Government & Politics

Frank Friel was the co-director and chief investigator of the Philadelphia Police/FBI Organized Crime Task Force, which dismantled the Nicodemo Scarfo-led mafia in the 1980s. The gang's violent acts terrorized the Philadelphia area; they also infiltrated Atlantic City's casinos. Friel has a new book about that time, called Breaking the Mob.

Critic Owen Gleiberman reviews The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, which stars comedian Andrew Dice Clay as a rock and roll detective. Gleiberman calls the movie monotonous; Clay's performance, like his standup, is crass, but not without charisma.

Former NYPD officer Vincent Murano worked in the Internal Affairs Division, and went undercover to investigate crooked cops. His new book details his methods and some of his more memorable cases.

Book critic John Leonard reviews the memoirs of Andrei Sakharav, a Russian scientist and political dissident who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975. Leonard says the book is more than autobiography -- it's a guide for global citizenship.

Commentator Leslie Savan says that American corporations have a vested interest in breaking into Soviet Bloc markets -- and they're spreading their capitalist message through TV ads.

Film critic Owen Gleiberman says the original Die Hard succeed in part because it was tightly plotted and plausible -- for an action movie. But it's hard to imagine Bruce Willis's John McClane fighting terrorists throughout the sprawl of Washington, D.C.

A new edition of photographer David Douglas Duncan's 1951 book This is War, which captures images of Marines in Korea, has just been published. Duncan is also known for his several photos of Pablo Picasso.

Writer, poet, and commentator Andrei Codrescu. His thoughts regularly appear on "All Things Considered," and he also recently reported for ATC on the changes in his native country, Romania.

Part two of a two-part interview with architect Andrés Duany (pronounced ahn-drays due-wahn-nee). Duany's specialty is taking on the American suburb. He eloquently argues that the burbs stifle the quality of everyday life, and today he gives concrete proposals on ways to make our neighborhoods livable again.

Attorney David Cole. Cole is a staff attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights, and has recently taken part in court cases involving flag burning and controversial art exhibits.

Book critic John Leonard reviews "Magic Lantern," journalist Timothy Garton Ash's account of the democracy movement in Eastern Europe.

Artist David Wojnarowicz (voy-nah-ro-vich). His work has twice been the cause of controversy, once, when a political essay accompanying his work caused the NEA to suspend funding to a gallery, and more recently, when a conservative organization excerpted parts of his work to dramatize what it calls pornographic art. Wojnarowicz is now suing that organization for copyright infringement and libel.

Television critic David Bianculli reviews the season premiere of "POV," public television's series of independent documentaries.

Police Chief Anthony V. Bouza. Formerly the Police Chief for the Bronx, and Minneapolis. He's just written a book, "The Police Mystique: An Insider's Look at Cops, Crime, and the Criminal Justice System," (published by Plenum).

Reverend Joseph Ingle. He directs the Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons and ministers to death row inmates. "Last Rights," published by Abingdon.

Veteran journalist Dusko Doder. Doder and co-author Louise Branson have just written a comprehensive biography of Mikhail Gorbachev, titled, "Gorbachev: Heretic In the Kremlin." It's published by Viking. Dusko Doder is the former Moscow Bureau chief for the Washington Post. Branson covered the Soviet Union for the Sunday Times of London.

Stand-up comic Jimmy Tingle.

Journalist James Adams. He's the Defense Correspondent and Associate Editor of The Sunday Times of London. His new book on the arms race is "Engines of War: Merchants of Death and the New Arms Race."

Journalist and broadcaster John Chancellor. He's currently senior commentator for NBC News. Chancellor's new book is "Peril and Promise: A Commentary on America." (published by Harper & Row).

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg examines what has happened to underworld slang. He says it no longer thrives the way it did in centuries gone by.