Malcolm X Biography, Ben Harper, Walter Winchell Documentary, Julie Andrews

Investigative journalist Les Payne spent 28 years working on his biography, The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X, but died before the book could be completed. This week, we speak with his daughter Tamara Payne, who was his chief research on the project and finished the book. In the first of five conversations, Payne discusses Malcolm X’s early life, when he was Malcolm Little, and how the ideas of Marcus Garvey influenced generations of the Little family as they faced segregation and the threat of racially motivated violence.

Three-time Grammy winner Ben Harper joins us to discuss his life and career, and previews his first entirely instrumental album, Winter Is for Lovers, which comes out October 23th.

Director Ben Loeterman joins us to discuss his documentary "Walter Winchell: The Power of Gossip," premiering on PBS American Masters on October 20th. It follows the rise and fall of famed syndicated newspaper and radio columnist Walter Winchell, who invented the hybrid style of journalism — a gossipy combo of scandal and crime, showbiz and politics — that still reigns today.

Julie Andrews joins us along with her daughter, writer and producer Emma Walton Hamilton, to discuss her memoir Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years, now out in paperback. In this New York Times-bestselling follow-up to her critically acclaimed memoir, Home, Andrews reflects on her astonishing career, including such classics as "Mary Poppins," "The Sound of Music," and "Victor/Victoria."