Mexico

Critic at large John Powers says there's an explosion of literary talent coming from Mexico. He reviews two new novels by Mexican writers.

The cartels' business models are similar to those of big-box stores and franchises, says Tom Wainwright, former Mexico City bureau chief for The Economist. His new book is Narconomics.

Journalist Alfredo Corchado covers Mexico for the Dallas Morning News. His new book, Midnight In Mexico, is part memoir and part recent history of the upheaval in the country. He talks to Fresh Air about the power of the cartels, the rampant corruption and the hopes for the future of Mexico.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews the new comedy Casa de mi Padre, starring Will Ferrell. It's a Spanish-language American film created in the style of a telenovela.

Gerardo Naranjo's gripping film about the Mexican drug war is Mexico's submission this year for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Critic John Powers says it deftly illuminates a society plagued with fear.

Since 2006, 40,000 people have been murdered in Mexico as drug cartels battle each other and the Mexican military. Journalist Ioan Grillo traces how Mexico came to control drug trafficking in El Narco.

Since 2006, more than 60,000 of the weapons used in Mexican crimes have been traced back to the United States. Washington Post investigative reporter James Grimaldi explains how a team of reporters uncovered the names of the top 12 U.S. dealers of guns traced to Mexico.

It's been nine years since Barbara Kingsolver, author of The Poisonwood Bible, has released a new novel -- but is The Lacuna worth the wait? Critic Maureen Corrigan says this personalized perspective on the Red Scare in Mexico reflects the hidden meaning of the book's title: vacancy.

Violence caused by Mexican drug cartels is spilling over the border into the United States. New York Times journalist Randal C. Archibold reports that home invasions and shootings related to the Mexican drug trade are spreading as far north as Canada.

Alejandro Junco de la Vega is the publisher of Mexico's most influential newspaper conglomerate. He discusses the rise of drug-related violence in Mexico and at the Mexican-US border.

Critic-at-large John Powers salutes the Chilean-born writer and the new literary "It" boy, Roberto Bolano, who died in 2003. Bolano's novel, 2666, is a "massive epic of modernity," says Powers.

Landesman is a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine. He investigated the sex slave industry for this week's cover story (Sunday, Jan. 25), "The Girls Next Door." He found that tens of thousands of women, girls and boys are smuggled into the United States from Eastern Europe and held captive as sex slaves in American cities like New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Chicago. Landesman reports that the U.S. government has done little to pursue the traffickers.

Mexican film director Alfonso Cuaron. His new film Y Tu Mama Tambien is set in Mexico and is about two teenage boys and an 'older' woman who set out on a journey. The film has been described as a 'smart and sexy new road movie' and one that transcends the usual teen road-trip genre. Cuaron previously directed two Hollywood movies, A Little Princess, and Great Expectations.

Film critic John Powers reviews Y Tu Mama Tambien. It translates as And Your Mother Too, and it's set in Mexico.

Juan Garcia Esquivel was the icon of space age bachelor music, producing innovative recordings of pop music in the 1950s and sixties. He died in his home in Mexico on January 3rd at the age of 83. In 1994 his work was re-issued on the CD, Esquivel!: Space Age Bachelor Pad Music (Bar/None). Yvonne de Bourbon, one of Esquivel's ex-wives, and a former performer in his live show.

This Friday, George W. Bush embarks on his first presidential trip outside the US. He will travel to Mexico to meet the new president of Mexico, Vincente Fox. We talk about Mexico with Journalist Sam Quinones. He has been covering Mexico for 7 years. His new book is called, True Tales from Another Mexico: The Lynch Mob, the Popsicle Kings, Chalino, and the Bronx. Quinones work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, LA Weekly, and Ms Magazine.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "From Dusk Till Dawn" the new film starring George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, and Quentin Tarantino.

World music critic Milo Miles reviews the new anthology album of Mexican folk violinist Juan Reynoso.

Mexican author Carlos Fuentes. Mexico is in flux. On New Years Day, a violent peasant uprising broke out in Chiapas, and thru negotiations, the Zapitistas (as they call themselves) reached a tentative agreement with the government. Then frontrunner presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio was assassinated as he campaigned in Tijuana. The Mexican government says at least seven people conspired in the killing. Fuentes will discuss recent events in Mexico and the history that shaped them.

World music commentator Milo Miles on the rebirth of rock and roll -- in Mexico.