FRESH AIR
Comic Don Rickles is known for insulting his audiences on stage, but he doesn’t consider himself an insult comic. His heyday was in the ’50s and ’60s, on TV and in Vegas. Frank Sinatra, an early fan, helped get him noticed. Now Rickles has written a memoir, Rickles’ Book. PLUS, documentary producer Huw Cordey helped create the staggeringly ambitious BBC series Planet Earth. The series was five years in the making and was shot in 62 countries on every continent. It was broadcast in the United States on The Discovery Channel, and is now available on DVD.
RADIO TIMES
A conversation with contrarian atheist, CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS, about his new book, “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.” He is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and a visiting professor of liberal studies at the New School.
WORLD CAFE
As the producer (and sometimes manager) of many of the 1960s’ most influential folk and psychedelic artists, Joe Boyd has left an indelible mark on the history of popular music during his four-decade career. Few people are more qualified than Boyd to discuss music in the 1960s, which is just what he’s done in his new book, White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s. More a memoir than a history lesson, the fresh, engaging book unfolds in a leisurely fashion, detailing important events such as Bob Dylan’s legendary 1965 appearance at the Newport Folk Festival.