History

Blanche Wiesen Cook is the author of the new biography "Eleanor Roosevelt: Volume 2 1933-1938. (Viking) This edition covers The Great Depression, the New Deal, and the build-up to World War II. Cook a professor of history at the Graduate Center, City University of New York. She is author of "Eleanor Roosevelt," "Crystal Eastman on Women and Revolution," and "The Declassified Eisenhower."

John McAuliff and Sophie Quinn-Judge reflect on their time in Vietnam and discuss the current situation in the region.

Novelist Anthony Cave Brown discusses his latest novel and the role of the intelligence community in World War II.

John Dean, former White House Counsel for Richard Nixon, discusses his new book "Blind Ambition" and the Watergate scandal.

Ralph Flood introduces a talk given by I. F. Stone at La Salle University on the intelligence network in the United States.

Ralph Flood introduces a talk given by I. F. Stone at La Salle University on the intelligence network in the United States.

Fresh Air broadcasts a lecture featuring poet Dennis Brutus, who reads his works and explains his literary influences and the experience of being a writer in South Africa during apartheid.

Ralph Flood speaks with two groups of protestors gathered at City Hall in Philadelphia. They oppose Jimmy Carter's 1979 budget proposal and the First Bank of Pennsylvania's support of Food Fair in spite of a strike, respectively.

Richard Ben Cramer, foreign affairs journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner, has spent extensive time traveling to and reporting on the Middle East. He has reported on Israel, Egypt, and Lebanon, and his stories often focus on individuals. He joins the show to discuss his work and the situation in the Middle East.

Writer William Hinton wrote the acclaimed book Fanshen, about life in a Chinese village. He talks about life in China after the Cultural Revolution.

South African folk singer Tony Bird performs his songs for Fresh Air and answers questions about the political dimensions of his art.

Author Jerzy Kozinski's new novel, Passion Play, is about polo and middle age. He talks about adopting the English language, sexuality in his fiction, and the state of the publishing industry.

Writer Christopher Cerf co-edited a humorous speculative history called The 80s, which anticipates what happens in the coming decade. Fresh Air listeners and host Terry Gross discuss a number of whimsical predictions.

Writer and cartoonist Jules Feiffer recently published a novel called Tantrum, which follows the story of a middle-aged father who becomes a two-year-old. He shares his take on the culture of the 1970s and writing the screenplay of the upcoming Popeye film.

In light of the Iran Hostage Crisis, the Department of Justice is considering requiring all Iranian students in the U.S. to report to the I.N.S. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed suit in response. A.C.L.U. executive director Ira Glasser explains how checks on government help protect constitutional rights.

The elite class shaped Philadelphia and Boston in important ways. Scholar E. Digby Baltzell examines how and why.

Deirdre English is an investigative journalist for Mother Jones magazine. She discusses her problems with the film Apocalypse Now, violence against women, pornography and the cultural impact of feminism.

President Richard Nixon's White House Counsel John Dean served time for his role in the Watergate affair. He reflects on his new life as a writer, his reputation and how he has since distanced himself from Washington politics. WUHY reporter Ralph Flood later joins the conversation.

Part 1 of Fresh Air's interview with G. Gordon Liddy. Liddy became a writer after he was released from jail for his role in the Watergate scandal. Now that all statutes of limitations have passed, he speaks frankly about the affair, as well as his views on protest and law-breaking. Fresh Air callers join the conversation.

Writer Todd Gitlin explains how media portrayed and often misrepresented the political activities of Students for a Democratic Society and other activist groups associated with the 1960s' New Left.