Terry Gross

Lesbian, feminist comic Kate Clinton. Last night she hosted a gay ball in Washington D.C., celebrating the inauguration. She tackles social taboos and politics without putdowns, name-calling, or abusive behavior. Her subjects include menstruation, men-bashing, and people in wheelchairs. She's been doing comedy since the early 1980s. Before that she was a high school English teacher.

Producer Roger Kendis, AKA the Invisible Man, of Noisy Neighbors Productions. He's here in Philadelphia, and he's put together a rap recording with clips from Clinton's speeches, called "It's About Hope."

In the late 1970s, Costello burst out of Britian's pop-music scene as an angry young-man with a fresh sound. On his new release, "The Juliet Letters," he works with the Brodsky Quartet. His new songs are based on a correspondence addressed to Juliet Capulet of "Romeo and Juliet."

Two individuals involved with the Victim/Offender Mediation Program (with The Community Dispute Resolution Center in New York City): Program Director Thomas Christian, and Gary Geiger, who was shot and wounded during a robbery eleven years ago. Through the program, Geiger confronted the man who shot him, Wayne Blanchard, who is now in prison. Their meeting is featured in the HBO special, "Confronting Evil: America Undercover."

Novelist, journalist and columnist Pete Hamill. He's written seven novels, including "Flesh and Blood," and "Loving Women." Most recently he was editor-in-chief at the New York Post. He's latest book is a memoir of the years he spent drinking, "A Drinking Life: A Memoir," (Little, Brown & Co.) Hamill quit drinking twenty years ago. One reviewer in Publishers Weekly writes about Hamill's new memoir, "This is not a jeremiad condemning drink, however, but a thoughtful, funny, street-smart reflection on its consequences."

Davis's new novel, "1959," is about civil rights protests in the south during the eponymous year. Her earlier works include reporting for The New York Times and The Washington Post, and writing the libretto for the opera "X: The Life and Times of Malcom X."

Chinese film director Chen Kaige. His latest film is "Farewell My Concubine," a love story about two male actors and a prostitute which takes place over the course of half a century, taking them through the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). Kiage first won international recognition with his debut film, "Yellow Earth." In his latest film, Kaige includes a scene in which the characters betray each other during the Cultural Revolution. Terry will talk with him about his own experiences during the Cultural Revolution when he betrayed his own father, Chen Huaikai.

Freshman Congressman Bobby Rush (D-Illinois), who in the late 60's and early 70's was a leader of the Black Panther Party. At one time he served as Minister of Defense for the Panthers. From 1983 till his election to Congress last year, he served as an Alderman in Chicago.

Author Lorenzo Carcaterra is managing editor of the CBS weekly series "Top Cops." He's written a memoir, "A Safe Place," about growing up, the son of a violent, loving, murderous, and generous father. They lived in New York's Hell's Kitchen during the 50s and 60s. Lorenzo found out at the age of 14 that his father had murdered his first wife when she threatened to leave him. Lorenzo's father went on to terrorize his second wife, beating her and Lorenzo. Yet his father also could be warm and affectionate to his family.

Former Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the former Editor-in-Chief of "Connoisseur," Thomas Hoving. He's written a new book "Making the Mummies Dance: Inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Met is probably the richest museum in the world, with three million works of art, and artifacts that span 50 centuries. Hoving was with the Met for ten years and has been credited with transforming it from a somber monolith into a friendly and exciting place.