Government & Politics

Journalist Peter Godwin. His new memoir is "Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa," about growing up in Rhodesia in 1964 as the British colony is collapsing. Godwin was formerly a foreign correspondent for the London Sunday Times. He now makes television documentaries for the BBC.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Crows Over A Wheatfield" by Paula Sharp.

Economist Geoffrey Faux iss president of the Economic Policy Institute, and is a contributor to the New York Times, Harper's, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. His new book is "The Party's Not Over: A New Vision for the Democrats."

The former Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus was a five-term U.S Congressman for Maryland, and is of the most respected African American politicians. Earlier this year he was appointed the head of the NAACP. He has a new memoir, "No Free Ride: From the Mean Streets to the Mainstream."

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg has completed a computer-generated summary of a large number of Republican convention speeches delivered this week. The software analyzed the frequency of key words and recurring themes and produced a five sentence platform for the party.

Film critic Lisa Schwarzbaum reviews Hong Kong marshall arts master Jackie Chan's new film, "Supercop."

McKenna has just written "Manhattan North Homicide: The True Story of One of New York's Best Homicide Cops." In his 30 years with the NYPD, he's worked on some of the cities most infamous cases and he describes them in the book: The Central Park Jogger Case, The Preppie Murder Case, The Brooklyn Bridge Shootings, and The Baby Maldonado Case. McKenna worked his way up as a uniformed patrolman to detective first grade to Manhattan North homicide--an elite force within the NYPD.

A discussion with two of the makers of the feminist film "Girls Town," Jim McKay, the co-writer and director, and Lili Taylor, the lead. Taylor plays Patti Lucci, an abused teen mother who struggles to understand the suicide of her friend, Nikki. Patti and her two best friends learn that Nikki killed herself because she was raped--they then boldly confront the man who did it. Taylor recently starred in the film version of "I Shot Andy Warhol;" McKay got his start shooting music videos for REM. "Girls Town" is his first feature film.

Lambert trained for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, but was not allowed on the German team because she is Jewish. She emigrated to the United States in 1937 and worked as a masseuse, maid and physical therapist. That same year, she won the U.S. high jump and shot-put titles. This year, Lambert accepted an invitation by the German Olympic committee to attend the Atlanta Games.

Retired Republican political consultant Ed Rollins has just written a book chronicling his 30 years in American politics, "Bare Knuckles and Back Rooms: My Life in American Politics." He began his political life a Democrat, working for Bobby Kennedy's campaign in 1968. After an experience at a violent demonstration he became a Republican and worked his way up to become President Reagan's top political advisor.

New York Times writer Jason DeParle. He covers poverty and social welfare issues for the Times. This month President Clinton will sign a welfare reform bill that will cut benefits off to recipients after two years. DeParle talks about what changes the new law will bring and about the evolution of the welfare program.

Vilar's memoir "A Message from God in the Atomic Age" chronicles three generations of self-destructive behavior: in 1954, her grandmother was imprisoned for opening fire at the U.S. House of Representatives; in 1977, her mother leapt to her death from a speeding car; and in 1988, Vilar herself was committed to a psychiatric hospital after attempting suicide. Alternating between her notes from the psychiatric ward and the chronicling of the history of her family, Vilar tells of her own attempts to come to terms with her family history.

Posner has just written a biography about the founder of the Reform Party, Ross Perot, called "Citizen Perot: His Life & Times." This month, the party will hold two conventions to decide who will be their candidate for President. Perot is expected to win the nomination. Posner's book is the result of two years of research--including exclusive access to Perot himself. It explores how Perot made his billions, influenced Presidents, rescued his employees from Iran, and much more about the life of this eccentric and controversial business man and politician.

Washington Post investigative reporter Jim McGee has co-written with Brian Duffy the new book "Main Justice: The Men And Women Who Enforce The Nation's Criminal Laws And Guard Its Liberties." It's about the changing role of the U.S. Justice Department. As the fears of terrorism increase, Congress and the White House are giving the Justice Department more investigative powers and a wider jurisdiction which include sanctions in foreign countries.

Earle's new CD is "I Feel Alright" from E-squared/Warner Brothers. He also recently had a song in the movie "Dead Man Walking" called "Ellis Unit One." His new album is called "I Feel Alright." Earle had a past as a drug user and prisoner, but has since turned his life around.

Mitford died of cancer at the age of 78 on Tuesday (July 23). She was considered one of the premiere investigative journalists of her day, a muckraker in the tradition of Sinclair Lewis and John Dos Passos. Her targets included the Famous Writers School, a Midwest correspondence school, and the U.S. penal system ("Kind and Usual Punishment: The Prison Business"). Mitford's most recent book, "The American Way of Birth" (1992), declares that doctors perform too many C-Sections and de-legitimize midwifery.

Puzo's new novel is "The Last Don." He is best known for "The Godfather." This new book returns him to that genre: the inner workings of the Mafia. The main character is an old man trying to secure his family's future in an era of legalized gambling, motion picture investments and the threat of government informers. His goal is threatened by familial in-fighting. The two-time Academy Award winner has also written several screenplays, including are all three Godfathers and Superman I and II.

An update on the investigation of mass graves in Srebrenica. On July 8, a six-member forensic team, coordinated and sponsored by Physicians for Human Rights, began exhuming the graves. Terry Gross talks to Dr. William Haglund, who is in Bosnia. As the lead forensic anthropologist for PHR, he and the other members of his team are working to identify bodies. Haglund is the former Chief Medical Investigator for King County, Washington and an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Washington.

Fresh Air film critic John Power reviews the movie version of John Grisham's novel, "A Time To Kill."

Assistant Professor of Political Science, Sarah Mendelson. She spent a year in Moscow working for the National Democratic Institute. Her work helped the Russian reformist political parties in their preparation of the Parliamentary and Presidential elections. The goal of the Institute is to bring modern Western campaign techniques into Russian elections. Mendelson also talks to Terry about being a young American expatriate in the former Soviet Union. She currently teaches poltiical science at the State University of New York at Albany.