Business & Economy

New York Times investigative reporter Kurt Eichenwald. He covered the Enron scandal for the paper as well as related scandals. He's written about white-collar crime and corporate corruption for The Times for more than a decade. Eichenwald is a two-time winner of the prestigious George Polk award for excellence in journalism. He's also the author of The Informant, about the Archer Daniels Midland Corporation.

Journalist Matthew Brzezinski wrote about the global narcotics industry in the June 23, 2002 issue of the The New York Times Magazine. His cover story is, "Heroin: The Sleek New Business Model for the Ultimate Global Product."

Advertising great Mary Wells Lawrence. Her career spans the 1960s to the 1980s, and she created many memorable campaigns. She is responsible for the Alka-Selzer "Plop Plop Fizz Fizz," and the slogan, "I Love New York." Her new book is called A Big Life (in Advertising) (Knopf). She is a member of the Advertising Hall of Fame and the Copywriters Hall of Fame.

French film director Laurent Cantet. He's made two feature films, both of which focus on the world of work, and the toll that work can take on our lives. His first film, made in 1999, was Human Resources. His newest film Time Out is about a middle-aged, mid-level executive who loses his job, but doesnt tell his family. The film has just been released here and has received critical acclaim.

Film critic John Powers reviews the new film Time Out.

Last year, Journalist David Cay Johnston won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the U.S. tax code. He writes about tax inequities, tax loopholes and the IRS for The New York Times. He will talk about how Enron and other large corporations get away with not paying taxes, and how the current economy and the war against terrorism will effect the proposed tax cuts.

Journalist Paul Eisenstein covers the automotive industry and is publisher and editorial director of the The Car Connection Web site, which publishes automotive industry news, opinions and car reviews. Hel talk about the latest car trends (the station wagon is back — though they don like to call it that) and the economic outlook for automakers. The North American International Auto Show — where most manufacturers unveil their new products — takes place in Detroit Jan. 12-21.

Anthony Vidler discusses urban planning and architecture in the wake of the terrorist attacks. Vidler is Dean of the Cooper Union School of Architecture and professor of art and architecture at UCLA.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the words we use to denote a down-turn in the economy.

Book Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg on solutions.

Stock market expert B. Mark Smith. His book is called Toward Rational Exuberance: The Evolution of the Modern Stock Market. Smith is retired stock trader with nearly two decades of experience, first with CS/First Boston Corporation, where he became director, then as vice president of Goldman, Sachs & Co. He explains how the market has evolved from a primitive insiders game to a very public and important institution.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Empire Falls, the new novel by Richard Russo.

Documentary filmmakers Chris Hegedus & Jehane Noujaim. Their new film Startup.com is a Cinema Verite look at the rise and fall of an internet startup company. The film premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival and is now opening in theaters. Hegedus has been making documentaries with veteran filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker for over 20 years. Their films include, The War Room, which chronicles Bill Clintons presidential campaign. Startup.com is Jehane Noujaims first feature film.

Journalist David Cay Johnston won a Pulitzer Prize for beat reporting. His beat is taxes. He writes about tax inequities, tax loopholes and the IRS for The New York Times. In a recent article (April 8, 2001), JOHNSTON wrote about the effect of the estate tax on farmers. The President contends that to help save the family farm, estate taxes should be repealed. JOHNSTON found that very few farmers pay estate tax, and he couldn't find an example of one farm that had been lost because of estate taxes.

Teenagers are the hottest consumer demographic in America. Media analyst Douglas Rushkoff examines the multi-billion dollar marketing industry aimed at teenagers in the new Frontline documentary The Merchants of Cool. (Tuesday, Feb. 27th at 10 PM). Rushkoff is also the author of Coercion: Why We Listen to What They Say (Riverhead books) about how our everyday decisions are influenced by marketers, politicians, religious leaders, and other forces.

Crittenden is a former reporter for The New York Times. Shes the author of the new book The Price of Motherhood: Why the Most Important Job in the World is Still the Least Valued. In the book, Crittenden writes about the cost to mothers when their work is unrecognized and undervalued. For instance, because child care is not counted as labor, caregivers receive no Social Security credits, and as a result they lose out on retirement income. Crittenden spent five years research on her book talking to economists, socicologists, and to mothers.

Tom Kelley is the General Manager of IDEO, a design firm that has created some of the most successful and well-often used products, such as the first Apple mouse, Polaroids I-Zone instant camera, the Palm V pilot, the Crest Neat Squeeze standup toothpaste tube, and the Oral-B soft grip kids toothbrush. The company is known for its innovation, cutting-edge design, and attention to how products are used in real-life situations. His new book is The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, Americas Leading Design Firm.

In his new book Book Business , Epstein gives his insiders take on publishing today. He also talks about how publishing has changed since he entered the business in the early 1950s. Early in his career, Epstein created Anchor Books, which is said to have helped establish the trade paperback format. Epstein was also editorial director of Random House and has edited many well-known novelists including Norman Mailer, Vladimir Nabokov, Philip Roth, and Gore Vidal.

David Kessler is former Commissioner of the US food and Drug Administration. As such, he took on one of the country's most powerful foes: the tobacco industry. They investigated tobacco makers to determine whether nicotine was a drug, and if so, be regulated by the FDA. Kessler's book about it is A Question of Intent: A Great American Battle with a Deadly Industry.