September 11, 2001

Documentary film director Ric Burns. He directed the 7-part Emmy-awarded winning PBS series, New York: A Documentary Film. The last two episodes of the series air on most stations September 30th and October 1st. Also commentator Peter Quinn who appears in the film. Quinn is a novelist, essayist and third generation Irish-American. He is the author of the historical novel Banished Children of Eve.

Anthony Vidler discusses urban planning and architecture in the wake of the terrorist attacks. Vidler is Dean of the Cooper Union School of Architecture and professor of art and architecture at UCLA.

Journalist Mark Bowden is a staff writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer. He is the author of the award-winning bestseller Black Hawk Down about the 1993 ill-fated mission by the U.S. in Somalia. Theres currently a film adaptation of the book. Hes also the author of Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the Worlds Greatest Outlaw an investigation into the U.S. government's role in bringing down Colombian cocaine kingpin and terrorist Pablo Escobar. Bowden will talk about the U.S. military strategy in the war against terrorism.

The arts organization brought art, dance, and performance to World Trade Center Plaza. They had offices in WTC building five; a number of their artists had studio space in tower one. One of their artists, sculptor Michael Richards was killed in the attack. Liz Thompson was at a meeting in tower one when the attack took place.

TV critic David Bianculli reflects on televisions coverage of the attacks and the aftermath, and the transition to the new TV season next week.

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. He covered the Middle East for many years, work that won him two Pulitzer Prizes. He's also the author of the book, From Beirut to Jerusalem. The book looked at the inside of Arab and Israeli power circles, and examined the intefadeh and the perceptions American and Israeli Jews have of each other.

Religion scholar and former nun Karen Armstrong. She is the author of many books, including, A History of God, an examination of the fundamentalist movement in Christian, Jewish, and Islamic faiths and Islam: A Short History. She's also the author of the bestsellers Jerusalem, and The History of God.

Journalist Ralph Blumenthal writes for The New York Times. He covered the trial following the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. He’ll discuss the information about the workings of Osama Bin Laden’s organization that came to light during the trial.

Journalist Benjamin Weiser (“WHY-zir”) writes for The New York Times. He covered the trial of the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at the University of Omaha, Thomas E. Gouttierre. He also served on the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission to Afghanistan, and is the American specialist on Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and South Asia at the meetings of the US-Russian Task Force on Regional Conflicts.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers how the September 11th attacks and the aftermath have affected the way we talk.

Cartoonist Bill Griffith traveled to Cuba last fall, which became the inspiration for "Cuba Uncovered", a month long series of Zippy strips on the Cuban situation. He created the strip over 25 years ago; it is currently syndicated in over 200 newspapers. Griffith is also one of the cartoonists interviewed in the new documentary, "Crumb."