Journalism & Photojournalism

Writer James Traub discusses his new book, The Best Intentions: Kofi Annan and the UN in the Era of American World Power. Traub recounts the intertwined story of Annan, the United Nations and American foreign policy from 1992 to the present. Traub is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine. His other books include City on a Hill and The Devil's Playground.

Peabody award-winning independent radio producer Jay Allison. His radio series include "Life Stories", "Lost and Found Sound" (with The Kitchen Sisters) and the "Sonic Memorial Project." He created Transom.org -- an online resource for newcomers to radio production. Along with producer Dan Gediman he created the "This I Believe" series, currently on NPR, modeled after the Edward R. Murrow series. Many of the essays are collected in a new book, and on CD.

Judea Pearl is the father of slain journalist Daniel Pearl and author of I am Jewish. Professor Akbar Ahmed teaches Islamic Studies at American University. The two are collaborating on a series of interfaith dialogues across the country and abroad. Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan in 2002, while reporting on Islamic extremists. Judea Pearl is a professor at UCLA, and President of the Daniel Pearl Foundation. Akbar S. Ahmed is the author of Islam Under Siege.

Journalist Michael Weisskopf is the senior correspondent for the Washington bureau of Time magazine. In 2003, while on assignment in Baghdad, he threw a live Iraqi grenade from the back of an open Humvee. He saved himself, four soldiers and Time's photographer, but lost his hand. Weisskopf's new book is Blood Brothers: Among the Soldiers of Ward 57.

Reporters Jeff Whelan and Josh Margolin have been covering Jim McGreevey for The Newark Star-Ledger. The two journalists won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005 for breaking the McGreevey story.

Journalist T. Christian Miller of The Los Angeles Times talks about his new book, Blood Money: Wasted Billions, Lost Lives, and Corporate Greed in Iraq. Miller writes, "In almost every way, the rebuilding has fallen short."

Louis Wiley is executive editor of the PBS documentary series Frontline, which has been affected by the Federal Communications Commission's crackdown on indecency in broadcasting. The FCC has increased fines tenfold for material they deem indecent.

Tim Winter is executive director of the Parents Television Council (PTC). Last week, the PTC filed an indecency complaint with the FCC over the NBC broadcast of the Emmy Awards because of language used by actresses Helen Mirren and Calista Flockhart.

Attorney Stephen Weiswasser advises stations on what material may be deemed indecent. He is a partner in law of Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C. He says the FCC guidelines are difficult to interpret.

Journalist Adam Roberts of The Economist talks about his new book, The Wonga Coup: Guns, Thugs and a Ruthless Determination to Create Mayhem in an Oil-Rich Corner of Africa. Roberts tells the story of a group of mercenaries and merchants who hatched a plan to topple the dictatorship of Equatorial Guinea in order to reap the profits from the country's oil resources.

Steven Erlanger, New York Times bureau chief in Jerusalem, joins us to talk about intensified fighting in the region. Erlanger has reported from all over the world, serving in Moscow, Bangkok, Prague and other cities. Prior to his tenure at the Times, he wrote for The Boston Globe.

Jed Horne of the New Orleans Times-Picayune discusses his new book, Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City.

Reporter Jane Mayer's recent article in The New Yorker examines the role of David S. Addington, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff and longtime legal adviser. Mayer says current and former Bush administration officials credit him with helping form the administration's legal strategy in the war on terrorism.

New York Times environmental reporter Andrew Revkin has covered climate change and climate politics for 20 years. His new book The North Pole Was Here: Puzzles and Perils at the Top of the World is geared toward young adults.

One of the most acclaimed films of the 1970s was Michelangelo Antonioni's The Passenger, starring Jack Nicholson. On a new DVD release, home viewers can now see it in the original wide screen and with six additional minutes not shown in the American theatrical release. It's a personal favorite of critic John Powers, who says that it's not an easy film, but a good one.

Daniel Okrent was the first ombudsman of The New York Times, serving from 2003 to 2005. His new book, Public Editor #1, is a behind-the-scenes look at the art and politics of America's most respected newspaper.

Okrent has spent over 25 years in the print media business, with writing and editing jobs at Esquire, Time and Life magazines. He is also known as the founder of rotisserie baseball, the forerunner of popular fantasy sports games.

We remember author and TV host Louis Rukeyser, who died Tuesday from a rare cancer of the bone marrow. He was 73. Rukeyser hosted Wall $treet Week With Louis Rukeyser on PBS from 1970-2002. We listen back to a 1984 interview with him.

Poet David Tucker is the assistant managing editor of The New Jersey Star Ledger and was part of the team that won the Pulitzer last year for breaking news. His new collection of poems is called Late for Work.

Psychologist and family therapist Dr. Dan Gottlieb's new book Letters to Sam is a collection of lessons on life he wrote to his grandson. Two decades ago, Gottlieb became a quadriplegic in an automobile accident. His grandson is autistic, and the letters have lessons about what it's like to be different.

Come up with a list of the dream writing jobs in comedy and at least three of them are likely to come up on one man's resume: Ben Karlin is executive producer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and co-executive producer of The Colbert Report, both on the cable channel Comedy Central. Before that, Karlin was editor of the satirical weekly newspaper The Onion.