History

Writer Roger Bruns discusses hobo culture with Fresh Air's Terry Gross, including migratory patterns, temporary encampments, and social stratification within various communities.

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg considers which phrases and slang from the 1960s endured, and which ones sound dated today.

Film critic Stephen Schiff thinks Brian de Palma's gangster movie showcases both the director's technical prowess and weak character development. Despite its flaws, the film is still enjoyable.

John Nichols' new novel dwells on the horrors of the Vietnam War. Earlier in life, he moved to New Mexico to work as a political activist. Those experiences were the basis of his popular New Mexico Trilogy.

Author Nien Cheng was a wealthy gentlewoman during China's Cultural Revolution. While book critic John Leonard doesn't find Cheng particularly likable, he believes her writing provides a unique and valuable perspective on that history.

Music publicist Derek Taylor was the press agent for the Beatles; he also ghost wrote the memoir of their manager, Brian Epstein. His new book, about 1967 -- when he started working for Apple Records -- is called It Was Twenty Years Ago Today.

The Australian miniseries, about prisoners in World War II, is presented in full in a new home video release. Critic Ken Tucker says it powerfully illustrates the cultural divide between Great Britain and Australia.

Former Democratic congressperson and presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy has a new memoir about his political career called Up 'til Now. He talks to Fresh Air's Terry Gross about the tumultuous Vietnam War years.

The white South African writer hopes that her works have educated her readers about the realities of apartheid in her home country. Her newest book is called A Sport of Nature.

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg tries to untangle the convoluted syntax of the Star-Spangled Banner.

Nicholas Proffitt's book Garden of Stone, inspired by his ceremonial role in the Army during the Vietnam War, was recently adapted into a film by Francis Ford Coppola.

Nadine Gordimer's newest novel, A Sport of Nature, follows a white anti-apartheid worker as she traverses a complicated terrain of sex, race, and politics.

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.

White anti-apartheid activist Helen Suzman identifies ways in which recent reforms passed by the South African government have led to some desegregation. She believes that the recent sanctions advocated by the Reagan administration will have little impact on her home country's racist policies.

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.

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.

Before becoming a writer, Higgins was a journalist and lawyer--two career paths which have strongly influenced his style as a fiction author.

Shearing was born blind and began learning piano at age 4. Both practical limitations and prejudice kept him from playing certain kinds of gigs. But during World War II, while many fellow musicians served in the military, Shearing was given more opportunities to work. He later moved to the United States to further his career.

Veteran football player Rosey Grier never imagined a life in sports, but his imposing figure helped him distinguish himself in the NFL. Later in life, he worked as a bodyguard for Bobby Kennedy, and was present when the presidential candidate was assassinated.