Muslim journalist M.J. Akbar is founder and editor-in-chief of The Asian Age, an English language newspaper published in India. He's also the author of five books, including his latest, The Shade of Swords: Jihad and the Conflict Between Islam & Christianity.
He's covered politics, economics and international affairs for The New York Times for over 30 years. He now writes editorials for the paper. In his new book, The Great Tax Wars: Lincoln to Wilson The Fierce Battles over Money and Power That Transformed the Nation (Simon & Schuster) he looks at the battles over "wealth, power and fairness" that led to the establishment of the income tax.
Writer Sarah Vowell is a contributing editor for public radio's This American Life. She's also the author of the book Take the Cannoli, and the new book of her pieces, The Partly Cloudy Patriot
Actress Edie Falco plays Carmela Soprano, wife of Tony Soprano on the HBO drama The Sopranos. The role turned her from a relative unknown to a TV star. She's had roles on Law & Order and Homicide: Life on the Street. She starred in the independent films Judy Berlin, Trust and Laws of Gravity. This interview first aired October 5, 2001.
Cinematographer Gordon Willis created the look of many of the most influential films of the 1970s: Klute, The Godfather I and II, The Parallax View, Annie Hall and Manhattan. He's shot eight Woody Allen films, as well as Pennies from Heaven and Presumed Innocent. Willis is currently participating in the annual Master Class series at the American Museum of the Moving Image in New York .
Performance poet Sekou Sundiata. He is one of New York's notable spoken word artists, blending lyrics of urban dwelling with music. Born in Harlem, he is a professor of English Literature at The New School for Social Research. He's released several CDs of his work, including The Blue Oneness of Dreams and Urban Music. He's published a new journal (in pamphlet form), Heart: Human Equity Through Art.
Robert Jay Lifton is Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology at the Graduate School University Center and director of The Center on Violence and Human Survival at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at The City University of New York. He's written books on many topics, including the Japanese cult which released poison gas in the Tokyo subways, Nazi doctors, Hiroshima survivors and Vietnam vets.
Greg and Lauren Manning. During the attacks on the World Trade Center, Lauren Manning was badly burned. While she was in the hospital, her husband, Greg, sent daily e-mails to friends and family chronicling Lauren's progress. They've been collected in the new book, Love, Greg & Lauren: A Powerful True Story of Courage, Hope, and Survival.
Singer, songwriter and guitarist Richard Thompson first became known for his work with Fairport Convention. He's since gone solo and is known for his dark songs which blend elements of British folk ballads and the blues. He's released a number of solo albums, Mirror Blue and Rumor and Sign. Rykodisc also compiled a retrospective of his work, Watching the Dark: The History of Richard Thompson. Currently, Thompson is performing a show he calls A Thousand Years of Pop Music, which includes British and American folk songs, jazz and pop.
Jazz singer and guitarist John Pizzarelli. He's played in cabarets and jazz clubs around the world, and co-starred in the Broadway revue Dream: A Salute to the Songs of Johnny Mercer. Pizzarelli usually performs with his trio, modeled on the Nat Cole Trio, featuring guitar, piano and bass. His latest CD is Rare Delight of You: John Pizzarelli with the George Shearing Quintet.
New York-based writer Paul Auster is the author of 10 novels. His latest is The Book of Illusions. For a year beginning in October 1999, Auster gathered stories sent to him by men and women across the United States. The stories were all true, short and personal. As part of NPR's National Story Project, Auster read them over the air. Those stories were collected in the book, I Thought My Father Was God. Auster also wrote the screenplays for Smoke and Blue in the Face.
Novelist Michael Cunningham. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his recent novel The Hours. Cunningham's new book, Land's End: A Walk in Provincetown, is about the town he fell in love with as a young man, has lived in and returned to, Provincetown, Massachusetts. Cunningham is also the author of A Home At the End of the World.
New York City Police Detective Dave Fitzpatrick. He took thousands of photographs on Sept. 11, many of them from a police helicopter high above the city. He also spent two months at Ground Zero photographing the rescue efforts. Many of his photographs and that of other police officers are featured in the book, Above Hallowed Ground: A Photographic Record of September 11, 2001.
Voice and acting coach Patsy Rodenburg. She's worked with some of the world's leading English-speaking actors, including Judi Dench, Daniel Day-Lewis, Maggie Smith and Nicole Kidman. Rodenburg is the Director of Voice at London's National Theatre and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She's the author of the new book, Speaking Shakespeare, and The Actor Speaks: Voice and the Performer.
