Government & Politics

The two time Pulitzer Prize winning novelist joins us to talk about his new book Oswald's Tale: An American Mystery. Mailer says we must ask "Who was Oswald?" as a prelude to asking "Who killed JFK?" The book profiles Lee Harvey Oswald's life. It's Mailer's 28th book.

Rochelle and Anthony Yates. On July 18, 1988 the Yates' five year old son Marcus was killed in gun crossfire between two drug dealers fighting for turf in a corner store. There were 11 children in the store playing video games, two others were shot but survived; one of them was Marcus' six year old brother. Since the incident, the Yates' have become activists against senseless violence; they lecture to high schools, take in foster children who have lost family members to violence, run a day care center and organize community activities to take back neighborhoods.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan review Martin Amis's nimble, cynical novel, The Information.

McNamara has written a book, In Retrospect, which contains the long awaited admission that he felt U.S. policy in Vietnam was wrong and the war was unwinnable. He details the behind-the-scenes decision-making that escalated the war, and the atmosphere of the times which made policymakers feel they had no choice but to do so.

Chip Berlet of Political Research Associates in Cambridge, MA. He has spent 14 years tracking right-wing groups in America. He talks about the connection of militant right-wing militia groups to the Oklahoma City bombing.

Film Critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Kiss of Death." It stars David Caruso, Samuel Jackson, and Nicolas Cage.

David Fisher is the author of the book Hard Evidence, which lays out how the FBI examines evidence to track down bombing suspects.

Patrick Mcguigan, editorial page editor of the Daily Oklahoman. He joins Fresh Air to talk about the Oklahoma City bombing and how he's been covering it in the news.

Robert Jay Lifton is an expert psychologist on mass social trauma and psychological after affects from anger, rage and vulnerability. He directs the center on violence and Human Survival at the City University of New York John Jay College.

An interview with Frank Salomon, a member of the Phoenix Fire Department's Urban Search and Rescue Unit, which is one its way to Oklahoma City to help with the rescue efforts there.

Journalist Steven Waldman is National Correspondent for Newsweek. His new book "The Bill" follows Bill Clinton's plan to revamp the college loan system, from idea to implementation. Clinton first talked about his plan during the presidential campaign, and once he was in the White House, work began on what became AMERICORPS.

Penny was in Congress for twelve years. He's just written a new book about the cultures that modern lawmakers bring to Congress which he says "have gnawed away at the sturdy foundations of republican democracy and trustworthy service that our Founding Fathers bequeathed." Penny's new book is Common Cents, which he wrote with journalist Major Garrett. Penny is now spokesperson for the Concord Coalition, a bipartisan coalition that promotes fiscal responsibility and deficit reduction.

The stars of the Emmy Award winning TV series Sharon Gless (Christine Cagney) and Tyne Daly (Mary Beth Lacy). The two play New York City Police detectives. The series aired on CBS from 1982 to 1988. This Tuesday, the two will be reunited in the two-hour TV movie "Cagney & Lacey: Together Again." "C&G" was the first TV crime show in which the two central characters were female.

Director Winifried Bonengal made the film "Profession: Neo Nazi," which follows Ewald Althans, a rising leader on Germany's neo-nazi scene. Althans is different from the stereotypical neo-nazi: intelligent, successful and well-dressed. The move ignited one of the fiercest debates on documentary film making in Germany's history. It was barred from many states and the distributor was forced to withdraw it from circulation.

World music critic Milo Miles remembers two musicians who were recently assassinated: Rachid Baba Ahmed, a producer and musician of Algerian Rai Music, and Tejano music's Selena.

Terry Gross talks with the Croatian writer about her book Have a Nice Day: From the Balkan War to the American Dream. Part memoir, part short story collection, the book chronicles the writer's transplanted life as a lecturer in Middletown, Connecticut, a world away from the brutal Balkan war.

Kaminer's new book, It's All the Rage offers insights into our culture's larger questions of individual responsibility, victimization, punishment, innocence and guilt. Kaminer is also a contributing editor to the Atlantic Monthly and Public Fellow at Radcliffe College.

Haggard has been on the country music scene since the early sixties and has more number one hits than any country music star except Conway Twitty. Recently, two tribute albums of his songs were released: Mama's Hungry Eyes and Tulare Dust. Haggard was also recently inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Dr. Robert Temple, Director of the FDA's Office of Drug Evaluation. He's a large figure in Thomas Moore's new book, Dangerous Medicine. Moore says Temple let harmful drugs remain on the market virtually unrestricted, even though the risks were known. Temple gives the reason why the FDA let the drugs remain on the market.

Defense analyst and professor Michael Klare, author of Rogue States and Nuclear Outlaws: America's Search for a New Foreign Policy. The book explores the current tendency of the Pentagon to focus on Third World countries as the new threat to U.S. national security. Klare is defense correspondent for The Nation, a frequent commentator on National Public Radio, and Professor of Peace and World Security Studies at Hampshire College.