Places & Travel

British conductor Simon Rattle. While Rattle has won acclaim for his guest conducting in America and Europe, he is best known for the success of his City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Rattle's success has created a new legitimacy in England for regional orchestras. The orchestra is now touring in America.

Language commentator Geoffrey Nunberg looks back on the long nights he spent in a private club in Rome where the only requirement for membership was that you be a native-English speaker. He reflects on how the language brought together people who otherwise had nothing in common.

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles the work of TK Productions, the Miami recording company that in the mid-70s brought out acts like K.C. and the Sunshine Band ("That's the Way I Like it" and "Get Down Tonight"), George McRae ("Rock Your Baby") and Betty Wright ("Where is the Love"), musicians who combined classic southern rhythm and blues with the up-tempo beat of disco.

Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar. He compares his films, like "Law of Desire" and "What Have I Done To Deserve This?," to the films of the American film director John Waters. Like Waters, Almodovar's films take a humorous view of popular culture's cliches.

New Orleans pianist and singer Mac Rebennack (also known as Dr. John) plays two songs recently made popular by other New Orleans artists. This is part six of a seven-part performance series.

Tango innovator Astor Piazzolla. Since the early 60s, Piazzolla has been leading groups that play an updated tango that connects this Argentinian form with the musical innovations from Europe and America, both classical and contemporary. The adjustments have earned him the enmity of Argentinians, and for most of the 70s he lived in France where he wrote film scores. Piazzolla is a classically trained composer who wrote symphonies and studied with Nadia Boulanger, the renown French instructor of composition.

New Orleans pianist and singer Mac Rebennack pays tribute to one of his own, the New Orleans pianist and singer Cousin Joe. This is the fifth of a seven-part performance series with Rebennack, who is also known as Dr. John.

Film director Alan Rudolph. His films include "Choose Me," "Trouble in Mind," "Welcome to L.A." and "Made in Heaven." His latest film, "The Moderns," which took ten years to make, is set in the ex-patriot community in Paris in the 1920s and features many actors and actresses who have appeared in his earlier films, such as Keith Carradine and Genevieve Bujold and Geraldine Chaplin.

Film director Fran Rubel Kuzui. She's just completed her first film, "Tokyo Pop," about a young American punk singer who moves to Japan in the hopes of reviving her stalled career. (Interview by Faith Middleton)

New Orleans pianist Mac Rebbenack pays tribute to James Carroll Booker, III - his pick as the greatest New Orleans pianist. This is part four of a seven-part performance series with Rebennack, also known as Dr. John.

Illustrator Ralph Steadman. Best known for his collaborations with the journalist Hunter S. Thompson (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), Steadman's cartoons feature an America brainwashed by the mass media and manipulated by its leaders. His ink blob-splattered illustrations lampoon President Reagan, AIDS hysteria, the specter of nuclear annihilation and, of course, Richard Nixon. (Interview by Faith Middleton)

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Bright Lights, Big City," the long-awaited adaptation of the best-selling novel by Jay McInerney about life in the fast lane in New York City. The film stars Michael J. Fox, Kiefer Sutherland and Dianne Wiest.

Television news commentator David Brinkley. For 14 years, starting in 1956, he and Chet Huntley co-anchored "The Huntley-Brinkley Report." He now anchors the Sunday morning ABC news program "This Week with David Brinkley." Brinkley has written an account of how Washington was transformed by America's entry into World War II. The book is titled Washington Goes to War: The Extraordinary Story of the Transformation of a City and a Nation. (Interview by Faith Middleton)

Robert Parrish has at various times been an actor, film editor, director and writer. As a child, he appeared in the "Our Gang" comedies and in Charlie Chaplin's "City Lights." He worked with film director John Ford and won an Academy Award for editing in the film "Body and Soul." He's written two books of memoirs about his Hollywood experiences. (Interview by Faith Middleton)

The third of a seven-part performance series with Dr. John, the New Orleans pianist who is also known as Mac Rebennack.

Hedrick Smith, the Washington correspondent for The New York Times. His new book looks at power and how it works in our nation's capital. (Interview by Faith Middleton)

Violinist Yehudi Menuhin (Ya-hoo-dee Men-you-in). Menuhin's career began early: he was a child prodigy and made his debut in 1924 when he was seven. Since then, he has toured extensively and developed into one of America's most celebrated violinists. In recent years, he has become almost as well known for his deep interest in art, politics, psychology and philosophy. (Interview by Faith Middleton).

Nicholas Daniloff. He was a reporter in the Soviet Union for U.S. News and World Report when he was arrested and accused by Soviet authorities of being a spy. He was eventually released after President Reagan agreed to swap a Soviet KGB agent arrested on charges of spying in New York.