Parenting & Families

English writer Ian McEwan, whose new novel is called The Child in Time. It's about the loss of a child and the child that endures through adulthood.

TV Critic David Bianculli will preview the new ABC series "thirtysomething."

Adam Hochschild, founder of the leftist magazine "Mother Jones." He's written a memoir about his ambivalent relationship with his father, an industrialist who operated a string of gold and diamond mines in South Africa.

Humorist Alfred Gingold describes the sensation of sorting through a sprawling record collection with a loved one.

Fifty-one-year-old author Avery Corman has a new book called 50. He joins Fresh Air guest host Liane Hansen to talk about the different ways men and women view aging. Corman first rose to prominence with his novel Kramer Versus Kramer.

The renowned soloist says the nature of his instrument demands that he be flexible about also playing supportively in ensemble settings. He talks about how the death of his parents, both of whom were musicians, contributed to his artistic development.

New music composer John Harbison was drawn to classical music because the genre leant itself to longer pieces and a deeper exploration of musical ideas. He often writes for his wife, the violinist Rosemary Harbison.

Critic Ken Tucker says that the movie adaptation of the celebrated play Crimes of the Heart, now shrunk down for home consumption, is no better--and sometimes worse--than many popular television shows.

Psychotherapist Eileen Simpson grew up as an orphan; her mother died from tuberculosis. As a young adult, she moved to Greenwich Village and married the poet John Berryman. Writing came to her later in life, after she split up with the renowned poet. Her new book is called Orphans: Real and Imaginary.

Former New York Times reporter Joyce Maynard moved to New Hampshire to start a family, where she started her Domestic Affairs column, which examines her new life as a writer and mother. A book of the same name has just been published.

Book critic John Leonard says the memoir section of Eileen Simpson's new hybrid book, about her own experiences as an orphan, is compelling and insightful; her later meditations on the idea of orphanhood are less successful.

After decades in Lebanon, missionary Ben Weir was kidnapped by a jihadi group. His wife, Carol Weir, worked tirelessly to secure his release. They've cowritten a memoir about the ordeal, called Hostage Bound, Hostage Free.

Jamie Wyeth's grandfather, N.C. Wyeth was an illustrator; his father is the renowned realist painter Andrew Wyeth. The youngest Wyeth tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about the various ways he honed his craft -- without a formal art school education.

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone reviews a novel and a memoir, both of which take a close, realistic look at the often fraught relationship.

Tipper Gore, wife of Tennessee senator Albert Gore, is concerned with the increasingly violent and sexual nature of popular music's lyrics, videos, and culture. She believes that record companies should alert consumers to an album's explicit content so parents can make informed decision regarding what their children listen to.

Pat Conroy's abusive father tried to groom him for a career in the Marines. Conroy instead became a novelist who incorporates autobiographical details into his fiction.

Art Spiegelman is the author of Maus, a book documenting his father's experience during the Holocaust.

Novelist William Kennedy and his son Brendan collaborated on a children's book called Charlie Malarkey and the Belly-Button. Despite the elder Kennedy's success as a novelist, the two received a series of rejections before finally getting their work published. Kennedy also talks about his recent work as a screenwriter.

Phyllis Diller became a comedian at the age 37; she and her husband, who had five children together, believed it would be the best way for her to support the family financially. She is known for her frazzled onstage persona, jokes about her imagined husband Fang, and her many plastic surgeries.

Evangelical minister Jerry Falwell has cultivated a network of political, educational, and media ventures to promote his conservative beliefs in culture and politics. He tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about how he came to be a Christian, and how he hopes to guide others to the faith.