's book, "Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States" (Random House) details her experience working with death row inmates in Louisiana. Prejean has come to believe that the death penalty is not only ineffective as a deterrent, but that the government can't be trusted to decide who should live and who should die. Prejean is a Roman Catholic nun.

Writer Edward Bunker. Bunker wrote the crime fiction classic "No Beast So Fierce," which first came out in 1973, about a former criminal trying to go straight. The book has been out of print since 1986, and has just been reissued. It was the basis of the film Straight Time, which starred Dustin Hoffman. Bunker spent almost 20 years in jail himself, and used his experiences as the basis of his book. He's also written 2 other novels, many essays, and screenplays for Straight Time and The Runaway Train.

President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of New York City, Alexander Sanger. Terry will talk with him about his work there, and about carrying on the work that his grandmother, Margaret Sanger pioneered. One of the projects they are involved in is training doctors in abortion practices. This is in response to a drop in training programs in OB/GYN residency programs, where it's fallen 50 percent since 1985.

In Bosnia, Cambodia, Somalia, and other countries, the role of U.N. peacekeeping forces is being redefined. Brian Urquhart, former U.N. Under-Secretary General, talks about what these forces are up against and what they can reasonably achieve.

Kristin Clark Taylor worked in the Bush administration, and was the first African-American woman in history to hold that post. She's written a new book about it, "The First to Speak: A Woman of Color inside the White House."

Media and Political Correspondent for The L.A. Times, Tom Rosenstiel. During the 1992 Presidential campaign, he followed the ABC news team to see how the news media and the candidates affected each other and the campaign. His new book is "Strange Bedfellows: How Television and the Presidential Candidates Changed American Politics, 1992."

An author at the pinnacle of the espionage genre, Le Carre has written such classics as "Smiley's People", "Tinker Tailor, Soldier, Spy", and "The Russia House". Le Carre has shifted his gaze to the Gulf War and international arms dealers in his new novel "The Night Manager."

An expert on Central Asia and Afghanistan, Barnett Rubin, Associate Professor of Political Science at Columbia University, and a former Peace Fellow with the United States Institute of Peace He's just returned from three former Soviet republics which have large Muslim populations, which he says are now run by ex-communists. Rubin will also discuss the aftermath of the Afghan War, and how many of the radical Arabs who went to Afghan to help the rebels are now taking their "holy war" elsewhere.

Molly Moore is New Delhi bureau chief for "The Washington Post." She covered the war in the Gulf, traveling with a general and his troops into Kuwait, where she says she witnessed the allied ground attack on Iraqi troops, and the liberation of Kuwait. Moore has written a new book about it, called "A Woman at War."

Journalist David Remnick talks with Terry about the impact of history on today's Russia. Remnick was in Moscow recently and wrote a book called "Lenin's Tomb," which documents his research into the often violent legacy of the Soviet Union.

Executive Vice President of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, Max Richtman. Terry will talk with him about how Clinton's budget proposal will impact Social Security and Medicare. Richtman is critical of Clinton's plan to raise the tax on Social Security benefits.

Morris has always done impressions: he began lampooning the presidents when Reagan was sworn into office. Since then he's impersonated Bush, and Clinton, as well as presidental contenders, Michael Dukakis, Paul Tsongas, and Ross Perot. He brought his act to the White House Correspondents Association Dinner and comedy clubs around the country.

Journalist Stan Sesser is a reporter covering Southeast Asia for the New Yorker. He has collected some of those pieces in a new book "The Lands of Charm and Cruelty: Travels in Southeast Asia." He discusses the recent elections in Cambodia which featured violence, twenty political parties and massive voter turnout

One of Israel's leading journalists, Tom Segev has a new book,"The Seventh Million: The Israelis and The Holocaust," in which he argues that some Israelis use the Holocaust to encourage Israeli chauvinism and aggression. Segev writes a weekly column on politics and human rights for the daily newspaper "Haaretz."

Roberts is Political Analyst for NPR and ABC. The daughter of parents who shared a Congressional seat for a combined total of fifty years, Roberts' star in journalism is rising on radio and TV. In a conversation recorded live before an audience, Terry asks her about covering Congress and how her political upbringing affects her reporting.

TV critic David Bianculli reviews "Wild Palms," the new series coming up on ABC. It's a futuristic drama produced by Oliver Stone.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Dave," the new film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver.

Baca co-wrote the screenplay for the new movie "Bound By Honor," about three young Chicano men from East Los Angeles and the different paths they take as they grow into adulthood. Baca is a Chicano who grew up in an orphanage in New Mexico and ended up in prison at the age of 20. He taught himself to read and write there. His collections of poetry include Black Mesa Poems and Immigrants in Our Own Land.

BBC correspondent Misha Glenny has covered the war in the former Yugoslavia and is the author of the book "The Fall of Yugoslavia." Terry will talk with him about why he thinks there should be no intervention in Bosnia.