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Doris Lessing Returns to the Africa of Her Childhood

Book critic John Leonard reviews "African Laughter," Lessing's memoir of the four times she visited the country of her birth--now called Zimbabwe--and her impressions of its changing social and political climate.

03:56
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Other segments from the episode on October 12, 1992

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, October 12, 1992: Interview with Stephanie Coontz; Interview with Ron Walters; Review of Doris Lessing's book "African Laughter."
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22:15

Historian Stephanie Coontz on the Myths of Family Values

Coontz has just written the book, "The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap." She uses historical evidence to dismantle the myths about so-called "family values." She says that many of the family problems prevelent today have always been around, and that the survival of the family depends on recognizing and dealing with diversity.

Interview
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16:52

Critiquing the Discourse on Race in the Presidential Election

Political science professor and author Ron Walters has advised the Congressional Black Caucus and been a consultant to Jesse Jackson's presidential campaigns. He is the author of "Black Presidential Politics in America," which offers a history of and strategic approach for blacks breaking into presidential politics.

Interview

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13:25

Writer Doris Lessing on Growing Up in Africa

Lessing is the author of more than thirty books, including, "The Fifth Child" and "The Golden Notebook." She grew up in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), but was exiled for twenty-five years when she began to speak out against the oppressive white-ruled government. Lessing has just written a new book, "African Laughter," a personal story about the trips she took to Zimbabwe between 1982 and 1992.

Interview
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50:27

A Journalist Bears Witness To Mugabe's Massacre

African journalist Peter Godwin returned to his native Zimbabwe in 2008 to follow the presidential election. He writes about President Robert Mugabe's refusal to give up power -- and Mugabe's torture campaign against opposition supporters -- in The Fear.

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21:25

From Zimbabwe, Peta Thornycroft (Still) Reporting

She works in a country where reporters have been harassed, deported, jailed, even tortured. She's subject to all these risks herself — but Peta Thornycroft surrendered her British citizenship and became a Zimbabwean so she could remain in the country and continue to report on the challenges it faces. She's one of the few independent journalists still working in Zimbabwe.

Interview

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