Government & Politics

CBS News Producer Leslie Cockburn. Since 1984, she has covered the United States' involvement with the Nicaraguan Contras. Her reports have aired on "60 Minutes" and "West 57th Street." Her new book is titled Out of Control: The story of the Reagan Administration's secret war in Nicaragua, the illegal arms pipeline, and the Contra drug connection.

Writer Jan Novak. He has just published his second English novel, titled The Grand Life. His first was titled The Willys Dream Kit. Novak emigrated to the United States from Czechoslovakia 17 years ago.

Jan Harold Brunvand will explore the urban legends that have sprung up around computer glitches, the so-called "mystery glitches."

Salvadoran poet Claribel Alegria. She has lived in exile for many years. She now lives in Nicaragua. Her best-known book is titled Flowers From the Volcano.

Journalist John Conroy. Conroy lived in a poor Catholic neighborhood in violence-torn Belfast, Northern Ireland. He recorded stories of the life there in his book Belfast Diary.

Journalist and media critic Todd Gitlin whose new book, The Sixties - Years of Hope, Days of Rage, is a social history of the culture and politics of that time from a writer who participated in the freedom and turmoil of the era.

Dan Wasserman, political cartoonist for The Boston Globe. A collection of his drawings has just been published; it's titled We've Been Framed. Wasserman will explain who he and fellow political cartoonist are secretly hoping will win the Presidency.

Writer Joan Didion. Known for her self-reflective essays and reporting, Didion is one of America's most important writers. Her books include A Book of Common Prayer, Slouching Toward Bethlehem and Salvador. With her husband John Gregory Dunne, she co-wrote the screenplay for "True Confessions." Her new book is titled Miami.

Language Commentator Geoffrey Nunberg discusses the centennial of Esperanto, a movement devoted to establishing a world language.

Book Critic John Leonard reviews Belfast Diary, the non-fiction account of the civil war that has flared through Northern Ireland. The author is Chicago journalist John Conroy.

Film Critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Best Seller," the cop thriller starring James Woods and Brian Dennehy.

Economist, writer and lecturer John Kenneth Galbraith. Galbraith, who served as an advisor to Presidents Roosevelt and Kennedy, is perhaps the most influential Keynesian economist. Under Roosevelt, he played a key role in formulating wartime economic policy. Under Kennedy, he helped formulate the liberal social policies that President Johnson pursued in the Great Society initiatives.

Rock Critic Ken Tucker will review two albums, "Romeo's Escape," by Dave Alvin, and "The Lonesome Jubilee," by John Cougar Mellencamp.

Tip O'Neill, former Congressman from Massachusetts and Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Anti-Apartheid activist Randall Robinson, founder and director of Trans Africa, a lobbying group that focuses on Africa and the Caribbean.

Archibald Cox, Watergate prosecutor who was fired under orders from President Richard Nixon when he asked for the release of secret White House tapes.

Investigative reporter Jonathan Kwitny, author of Vicious Circles, which probed Mafia involvement with legitimate businesses. His new book, The Crimes of Patriots, chronicles the demise of the Nugan Hand Bank in Australia, a story that features many of the characters who figured prominently in the investigation into the sales of arms to Iran, and the diversion of those funds to the Contras.

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.

Frank Deford, senior writer for Sports Illustrated and a commentator on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition." Some of his best essays from Sports Illustrated have been collected in a book titled The World's Tallest Midget.

Film Critic Stephen Schiff will review "A Prayer for the Dying," about an IRA operative who tries to leave the terrorist organization. It stars Alan Bates, Mickey Rourke and Bob Hoskins.