Matt Tyrnauer is a writer for Vanity Fair and now director of the film, “Valentino: The Last Emperor,” about the fashion icon and entrepreneur. It is a behind-the-scenes look at the world of fashion, featuring extraordinary access into the high temples of Haute Couture. The legendary Valentino is the star of the film, along with his longtime business partner, Giancarlo Giammetti. Valentino the Last Emperor follows them for the final two years of their careers and shows the struggles the two men face as they confront the final act of a nearly 50-year career at the top of the world’s most glamorous and competitive game. The struggle of art vs. commerce is at the center of the film. In the end, however, the story proves to be not one about money or expensive clothes, but about love.

Original Air Date: 5/20/09

[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/CWDL-Matt_Tyrnauer_Valentino_The_Last_Emeperor.mp3]

Sandra Mackey is an Atlanta-based expert on Iran and the Middle-East. She talks about the upcoming Iranian elections and the ongoing political dance between the United States and Iran. Mackey is the author of multiple books on the Middle-East.

Original Air Date: 4/29/09

Part 1[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/CWDL-Sanda_Mackey_on_Iran_Part_1.mp3]
Part 2[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/CWDL-Sandra_Mackey_on_Iran_Part_2.mp3]

Author and former Newsweek correspondent Matt Beynon Rees talks about his newest book, The Samaritans’s Secret, the third book in his series of detective stories set in the West Bank and Gaza. The travails of his character, aging teacher Omar Yussef, create a deeply revealing window into the nature of contemporary Palestinian society — the corruption, honor, savagery and joy. The books have sold to publishers in 23 countries and have earned Rees the title “the Dashiell Hammett of Palestine.”

Original Air Date: 4/13/09

Part 1[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/CWDL-Matt_Beynon_Rees_The_Samaritans_Secret_Part_1.mp3]
Part 2[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/CWDL-Matt_Beynon_Rees_The_Samaritans_Secret_Part_2.mp3]

Walter Mosley is the best-selling crime novelist perhaps best known for his noir detective stories featuring the black private detective, Easy Rawlins. One book in this series, Devil in a Blue Dress, was made into a movie starring Denzel Washington. Mosley’s newest book, while still a detective story, is the beginning of a new series and is our first introduction to the character Leonid McGill, an ex-boxer, hard drinker and old-school P.I. In The Long Fall: The First Leonid McGill Mystery, McGill is turning over a new leaf, and has “decided to go from crooked to slightly bent.”

Original Air Date: 4/3/09

[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/CWDL-Walter_Mosley_The_Long_Fall.mp3]

An interview with the American scholar based in Beirut, Nicholas Noe, author of Voice of Hezbollah: The Statements of Sayed Hassan Nasrallah. He is also co-founder of the translation service for middle-eastern media outlets mideastwire.com. Noe talks about Lebanon and the prospect of America finding a way to broker a peace there. Noe argues that Lebanon is far more likely than Syria or Iran to show diplomatic dividends and should therefore be elevated to greater prominence on the US foreign policy agenda.

Original Air Date: 3/23/09

Part 1[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/CWDL-Nicholas_Noe_Voice_of_Hezbollah_Part_1.mp3]
Part 2[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/CWDL-Nicholas_Noe_Voice_of_Hezbollah_Part_2.mp3]