History

Kim Phuc is the subject of the Vietnam War most famous photo: a 9-year-old girl running naked and screaming down a street. She has just been hit by napalm. Kim Phuc now lives in Canada with her husband and children. The 1999 book The Girl in the Picture, by Denise Chong, tells Phuc story. Wel find out what happened to Phuc after the photo was taken.

Novelist Richard Price reflects on life in New York City post September 11th. He reads an excerpt from an article he wrote for the 11/11/01 Sunday New York Times Magazine, about advice he gave his daughter. Price is the author of the novels Clockers and Freedomland.

Journalist Christopher Dickey is Newsweek magazine Paris bureau chief and Middle East regional editor. His article in the November 19th issue is called "The Saudi Game" and details America complex relationship with Saudi Arabia. Dickey has written a number of critically acclaimed books, including the novel Innocent Blood and the non-fiction works Expats and With the Contras.

Israeli journalist David Horovitz is the editor of the Jerusalem Report. He will discuss how Israelis are responding to the Sept. 11th attacks, the war on terrorism, and the continued violence in the Middle east. Horovitz is the author of, A Little Too Close to God. He was the recipient of the Bai Bai International Award for journalism in 1994.

Ghassan Khatib is the Director of the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center and publisher of Palestine Report Online. He offers the Palestinian perspective on the peace process and post-September 11th events.

Presidential historian Michael Beschloss' second volume on the LBJ tapes is called Reaching for Glory: The Secret Lyndon Johnson Tapes, 1964-1965. Beschloss talks about the tapes and we hear excerpts — including recordings of conversations about Vietnam and the Civil Rights movement. We also hear Johnson speaking with Jackie Kennedy. Beschloss has written five previous books on American presidents and is a regular contributor to The News Hour with Jim Lehrer.

William Wechsler was Special Adviser to the Secretary of the Treasury from 1999 to 2001. He also served as Director for Transnational Threats on the U.S. National Security Council and as Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Clinton. Hel discuss what needs to be done to track the terrorist money trail.

He becomes the music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2003. Formerly music director for the Houston Symphony, Eschenbach is currently Conductor Laureate for that symphony. He is the music director of the Orchestre de Paris and Germanys Hamburg NDR Symphony Orchestra. He has also been the music director of the Ravinia Festival, summer home to the Chicago Symphony since 1994. He was named director for the Philadelphia Orchestra in January of this year.

Former New York Times Balkans Bureau Chief and Middle East Bureau Chief, Hedges is currently a correspondent for that paper. In the past few weeks, hes been covering terrorist cells in France and Belgium. He recently published a piece in Harpers Magazine called "A Gaza Diary." He lives in New York.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg reflects on "The Star Spangled Banner" and possible alternative anthems that would be less militaristic and easier for everyone to sing.

Journalist Charles Sennott of the Boston Globe. He just returned from Afghanistan. He is also the author of the new book, The Body and The Blood: The Holy Land Christians At the Turn of a New Millennium (PublicAffairs). Sennott was the Globe Middle East bureau chief, and is currently the Globe Europe bureau chief and lives in London.

Psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton is an expert on terrorism and cult groups. He the author of the book, Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism about the Japanese cult group that released sarin nerve gas in the Tokyo subways. Lifton will soon join the Harvard faculty as a visiting professor.

Singer and songwriter Loudon Wainwright III. He has a new CD, Last Man on Earth and a new role on the hit FOX TV series, Undeclared. He plays a dysfunctional father on the show. Loudon Wainwright III grew up in the town of Bedford in wealthy Westchester County north of New York City. He became a folk singer/songwriter in the late '60s, singing humorous and autobiographical songs. In 1972, on his Album III he scored the top-40 hit "Dead Skunk." Many of his songs have been featured on NPR Morning Edition.

Professor of structural engineering at the University of California at Berkeley, Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl. He is a member of a team assembled by the American Society of Civil Engineers to investigate the World Trade Centers site. He recently received a grant from the National Science foundation to study the remains of the at the site. His findings will be used in engineering studies to help improve the structural integrity of buildings. Astanneh also has done research on bomb-resistant designs, following the bombing of the Oklahoma Federal Building.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg on the language of religious fundamentalists.

For today's entire show we excerpt portions of The New Yorker magazines benefit program Beyond Words in which New Yorker writers read the work of others on-stage. (Taped Thursday, Oct. 11 at Town Hall in New York City). Beyond Words benefits The September 11th Fund. David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker introduces the readings.

Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid. He's the author of the book, Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil, and Fundamentalism in Central Asia (Yale University Press-2000). Rashid's book has been called the most in-depth study of the Taliban. Rashid is a correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review and the Daily Telegraph, reporting on Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia.

After Maine Senator George Mitchell left office, he chaired the Northern Ireland peace talks. His book, Making Peace, is about his work on that negotiation. He recently headed an international panel examining the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians.

His new book is Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade (Doubleday). It's the story of the battle for the Holy Land in the late 12th century. It begins as a dual biography of Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt, Syria, Arabia and Mesopotamia, and Richard I, King of England, known as the Lionheart. The two men led the battling Islamic and Christian armies. James Reston is also the author of twelve books, including The Last Apocalypse and Galileo: A Life. He is currently a scholar in residence at the Library of Congress.

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.