First broadcast (with link to transcript / video) | Author | Book | Subject matter |
January 6, 1991 | Ben Wattenberg | The First Universal Nation | Memoir/Autobiography; The United States of America |
January 13, 1991 | Daniel Roos | The Machine That Changed the World | The Automobile; Alfred P. Sloan; General Motors; The Ford Motor Company; Toyota |
January 27, 1991 | Daniel Yergin | The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power | The Petroleum industry |
February 3, 1991 | Carl Rowan | Breaking Barriers | Memoir/Autobiography; Race in the United States |
February 10, 1991 | Father Theodore Hesburgh | God, Country, Notre Dame | Memoir/Autobiography; The University of Notre Dame |
February 17, 1991 | Ronald Brownstein | The Power and the Glitter: The Hollywood–Washington Connection | Cinema of the United States; Motion Picture Association of America; Lobbying in the United States |
February 24, 1991 | Robert Kuttner | The End of Laissez-Faire | Ronald Reagan; History of the United States (1980–1991) |
March 3, 1991 | Haynes Johnson | Sleepwalking Through History: America in the Reagan Years | Ronald Reagan; History of the United States (1980–1991) |
March 10, 1991 | Georgie Anne Geyer | Guerrilla Prince | Fidel Castro |
March 17, 1991 | Leonard Goldenson | Beating the Odds | American Broadcasting Company |
March 24, 1991 | Richard Brookhiser | The Way of the WASP: How It Made America and How It Can Save It... So to Speak | White Anglo-Saxon Protestants |
March 31, 1991 | Dayton Duncan | Grass Roots: One Year in the Life of the New Hampshire Presidential Primary | New Hampshire primary; Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1988; Republican Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1988 |
April 7, 1991 | Tom Wicker | One of Us: Richard Nixon and the American Dream | Richard Nixon |
April 14, 1991 | William Strauss and Neil Howe | Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584–2069 | Strauss–Howe generational theory |
April 21, 1991 | Robert Shogan | The Riddle of Power | Leadership; Powers of the President of the United States; Harry Truman; Dwight Eisenhower; John F. Kennedy Lyndon Johnson; Richard Nixon; Gerald Ford; Jimmy Carter; Ronald Reagan; George H.W. Bush |
April 28, 1991 | Caroline Kennedy and Ellen Alderman | In Our Defense: The Bill of Rights in Action | United States Bill of Rights |
May 5, 1991 | Nick Lemann | The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How it Changed America | Second Great Migration (African American) |
May 12 and May 19, 1991 | Lou Cannon | President Reagan: A Role of a Lifetime | Ronald Reagan |
May 24, 1991 | Lewis Puller, Jr. | Fortunate Son: The Autobiography of Lewis Puller, Jr. | Memoir/Autobiography; Chesty Puller; United States Marine Corps; The Vietnam War |
May 26, 1991 | Robert Reich | The Work of Nations | Globalization; Capitalism |
June 2, 1991 | Robert Kaiser | Why Gorbachev Happened: His Triumphs and His Failure | Mikhail Gorbachev |
June 9, 1991 | George Friedman and Merideth LeBard | The Coming War with Japan | Japan – United States relations |
June 16, 1991 | Dixy Lee Ray | Trashing the Planet: How Science Can Help with Problems Like Acid Rain and Nuclear Waste and Depletion of the Ozone | Environmental skepticism |
June 23, 1991 | Bob Woodward | The Commanders | The Joint Chiefs of Staff; The Pentagon; United States invasion of Panama; The Gulf War |
June 30, 1991 | Roger Gittines | Consequences: John G. Tower, A Personal and Political Memoir | John Tower |
July 7, 1991 | Donald Ritchie | Press Gallery | History of American newspapers |
July 14, 1991 | Michael Beschloss | The Crisis Years: Kennedy and Khrushchev, 1960–1963 | John F. Kennedy; Nikita Khrushchev; The Cold War |
July 21, 1991 | Alan Ehrenhalt | The United States of Ambition: Politicians, Power and the Pursuit of Office | Politics of the United States |
July 28, 1991 | Clark Clifford | Counsel to the President: A Memoir | Memoir/Autobiography |
August 4, 1991 | Elaine Sciolino | The Outlaw State: Saddam Hussein's Quest for Power and the Gulf Crisis | Saddam Hussein; Iraq |
August 11, 1991 | Len Colodny and Robert Gettlin | Silent Coup: The Removal of a President | Resignation of Richard Nixon; John Dean; Alexander Haig |
August 18, 1991 | Liz Trotta | Fighting for Air: In the Trenches with Television News | United States television news |
August 25, 1991 | E.J. Dionne, Jr | Why Americans Hate Politics | Politics of the United States |
September 1, 1991 | Andrew Cockburn and Leslie Cockburn | Dangerous Liaisons | Israeli Intelligence Community |
September 8, 1991 | Liva Baker | The Justice from Beacon Hill | Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. |
September 15, 1991 | Reuven Frank | Out of Thin Air: The Brief Wonderful Life of Network News | United States television news; NBC News |
September 22, 1991 | Robert Dallek | Lone Star Rising: Lyndon Johnson and His Times 1908–1960 | Lyndon Johnson |
September 29, 1991 | Stephen Carter | Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby | Affirmative Action |
October 6, 1991 | Ken Auletta | Three Blind Mice: How the TV Networks Lost Their Way | United States television news |
October 20, 1991 | Anthony Lewis | Make No Law: The Sullivan Case and the First Amendment | New York Times Co. v. Sullivan; First Amendment to the United States Constitution |
October 27, 1991 | Don Oberdorfer | The Turn: From the Cold War to a New Era, The United States and the Soviet Union 1983–1990 | Soviet Union – United States relations |
November 3, 1991 | Larry Sabato | Feeding Frenzy: How Attack Journalism has Transformed American Politics | Politics of the United States |
November 10, 1991 | Tina Rosenberg | Children of Cain: Violence and the Violent in Latin America | Latin America |
November 17, 1991 | Suzanne Garment | Scandal: The Culture of Mistrust in American Politics | Politics of the United States |
November 24, 1991 | James Stewart | Den of Thieves | Insider trading |
December 1, 1991 | Gary Sick | October Surprise: America's Hostages in Iran and the Election of Ronald Reagan | October surprise conspiracy theory |
December 8, 1991 | James Reston | Deadline: A Memoir | Memoir/Autobiography; The New York Times |
December 15, 1991 | Thomas Byrne Edsall and Mary Edsall | Chain Reaction: The Impact of Race, Rights, and Taxes on American Politics | Politics of the United States |
December 22, 1991 | Martin Gilbert | Churchill: A Life | Winston Churchill |
December 29, 1991 | Jimmy Breslin | Damon Runyan: A Life | Damon Runyan |