October 2002

Jam Master Jay Obit
Jam Master Jay, the DJ in the Rap/Hip Hop group Run DMC was shot dead last night while working at a recording studio in Queens, N.Y. Run DMC was the group that first popularized Rap among mainstream audiences. Mizell was 37 years old. NPR's Neda Ulaby reports. (3:00)

Johnny Cash Tributes
As music legend Johnny Cash prepares to release another album, David Greenberger reviews two new CDs that pay tribute to Cash. They're called Kindred Spirits and Dressed In Black. (7:30)

First Great Triumph
Robert Siegel talks with Warren Zimmerman, author of First Great Triumph: How Five Americans Made Their Country a World Power. Warren Zimmerman was the U.S. ambassador to Yugoslavia from 1989-1992. He talks about how five friends -- President Theodore Roosevelt, naval strategist Alfred T. Mahan, Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge, Secretary of State John Hay and corporate lawyer-turned-colonial administrator Elihu Root -- created a new U.S. foreign policy of political expansionism overseas. (7:30)

The book is published by Farrar Straus & Giroux, September 2002.

Moving Up Country
Amy Wan reviews the debut CD from James Yorkston and the Athletes. It's called Moving Up Country. Yorkston is from Scotland and recorded the album in a cottage there. (3:30)

The CD is on Domino Records, 2002.

Diana Vreeland
Jacki Lyden talks with Eleanor Dwight about her biography, Diana Vreeland. Vreeland was a fashion editor at Harper's Bazaar and editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine. Jackie Kennedy said Vreeland was her "fashion mentor" and she is credited with helping launch the careers of Lauren Bacall, Mary McFadden, Issey Miyake and Richard Avedon. (7:30)

Hell Hath No Fury
Twice stood up by a man she was dating, New York-based editor and writer Anna Holmes sent him an impassioned breakup letter. The "hurt and anger" of that experience inspired her to produce an anthology of the best and most famous breakup letters in history. On All Things Considered, Holmes discusses her book: Hell Hath no Fury: Women's Letters From the End of the Affair. NPR Online presents excerpts of letters from the collection. (8:00)

Spanish Harlem Orchestra
Banning Eyre has a review of Un Gran Dia en el Barrio, or A Great Day in the Neighborhood, by the Spanish Harlem Orchestra. The band is made up of veteran New York musicians, but they play together for the first time on this new CD. (4:00)

Atlantic Records ASIN: B00006IZNW

Monsters
Grab your flashlight and duck under the covers as host Madeleine Brand talks to David Gilmore, author of a new book on monsters. Every culture throughout history has invented its own monsters -- it seems humanity just can't live without them. (5:55)

Hoot
Novelist Carl Hiaasen is best known for his scathing portraits of Florida lowlifes, but now he's toning it down a little with his new children's book, Hoot. Host Madeleine Brand talks to Hiaasen about writing for children, and his own experiences growing up in Florida. (5:08)

Knopf; ISBN: 0375821813

Embers
Jacki Lyden talks with Carol Brown Janeway about her translation of the Hungarian novel Embers. This is the first English translation of Sandor Marai's book that was published in Budapest in 1942. Marai was a well-known literary figure in 1930s Hungary but left the country in 1948 because of persecution by the communists. He died in obscurity in San Diego in 1989. Embers was recently rediscovered in Europe and has since become an international bestseller. The story takes place during the decline of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. (8:00)

Green Obit
Lyricist Adolph Green has died. He helped create "On the Town" and "Wonderful Town," as well as the classic movie musical Singin' in the Rain. Green was 87. NPR's Bob Mondello has a remembrance. (3:00)

Ben Folds
Singer Ben Folds ditched his rock band and back-up singers, and has gone on tour with just a solo piano. He shares with us the discovery he made on the road: The audience was ready and willing to become the band. They sang the harmonies, the horns, drums, guitar -- everything -- perfectly in tune, night after night. He says that once you give permission for people to sing together, a magical thing can happen in a concert hall. (4:45)

The White
Alan Cheuse reviews The White, by Deborah Larsen. At 16, Mary Jemison is captured by Shawnees and then spends the next 50 years living with the Senecas, who call her Two-Falling-Voices. This novel is based on the real life of a daughter of Irish immigrants who lived on the edge of the Pennsylvania frontier in 1758. (2:00)

The book is published by Knopf.

