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2: STEVEN PINKER, a psycholinguist at MIT and director of its Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, has a new book on how language works: "The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language" (Morrow). He argues that language is not simply a cultural invention taught by parents and schools, but a biological system, --an instinct-- partly learned, and partly innate. To Pinker, a three year old toddler is a "grammatical genius", capable of obeying adult rites of language, similar to web-spinning in spiders or sonar in bats. His book also takes on "langauge mavens" like William Safire and Richard Lederer, accusing them of underestimating the average person's language skills.

2: LEonard FEather, one of the world's most prominent jazz critics died of pneumonia, yesterday at the age of 80. Jazz critic Francis DAvis once wrote of him, No other critic has fought the good fight longer, on as many fronts, or communicated the joys of jazz to as many generations of readers. Leonard Feather grew up in England and moved to America in 1940. Feather's LA Times column was syndicated around the world. His most important writing was his encylopedia of jazz, an essential reference work of musician bios. He had spent his final months editing a new edition, which is scheduled for publication next year. Feather also produced about 200 recording sessions, composed for many of the musicians he worked with, and even played piano on some of their sessions. Throughout his career he campaigned on behalf of women in jazz, and worked for racial equality in field.

Maureen Corrigan reviews "Witness Agianst the Beast" by the late British writer E.P. Thompson.

2: Reporter PATRICE GAINES was a teen-age mother with a drug rap when she spent the summer of 1970 in jail. She is now a regular reporter for the "Washington Post," and has written a book about how she turned her life around. It's called "Laughing in the Dark: From Colored Girl to Woman of Color-A Journey from Prison to Power" (Crown Publishers). (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES AFTER THE ATC

2: Folklorist ALAN LOMAX. He's spent more than a half century recording the folk music and customs of the world. Here in America, he's responsible for priceless recordings of Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Jelly Roll Morton, and many others. (REBROADCAST from 7/9/90). LOMAX won the National Book Critics Circle Award for his non-fiction book, "The Land Where the Blues Began."

Writer PHILIP ROTH. He's best known for his books, "Goodbye, Columbus," and "Portnoy's Complaint." Since the publication of his first book, ROTH has been controversial for his treatment of Jewish themes. Some readers think his satirical take is anti-Semitic. His book "Portnoy's Complaint," (1969) a sexual autobiography of a young lawyer, was labeled obscene by some because of its descriptions of masturbation and sexual conquest. Though the literary critics liked it, "a deliciously funny book, absurd and exuberant, wild and uproarious." He's written a number of books since then, including an autobiography, "The Facts," and a portrait of his father, "Patrimony: A True Story," (1989) which was admired for being "deeply resonant." Roth has also edited the Writers from Other Europe series for Penguin Books. He has a new book, "Operation Shylock." (Simon & Sch

WORLD music commentator Milo Miles on the rebirth of rock and roll -- in Mexico.

2: Jazz musician JOSHUA REDMAN. A self-taught tenor saxophonist, REDMAN has a new album, "Wish," which is his second album released this year. REDMAN won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition in 1991. Son of renowned free-jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman, JOSHUA REDMAN had the most influence from his mother who raised him alone. After REDMAN graduated summa cum laude from Harvard in 1991 he decided to pursue his love of jazz.

Television executive GRANT TINKER has written a memoir about his life in TV. "Tinker in Television: From General Sarnoff to General Electric" (Simon & Schuster). TINKER was co-founder of the production company MTM Enterprises with his then wife Mary Tyler Moore. He left MTM at the peak of its sucsess to become the chairman of NBC, and made it the top-rated network, with shows like "Cheers," "The COsby Show," and "St. Elsewhere."

Film critic STEPHEN SCHIFF reviews the film "Reality Bites," a comedy about Love in the ''90''s, directed by Ben Stiller and starring Winona Ryder and Ethan Hawke.