wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Mark Dery, cultural critic and author of I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts: Drive-By Essays on American Dread, American Dreams, critiques contemporary American pop culture, from Lady Gaga to the apocalypse.

Writers, directors, and producer Garry Marshall discusses his journey from the Bronx to Hollywood and his time creating the television hits "The Odd Couple," "Happy Days," "Laverne & Shirley," and "Mork & Mindy," and movies like "The Flamingo Kid," "Beaches," "Pretty Woman," and "The Princess Diaries." His new memoir is My Happy Days in Hollywood.

Bob Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television and professor of Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University and author of Television in the Antenna Age: A Concise History, follows up the question of whether the quality of television programming is better now than it has ever been, and how we can decide.

New Yorker staff writer John Seabrook talks about the relatively small number of producers and top-liners who create a disproportionately large share of contemporary hits, which may explain why so many songs sound the same. His article “The Song Machine” appears in the March 26 issue of The New Yorker.

Nile Rodgers, composer, arranger, and guitarist, explains how he became one of the most influential music producers in the history of popular music. In the 1970s and 1980s, he wrote and produced the songs that defined pop music: “Le Freak,” “We Are Family,” “Like a Virgin,” “Modern Love,” “The Reflex,” and “Rapper’s Delight,” to name a few. He worked with everyone from Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, from Madonna to INXS.  In Le Freak: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco, and Destiny he tells about his upbringing, how he got his start in music, and how he pioneered his trademark sound.

Jonathan Lethem talks about the relationship between the novel and contemporary culture. In The Ecstasy of Influence, a collection of new and previously published essays, he looks at the role of the writer as public intellectual, tackling topics from sex in cinema to drugs, graffiti, Bob Dylan, cyberculture, 9/11, book touring, and Marlon Brando, as well as his literary models.

Gregory Maguire discusses his bestselling series, the Wicked Years, inspired by The Wizard of Oz and the basis for a hit Tony-winning Broadway musical “Wicked.” His latest book is the conclusion to the series: Out of Oz: The Final Volume in the Wicked Years.

George Harrison’s widow Olivia Harrison talks about his life, from his guitar-obsessed boyhood in Liverpool to his astonishing Beatles years to his days as an independent musician, movie producer, and bohemian squire. George Harrison: Living in the Material World  includes a record of Harrison’s deep interest in Indian music, a trove of photographs, and stories and reminiscences from Harrison’s friends, including Eric Clapton, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and others.

The name Sybil brings to mind the 1973 nonfiction book and the TV movie based on it, about a woman named with 16 different personalities. The story became both a pop phenomenon and a revolutionary force in the psychotherapy industry, and now journalist Debbie Nathan looks at the true story behind it. In Sybil Exposed: The Extraordinary Story Behind the Famous Multiple Personality Case, she reveals how three women created what may have been an elaborate fraud.

Nile Rodgers, composer, arranger, and guitarist, explains how he became one of the most influential music producers in the history of popular music. In the 1970s and 1980s, he wrote and produced the songs that defined pop music: “Le Freak,” “We Are Family,” “Like a Virgin,” “Modern Love,” “The Reflex,” and “Rapper’s Delight,” to name a few. He worked with everyone from Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, from Madonna to INXS.  In Le Freak: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco, and Destiny he tells about his upbringing, how he got his start in music, and how he pioneered his trademark sound.

Chuck Klosterman has his finger on the pulse of contemporary American life. His essays and novels examine not only sports and pop culture, but also what the most popular athletes, music, movies and Internet obsessions say about who Americans are. Klosterman’s new book, "The Visible Man" is a novel about a therapist and her extraordinary patient, a man who claims he’s perfected the art of invisibility.

Susan Orlean talks about the life and times of Rin Tin Tin, tracing his journey from orphaned puppy to movie star and international icon. Rin Tin Tin: The Life and Legend begins on a battlefield in France during World War I, when an American soldier discovered a newborn German shepherd in the ruins of a bombed-out dog kennel. He took the dog back to California, where he became Hollywood’s number one box office star.

Bob Gruen talks about his 40-plus years of taking photos on tour with Ike and Tina Turner to capturing the early CBGB and Max’s Kansas City scene to covering current stadium rockers such as Green Day. Rock Seen, includes favorite photographs from his career, with detailed captions and behind-the-scenes anecdotes, of the Clash, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Sex Pistols, Ramones, and more.

Master caricaturist/portraitist Drew Friedman talks about his craft and his Borscht Belt heroes. Even More Old Jewish Comedians, the third and final installment of his series, includes figures like Olive Oyl voice Mae Questel, Ed Sullivan show regular Jean Carroll, stand-up comedian and "Law & Order: SVU" detective Richard Belzer,  "Welcome Back, Kotter"’s Gabe Kaplan, and other and pop culture legends.

Alice Cooper discusses his new album, “Welcome 2 My Nightmare,” which picks up where his original “Welcome To My Nightmare,” recorded in 1975, left off. He’s created it with longtime collaborator Bob Ezrin, and the album ranges from trashing disco, to garage punk, to pop balladry, and rock and roll.

Al Yankovic talks about his career creating musical parodies, the release of his latest album, “Alpocalypse,” his first in five years, and his new children’s book When I Grow Up, about a boy who has many different ideas of what he wants to do when he grows up—from chef to snail trainer to gorilla masseuse. He’s also created an app based on the book.

Comedian, actor, writer, and self-proclaimed supergeek Simon Pegg talks about his first forays into comedy and his surprise cult hits "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz." In Nerd Do Well: A Small Boy’s Journey to Becoming a Big Kid, he describes his obsession with science fiction, his enduring friendship with Nick Frost, and meeting and working with movie heroes like Peter Jackson, Kevin Smith, and Quentin Tarantino.

Steven “Steve-O” Glover, one of the stars of MTV’s "Jackass," talks about becoming famous for his crazy stunts and developing—and overcoming—a crippling addiction to drugs and alcohol. Professional Idiot: A Memoir recounts his rise to fame through risk-taking, skateboarding, stunts, and clown college. He writes candidly about his lunacy, debauchery, and stunts on "Jackass," and how they led to an obsession with fame, drug abuse, and, eventually, an intervention.

Barry Manilow performs live in our studio! And he’ll talk about his career and his new album, “Fifteen Minutes.” It's his first recording of all original songs in 10 years, and will be released in mid-June. Inspired by the Andy Warhol quote, the album's guitar-driven songs explore the perils and pinnacles of fame.