Schultze Obit
Robert talks with Richard Goldstein, editor for The New York Times, about the life of German composer Norbert Schultze. He composed the song "Lili Marleen," which became the best-known song of World War II. He died this month at the age of 91. (4:00)

Anouar Brahmen
Anouar Brahem, the Tunisian master of the Oud, the predecessor of the lute and guitar, took a break recently from his beloved instrument ... to play the piano. When he returned to the Oud, he created a new role for its ancient voice. Michelle Mercer has a review of Brahem's latest CD, The Black Cat's Footsteps. (4:30)

Emma's War
Jacki talks with Deborah Scroggins, author of Emma's War: An Aid Worker, a Warlord, Radical Islam, and the Politics of Oil -- A True Story of Love and Death in Sudan (Pantheon Books, October 1, 2002). Scroggins talks about her biography of Emma McCune, a British aide worker, who married a Sudanese warlord, and subsequently became complicit in the violent civil fighting between the Islamic government and pagan and Christian rebels over the issues of oil, slavery and religion. (8:00)

The Bitch in the House
Writer Elissa Schappell and editor Cathi Hanauer talk to host Madeleine Brand about a new collection of essays called The Bitch in the House in which 26 women discuss how they balance work, family, and identity. (8:00)

The Bitch in the House is published by William Morrow & Co; ISBN: 0066211662.

Robin Holcomb
Singer-songwriter Robin Holcomb has just released a new CD, called The Big Time (Nonesuch) We'll have a review from NPR producer Tom Huizenga. He writes about music for the Washington Post. (5:15)

Sierra Maestra
Sue Steward reviews a CD by Sierra Maestra, a traditional Cuban band based in Havana. Sierra Maestra's sound is much like the acoustic bands of the 1930s, the time when the Buena Vista Social Club was popular. This album, Rumbero Soy, celebrates Sierra Maestra's 25th anniversary. (4:30)

The CD Rumbero Soy by Sierra Maestra is available on Riverboat Records from the World Music Network.

Masters of Persian Music
Four of the great masters of Persian music are touring the United States. Among them will be Iran's legendary vocalist Mohammed Reza Shajarian, tar (lute) player Hossein Alizadeh and kamancheh (spike fiddle) player Kayhan Kalhor. Host Jacki Lyden talks with Kayhan Kalhor about the evolution of Persian classical music and about the poetry. The four have a CD as well, from a recent tour. It is called Without You, by the Masters of Persian Music on the World Village label. (8:00)

'Middlesex'
Jeffrey Eugenides, author of The Virgin Suicides, has a new book titled Middlesex. It's the story of a youngster in an all-girls' school in Grosse Pointe, Mich., who discovers she is a hermaphrodite -- a condition, she/he learns, that originated many generations ago, in a tiny village in Asia Minor. Eugenides mixes the ancient notion of fate with our modern knowledge of genetics. Lynn Neary prepared this report on the book and the condition. (7:55)

Persian Pilgrimages
Jacki Lyden talks with Iranian-American author Afshin Molavi about his book, Persian Pilgrimages: Journeys Across Iran. It explores the link between Iran's culture and its identity. (7:30)

The book is published by WW Norton, October 2002.

Kelly Willis
Country singer Kelly Willis has come out with her fifth album, Easy. Reviewer Meredith Ochs says that with this album, Willis has found her true style. (3:30)

The label is Rykodisc. ASIN: B00006AAQX. See http://www.kellywillis.com

The Mulberry Empire
Alan Cheuse reviews The Mulberry Empire, by Philip Hensher. It's a novel about a real life Scotsman named Alexander Burns and his unwitting role in the British decision to send tens of thousands of soldiers to Afghanistan in the 19th century. (2:00)

The book is published by Knopf.

Underexposed
Jacki Lyden talks with photo editor Colin Jacobson about his book Underexposed: Pictures Of The 20th Century They Didn't Want You To See. It explores the way photos have been censored or manipulated over the years for a variety of reasons. They discuss censorship of war photos during the Gulf War, and the possibility of censorship of photography from any U.S. war in Iraq. (5:30)

The book is published by Vision On.

The Chieftains
Jacki Lyden talks to Paddy Moloney, leader and tin whistle player for the Irish band, The Chieftains. They've been performing for 40 years now, re-invigorating traditional Irish music and taking it around the world. To mark the four decades, the group has a CD called The Wide World Over, in which some of the group's collaborations with international artists, such as Joni Mitchell and Art Garfunkel, are reprised. The Chieftains also have another new CD, Down the Long Plank Road, recorded with country performers in Nashville, Tenn. Moloney says Irish music is strong enough to blend with sounds from elsewhere and still retain its strength. (12:30)

The Wide World Over and Down the Old Plank Road, both by The Chieftains, are on the RCA Victor label.

