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Conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein would have been 75 today: classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz is a converted fan after hearing the Haydn portion of Sony''s new "Royal Edition" of Bernstein performances, complete in 100 compact dics.

2: Concert Christmas record-spinning continues with BEN VAUGHN and three of his combo members.

Educator DEBBIE MEIER. She's a nationally known authority on education, and the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation "genius" award. She developed and directed three alternative elementary schools in East Harlem and later a Seondary School. The schools accept students on a first-come, first-serve basis. Classes are small and personalized, and the emphasis is on academic learning and inquiry. MEIER wanted to create an atmosphere where students learn democratic values, where teachers can hold kids accountable, and parents can become involved. A new book about what happened in East Harlem, thanks to MEIER and others is, "Miracle in East Harlem: The Fight for Choice in Public Education," by Seymour Fliegel with James MacGuire (Times

Rock musician BEN VAUGHN. He's been a cult staple for years in the Philadelphia/New Jersey area, where he's become known for his tongue-in-cheek lyrics and tunes that draw from rocks early influences. He's had several album; his fourth, "Dressed in Black," was released in 1990. He's got a new one that is basically his own greatest hits. In this first half hour, VAUGHN will play some of his favorite Christmas recordings from a variety of music influences.

2: SINDIWE MAGONA is a fiction writer who was born and educated in South Africa. Her autobiography, "To my Children's Children," (Interlink Books) traces her life under the apartheid system. In her memoir, she describes her childhood in a poor South African town, and the hasty end a teenage pregnancy put to her career as a teacher. The memoir won an honorable mention from the 1991 Noma Award for Publishing in Africa. MAGONA has also published another novel, "Forced to Grow," and a collection of short stories. She currently works as a translator for the United Nations.

Fred Hersch

Inventor GARRETT BROWN. He revolutionized cinematography with the the steadicam, skycam, and the mobicam. The steadicam is a camera-suspension system that eliminates the jiggle in hand-held shots. BROWN's work with the steadicam can be seen in "Rocky," "The Shining," and "Return of the Jedi," and in many other films. The skycam is a suspended remote-controlled aerial camera, which gives the affect of putting the viewer in an airplane. It's been used alot in sports coverage and in complicated film shots. The mobicam, is for underwater shots, and has been used in the Olympics. BROWN is being honored at the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema, where a film of his work has been shown.

2: Interview with LAUREN BACALL continues.

2: Singer/songwriter IRIS DeMENT. In her music, which is a combination of country and folk, she mainly uses just her voice and guitar. Her latest album is called "My Life." (Warner Bros. Recrods). On the album, she draws from her and her family's life experiences growing up in rural Arkansas, and Southern California. Her first album, "Infamous Angel' was released in 1992. Some of the music from it is used in the recent movie,"LIttle Buddha."

Jazz critic KEVIN WHITEHEAD reviews "Who''s Bridge," by the Misha Mengelberg Trio. (Avant)REV. 2: Rock critic KEN TUCKER reviews Madonna''s new release, "Bedtime Stories" (Warner).

2:Former staff members on The Johnny Carson Show, MIKE HUBER and BARBARA BOWEN. They were, respectively, correspondent and co-correspondent for Carson and they had the job of reading letters sent from fans and non-fans of the show. They collected the most memorable ones in the new book, "Dear Johnny: Johnny Carson's Most Hilarious & Bizarre Fan Mail." (Optima Books).

Writer and teacher REYNOLDS PRICE. A native of North Carolina, PRICE has written works known for their sense of place and off-beat characters. He's a prolific and a varied writer: he 's written short stories, poems, plays, and essays, and since the publication of his first novel, "A Long and Happy Life," in 1962, he's published more than two dozen books. In 1984 PRICE was diagnosed with spinal cancer, and became paralyzed from the waist down. Cancer, though, didn't slow his writing down. In fact, self-hypnosis prescribed for pain relief, "opened a floodgate of memories," -- and materials for more stories, novels, and memoirs. PRICE has a new memoir, "A Whole New Life: An Illness and a Healing." (Ath