Crime

Author and Journalist T.J. English. His new book is "The Westies: Inside the Hell's Kitchen Irish Mob." From the 1960's to the 1980's the mob led by James Coonan terrorized Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. Testimony from a former hitman of the gang, Mickey Featherstone, eventually broke up the gang. English's book has been called, "a grotesque chronicle" of the gang and "reminiscent of Poe and Dostoyevsky in subject and character," by New York Newsday. English's book is published by Putnam.

Journalist Daniel Akst. His new book is "Wonder Boy Barry Minkow: The Kid Who Swindled Wall Street." While a reporter for the Los Angeles Times and later the Wall Street Journal, AKST showed Minkow in his true light...not a clean-cut teenage success story...but rather the mastermind of a multi-million dollar fraud operation. (published by Scribner & Sons.)

Journalist Ernest Volkman. He and co-author John Cummings' new book "Goombata: The Improbable Rise and Fall of John Gotti and His Gang," chronicles the history of the mofia godfather once proclaimed the "Teflon Don." Since 1986, when Gotti took over the leadership of the Gambino crime family, he's been acquitted in three criminal trials. The latest was an assault and conspiracy trial in New York, in which he was acquitted February 9, 1990.

Writer and critic Nelson George. George is one of this county's most prominent chroniclers of black music. He's the black music editor at Billboard, is a columnist for Playboy, and regularly writes for the Village Voice and Essence. George was the editor of a new book called, "Stop the Violence," a collaboration of today's top rappers working to end black on black violence. George's earlier books include a history of Motown called "Where Did Our Love Go?" and "The Death of Rhythm and Blues."

Writer John Banville. His new novel is called "The Book of Evidence." (published by Scribners). It's a story of crime and guilt. Banville is literary editor of the Irish Times.

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

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."

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

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).

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

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.

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.

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.

Director Alan J. Pakula's adaptation of the bestselling novel lacks the complexity and humor of the book, says film critic Stephen Schiff. The story concerns the murder of a woman lawyer and the difficult, sexually-charged investigation that follows.

Tucker wrote Brown's memoir, The Godfather of Soul, which was recently reprinted. He joins Fresh Air to talk about Brown's rise as a soul singer, the evolution of his stage persona, and his recent conviction and imprisonment, a punishment which Tucker believes is too severe based on the charges.

Kurt Vonnegut's new novel is set in 2001 in a radically reconfigured America. The complex, self-referential plot reveals unique insights into the United State's past, says book critic John Leonard. It's Vonnegut's best book in years.

The season premiere of the supernatural drama has come and gone without answering the question of who killed Laura Palmer. TV critic David Bianculli reviews what we know so far.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new movie about the infamous Claus Von Bulow murder trial. It stars Jeremy Irons, Ron Silver, and Glenn Close

Rhodes is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and journalist who wrote The Making of the Atomic Bomb. His new book is called A Hole in the World, about the abuse he and his brother endured at the hands of his stepmother. Rhodes eventually became a ward of the state, and grew up in a boys' home.

James Fogle was a drug addict who, along with others, robbed drugstores to feed his habit. The film Drugstore Cowboy is based on his autobiographical novel of the same name; the book wasn't yet published at the time of production. It's now in stores. Fogle is currently serving a prison sentence, and joins Fresh Air by telephone.