Double Feature
Two best-selling novels have been converted into movies that debut today: Janet Fitch's White Oleander, and Bret Easton Ellis' The Rules of Attraction. NPR's Bob Mondello says both have survived their page-to-screen transitions largely intact. (4:15)

Nonesuch Explorer Series
In the 1970s, producer Stephen Jay went to Africa in search of traditional music. His recordings helped introduce many Americans to sounds and instruments they had never heard before. Now, Nonesuch Records is re-releasing 13 CDs filled with all of Jay's original Africa recordings. (8:15)

Thoughts On Nonesuch
Many musicians in America were deeply effected by the music released on the Nonesuch Explorer Series. One of those was David Byrne, founding member of the Talking Heads and still an influential songwriter and record producer. He sent us this essay on listening to the music from Indonesia, India and Bulgaria as a teenager. (4:30)

Le Yeux Noirs
Charles de Ledesma has this review of the CD Bahamouk, by the French band Les Yeux Noirs - who blend Gypsy and Klezmer music. They were inspired by the Yiddish songs from the grandparents' homeland -- Poland -- and set out to preserve that sound, and create something modern on top of it. The CD is Balamouk by Les Yeux Noirs, from World Village and EMI. See www.lesyeuxnoirs.net. (4:00)

'Assembly'
Dr. Hukwe Zawose is well known in his native Tanzania as a respected traditional musician. He and his son recently collaborated with Canadian guitarist and producer Michael Brook, who is best known for creating electronica and ethnic "trance-pop." Banning Eyre, senior editor at Afropop.org, has a review of Assembly. (3:45)

Assembly is available on Real World/CEMA www.realworldrecords.com.

Wayward Shamans
John Ydstie gets to know members of the Wayward Shamans in a performance/chat. The Shamans latest CD is Alchemy. (12:30)

The CD is from Fast Horse Recordings. See www.waywardshamans.com.

DNA Lady
A new book sheds light on one of the discoverers of the structure of DNA in the early '50s. Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA highlights the contributions of a chemist whose work went largely unheralded for decades. Howard Berkes talks with author Brenda Maddox. NPR Online has the interview in its entirety. (7:50)
Expanded Coverage

Tim Cahill
Howard Berkes chats with adventure writer Tim Cahill about tigers, deserts, and transcendental meditation. Tim Cahill's latest collection of essays is Hold The Enlightenment (Villard). (9:55)

MIT-Vegas
Robert Siegel talks with Ben Mezrich about his new book called Bringing Down the House. It's the story of six MIT students who won millions by counting cards in Vegas blackjack games. Eventually, the casinos caught on to their scheme and harassed them until they had to stop. (8:00)

Bringing Down The House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, by Ben Mezrich. Free Press; ISBN: 0743225708

The Age of Sacred Terror
Robert talks with Daniel Benjamin, co-author of the new book The Age of Sacred Terror, which retraces the Clinton administration's fight against terrorism and al Qaeda. In the summer of 1998, al Qaeda bombed two U.S. embassies in Africa. The Clinton administration responded with a strike in Afghanistan on al Qaeda training camps as well as a strike on a chemical plant in Sudan. The timing was suspect for a cynical press, says Benjamin, who was director of counterterrorism on the National Security council, because President Clinton was at the time embroiled in the Lewinsky sex scandal. (5:45)

The book is published by Random House, Oct. 1, 2002.

July July
Jacki Lyden speaks with novelist Tim O'Brien. O'Brien is best known for his works that chronicle the lives of the Vietnam War generation, including his National Book Award-winning Going After Cacciato. His latest book July July chronicles the 30-year reunion of the 1969 class of a fictitious Minnesota college. The reunion is held in the year 2000, because the class secretary had a nervous breakdown the year before.(8:00)

July July, ISBN: 0618039694, Houghton Mifflin Company

Leadership
Robert Siegel talks with Rudolph Guiliani about the formative experiences through which he developed his leadership style: being a Yankees fan in Brooklyn, the role of shame in governance, his aborted run for senator, successes and mistakes of his time as mayor and the "theraputic" experience of writing his recent book, Leadership. The former mayor of N.Y.C. has just come out with a book called Leadership. (8:00)

Songs of the Criminal Life
NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from the Calabria region of Italy -- home of the 'Ndrangheta, the most secretive and elusive of the Italian Mafias. A new CD collection of generations-old songs glorifying a culture of violence and vendetta is a best-seller in Europe. Hear full-length cuts from the CD, and get English translations of the lyrics. (9:00)

La Musica Della Mafia, Il Canto di Malavita is available on Pias America, Catalogue# PIASA 8.

Blood Victory
Alan Cheuse reviews Blood Victory by Alan Furst. It's a novel about the Allies' attempts to block shipments of the Romanian oil that fueled the Nazi war machine in 1940. (2:15)

The book is published by Random House.

Steve Earle
Singer-songwriter Steve Earle has a long history of folk music, country music -- and controversy. His latest album, Jerusalem, is creating buzz for its political messages. Meredith Ochs has our review. (4:00)

Label: Artemis Records ASIN: B00006GEX6