Government & Politics

Journalist Milton Viorst of the New Yorker reports on the Middle East. In April, he was in Bagdad to observe the state of Iraq several months after the end of the conflict.

Film critic Stephen Schiff Reviews "The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear," a police movie parody starring Leslie Nielsen and Priscilla Presley.

The Soviet Union just withdrew from Czechoslovakia. We talk to two people about what affect this will have on the literary culture in that country. Czech writer Ivan Klima was one of Czechoslovakia's leading dissident writers, and was recently elected the president of the Czech chapter of PEN. Michael March organized an international book and writers' festival in Prague last month.

Investigative journalist Marc Reisner's new book, "Game Wars," chronicles the work of undercover agents trying to stop the illegal hunting and sale of endangered species. According to Reisner's research, this work is more dangerous than being a city cop.

On the eve of the 7th International Conference on AIDS, we talk with the man in charge of the previous conference, Doctor Robert Wachter. Wachter's new book, "The Fragile Coalition," chronicles Wachter's struggle to make the conference a forum for both scientists and AIDS activists.

Book critic John Leonard reviews "Open Letters," the new collection of writings by the playwright and former President of Czechoslovakia.

Poet and NPR commentator Andrei Codrescu. Codrescu's new book, "A Hole In The Flag," examines how the exuberance in his native Romania after the overthrow of Ceausescu turned to cynicism, and with the realization that Ceausescu's overthrow changed nothing.

We examine the state of human rights in post-war Kuwait with Ken Roth, the deputy director of Human Rights Watch. He just returned from a nine day visit to Kuwait.

Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch Ken Roth just spent nine days in Kuwait observing the trials of persons accused of being collaborators with the Iraqis.

For more than a decade, Sciolino has been reporting on the Middle East. She was one of the few American journalists who recognized the danger of Saddam Hussein before the invasion of Kuwait. She currently is a diplomatic correspondent covering U.S. foreign policy and national security issues for the New York Times. Her new book is "The Outlaw State: Saddam Hussein's Quest for Power and the Gulf Crisis."

Cannon is Los Angeles correspondent for the Washington Post. As a reporter for the "San Jose Mercury News," and later as "The Washington Post" White House correspondent, he covered Ronald Reagan as Governor and President. He's just written a third book about the Reagan presidency, called "President Reagan: A Role of a Lifetime."

The travel writer has a new book called "Wall to Wall: From Beijing to Berlin by Rail." She took the trip five years ago as reforms were beginning to be implemented in the Soviet Union, and before the government crackdown in Tiananmen Square and the Eastern European revolutions. She's particularly interested in what it's like to travel abroad as a woman alone.

Dr. Irving Rust's Planned Parenthood clinic in the South Bronx challenged a ban on federally funding family planning clinics giving information on abortion. The case went to the Supreme Court last week, and the court upheld the lower court decision. Terry talks with Dr. Rust about his work at the clinic and his experience going before the Supreme Court.

Author and professor Padraig O'Malley's most recent books is called "Biting At the Grave," about the IRA hunger strikes in 1981 that ended in 10 deaths. O'Malley challenges conventional wisdom on each side of the conflict. Formal talks between Protestant and Catholic political leaders over the future of Northern Ireland are to begin next Monday.

Soviet emigre David Gurevich is the author of "From Lenin to Lennon," a memoir about growing up in the 1960s. As a young person in Russia, he became an enthusiast of American pop culture.

Part two of the Frank Smyth interview. He is a freelance reporter who has worked for the Village Voice and CBS News. He and photographer Gad Gross were traveling with the Kurds in Iraq when they were pursued by Iraqi soldiers--Smyth was captured and Gross was killed.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews, "Backdraft," the new film about firefighters by director Ron Howard. Schiff says it's full of cliches, but genuinely moving in its portrayal of heroic masculinity.

Smyth is a freelance reporter who has worked for the Village Voice and CBS News. He and photographer Gad Gross were travelling with the Kurds in Iraq when they were pursued by Iraqi soldiers--Smyth was captured and Gross was killed.

E.J. Dionne's new book is an analysis of what's gone wrong in American politics. He will soon start publishing a column in the Washington Post.

Dees co-founded the Southern Poverty Law Center and has been involved in civil rights cases for years. In 1988 he made legal history when he fashioned a seven million dollar verdict against the Klu Klux Klan that effectively bankrupted the group. He has a new memoir out, called "A Season for Justice: The Life & Times of Civil Rights Lawyer Morris Dees."