Terry Gross

A couple of years ago, director Jake Kasdan woke up in the middle of the night, knowing suddenly that his next film would be a fake music biopic called Walk Hard. He went on to cast John C. Reilly as Dewey Cox, the putative legend at the heart of the story, who has trouble with women and drugs and who tries on a multitude of musical personalities. Walk Hard, due out Dec. 21, also features Jenna Fischer from NBC's The Office; it was co-written and produced by Judd Apatow. Apatow and Kasdan worked together previously on the critically acclaimed TV show Freaks and Geeks.

Joel Hafvenstein spent a year in Afghanistan trying to convince opium-poppy farmers to give up what he calls "the perfect crop." Working for a private company funded by the United States Agency for International Development, Hafvenstein helped provide Afghan farmers with alternative jobs — like building canals and roads — in hopes that they'd give up their alliance with the Taliban.

In a recent New York Times Magazine cover story, reporter Andrea Elliott explained how the small Moroccan neighborhood of Jamaa Mezuak has bred terrorists responsible for a number of recent high-profile attacks. Some were involved in the Madrid train bombings; some went to Iraq. Elliott won a Pulitzer Prize this year for her series An Imam in America.

Sharon Jones, head of the old-school funk and soul band Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, is working it. She and her band have a new album, their third, called 100 Days, 100 Nights. They've been touring to support the album, and Jones was recently part of the cast of Berlin, along with Lou Reed. She also shot a part for the upcoming Denzel Washington film The Great Debaters.

A MacArthur Fellow and co-founder of the Pacific Institute, Peter Gleick runs one of the nation's leading water-conservation assessment centers.

The institute's biennial report, The World's Water, surveys global water trends and issues, including the links between water and terrorism and the growing risk of flood and drought.

In Tamara Jenkins' new film The Savages, two 40-something siblings have to put their lives on hold while they learn how to deal with their elderly father, who's slipping slowly into dementia.

The film — it's a comedy — stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney, plus Broadway veteran Philip Bosco as their ailling dad. (Watch a clip.)

Jenkins' previous film work includes The Slums of Beverly Hills.

Investigative reporter Mark Schapiro explains in a new book that toxic chemicals exist in many of the products we handle every day — agents that can cause cancer, genetic damage and birth defects, lacing everything from our gadgets to our toys to our beauty products.

Actor, comedian and writer Buck Henry co-wrote the script for The Graduate and played the role of the hotel clerk.

He was also a screenwriter for the film version of Get Smart with Mel Brooks, Catch-22, What's Up Doc and other films.

Henry was a frequent host with the original cast of Saturday Night Live. (Original airdate: 2/24/97)

Today's show is a tribute to the 1967 film classic The Graduate, which has come out with a new, 40th anniversary collector's edition DVD.

Mike Nichols directed the film, and he won an Oscar for his work. He also directed the big screen classics Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Silkwood, Working Girl, and Primary Colors, the cable movie Wit, and the miniseries Angels in America.

Dustin Hoffman's turn as Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate was a breakout role, and he was nominated for an Oscar.

Hoffman won two Oscars later in his career for Kramer Vs. Kramer and Rain Man. His other films include Tootsie, Wag the Dog, Midnight Cowboy and Meet the Fockers.

His current film, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, is now in theaters. (Original airdate: 4/19/99)