Philadelphia

Goode will be the first African American mayor in the city's history. He was elected on a platform of job growth, crime reduction, and an improvement of government services. WHYY City Hall reporter Tia O'Brien asks him how he plans to achieve his goals. Fresh Air listeners call in with their questions.

Pete Dexter is a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News and also has a monthly column for Esquire Magazine, "Sports Scene." Dexter's first novel, "God's Pocket," is set in Philadelphia. The novel tells the story of a reporter investigating a murder committed by a construction worker. Dexter joins the show to discuss his novel, work as a journalist, and respond to listener calls.

Madeline Cartwright worked as a teacher in Philadelphia public schools from 1959 to 1978, before moving into administration. Currently she is the principal at Blaine Elementary School, in the Strawberry Mansion section of Philadelphia, and she has spent the last five years transforming Blaine from a typical low-income school into a community that sparkles. Cartwright's staff has nominated her for the John N. Patterson Award for Excellence in Public Education. Cartwright joins the show to discuss the problems that are facing Philadelphia schools and her approach to solving them.

Japanese-American sculptor has been commissioned to build public art around the world. A new piece, Bolt of Lightning, which celebrates the life Benjamin Franklin, will soon be installed in Philadelphia. He tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about his early success and his gradual process of unlearning his formal training to develop his own unique style.

Webber and Gross respond to listener calls about the legal and media aspects of the AIDS crisis.

Cinematographer and film director Garrett Brown has created the "Philadelphia: Getting to Know Us" advertising campaigns. He returns to Fresh Air to discuss why he wanted to show both the "grimy outskirts" and "scrubbed-up insides" of his home city.

The Frontline documentary, about the conflict between MOVE activists and the Philadelphia Police, will be broadcast this week throughout the country -- except for Philadelphia, which has a mayoral primary. TV critic David Bianculli reviews the program and questions why the broadcast has been delayed in the region.

Thomas Martinez. His book Brotherhood of Murder, details his involvement with The Order, the extremist, right wing hate group that was implicated in numerous bank robberies and three assassinations, including the murder of Denver talk show host Alan Berg. The book details how Martinez, who grew up in a white slum in Philadelphia, was persuaded by The Order's teachings and how he was recruited for the criminal activities that supported the group. He later turned informant for the FBI.

Former mafia member Joseph Salerno. Salerno's damming court testimony was the lynchpin that brought down Philadelphia mafia don Nicodemo "little Nicky" Scarfo. Salerno was drawn into the Cosa Nostra in 1976. After taking part in a mob hit in 1979, Salerno decided to testify against Scarfo. That led to a 200-thousand dollar contract against Salerno and his fleeing into the witness protection program and assuming a new identity. With Stephen J.

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.

Book critic John Leonard reviews the African American writer's new novel, set against the events surrounding the 1985 burning of the MOVE house in West Philadelphia by the Philadelphia police.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the new book by Elijah Anderson, which features interviews with city dwellers. The sociological text reveals much about crime and and racism in urban areas.

Anastasia is a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer. His beat is the Mafia; most recently he's been covering the Robert Simone trial where the prosecution rested its case today. Simone was attorney for Philadelphia mob boss Nicky Scarfo and has been accused of crime activity, attempted extortion and participating in discussions of murder. Simone was turned in by a government informant.

Elementary school principal Madeline Cartwright took over the run-down Blaine Elementary School in a run-down, drug-infested neighborhood in North Philadelphia and turned it into a school that works. One of her first acts when she took over the school was to get down on her hands and knees and scrub the foul-smelling children's bathroom.

Documentary film makers Alan and Susan Raymond. They made documentary history with "An American Family," living for seven months with the Loud family, to film the life of a "typical" American family. The 12-part series was broadcast over PBS in 1973, and it turned out to be a portrait of a not-so-typical family, and of a family disintegrating before our eyes.

Parish Priest John McNamee. For twenty five years he's lived and worked the poorer neighborhoods of Philadelphia. His book, "Diary of a City Priest" (Sheed & Ward) documents his struggle to keep faith, when surrounded by poverty and despair.

Columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer Steve Lopez. He's just written his first novel, "Third and Indiana" about the hard life of North Philly. The origin of the story was a two-paragraph item Lopez read in the paper about a 14-year-old boy shot and killed on a drug corner. He was disturbed by the casualness and brevity of the report. Terry talks with Lopez about his new book, and about his popular columns.

Frank Cardon is one of three teenagers who was given a video camera for a year to record his daily life in North Philadelphia. His footage is part of the documentary Teen Dreams. Cardon says he wanted to show a world composed of a lot of angry people trying to survive.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the new book, The Price of a Child (Knopf) by Lorene Cary. It's a historical novel about a black woman who escapes slavery with her children.

On November 11, 1994, Eddie Polec was clubbed to death in a Philadelphia suburb by a group of rival high school kids. He was clubbed with a baseball bat on the steps of the St Cecilia's Church where he had been an altar boy. Investigators say he was beaten until limp and then held aloft "to give the bat-wielding youths a better shot." He had been waiting for his young brother, to walk home together when the group of kids arrived, looking for a fight. Eddie hadn't been part of the rivalry. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.