Society & Culture

British novelist Julian Barnes takes great pleasure in quoting bad writing, as well as how words often fail to convey their intended meaning. His new book is called Staring at the Sun.

Graham Chapman came out while working on the sketch comedy show Monty Python's Flying Circus. He discusses his activism to support gay rights, as well as the many times the television program lampooned conventional masculinity.

Photographer Bruce Davidson documented each line of New York City's subway system, documenting the people who rode the tracks, including youths, working commuters, and homeless people.

Pat Conroy's abusive father tried to groom him for a career in the Marines. Conroy instead became a novelist who incorporates autobiographical details into his fiction.

Documentary filmmaker Henry Hampton. He produced the television program "Eyes on the Prize," which documents the history of the civil rights movement -- including the impact press coverage had on the cause.

Art Spiegelman is the author of Maus, a book documenting his father's experience during the Holocaust.

Sydney Biddle Barrows' call girl service was shut down in 1984. She now has a memoir about her life as a madam. Barrows joins Fresh Air's Terry Gross to talk about how she recruited and managed the young women who worked for her.

The writer has columns in Playboy and the Village Voice. Her new book -- a satirical take on dating, sex, and fashion -- is called But Enough About You.

Feminist writer Gloria Steinem has a new book about actress Marilyn Monroe. Steinem was initially disgusted by Monroe's portrayal of some onscreen. Now she has a more sympathetic view toward the late actress's talent and vulnerability.

Ms. Magazine cofounder Letty Cottin Pogrebin's new book explores the roles friendship plays in our lives.

The musician moved from Philadelphia moved to New York to broaden her career opportunities. She considers how gender and her biracial background have affected her standing in the jazz scene.

Scandals involving Robert Bauman's alcoholism and soliciting of an underage male prostitute heralded the end of this career as a Maryland congressman. He writes about the experience and how he came to peace with his identity in his new book, The Gentleman from Maryland.

Gail Lumet Buckley is the daughter of groundbreaking African American actress Lena Horne. Buckley's new book, The Hornes, traces her family's history from the Civil War to contemporary New York, untangling the unique experiences of the black bourgeoisie in the US.

Novelist William Kennedy and his son Brendan collaborated on a children's book called Charlie Malarkey and the Belly-Button. Despite the elder Kennedy's success as a novelist, the two received a series of rejections before finally getting their work published. Kennedy also talks about his recent work as a screenwriter.

Writer and Marine veteran William Broyles visited Vietnam years after the war to help come to terms with his experiences there. He made a point of being honest about his combat role when meeting with different Vietnamese people who survived the war.

Cinematographer and film director Garrett Brown has created the "Philadelphia: Getting to Know Us" advertising campaigns. He returns to Fresh Air to discuss why he wanted to show both the "grimy outskirts" and "scrubbed-up insides" of his home city.

The Nobel Prize-winning writer's formative experiences were informed by war in Eastern Europe, an itinerant childhood, and American novels and films. He has lived in the United States since 1960.

Independent filmmaker Spike Lee's first feature, She's Gotta Have It, has garnered critical adulation and popular success. He joins Fresh Air to discuss his experiences as a black director, having an all-black cast, and making a movie that deals frankly with women's sexual desires.

John Phillips, who led The Mamas and the Papas, has a new autobiography, which details the tensions, drug use, and affairs that ultimately led to the band's demise.

Broadcast journalist Robert MacNeil is producing a new television series called The Story of English, which examines how the language is changing. His experience working in three Anglophone countries--Canada, England, and the United States--has given him unique insights into the subject. He joins Fresh Air's Terry Gross to talk about his experiences as a journalist in conflict zones, as well as his start in television broadcasting.