Terry Gross

Jeffrey Eugenides' Pulitizer Prize-winning novel Middlesex has been on the bestseller list since its publication; it's now available in paperback.

Eugenides is also the author of The Virgin Suicides, which was adapted into a feature film.

This interview first aired on Sept. 24, 2002.

Singer Pegi Young has just released a self-titled debut album after many years of singing backup for her husband, Neil Young. Pegi wrote many of the songs on the album, too. Her main focus in life, however, has been the creation of the Bridge School for special-needs children like her son Ben, who was born with cerebral palsy. Now, with her kids grown (the Youngs also have a daughter named Amber), she's found time to get into the studio to record her own music.

Mark Olsen and Will Scheffer created the HBO series Big Love, now in its second season. It's about a man (Bill Paxton) and his three wives (Chloe Sevigny, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Ginnifer Goodwin). They've broken from the Mormon church and still practice polygamy — a tradition disavowed by mainline Mormons. Olsen and Scheffer are credited as writers and producers on the series. This year, they won a Writer's Guild Award for their work.

Climatologist Kerry Emanuel, professor at MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, was named one of the world's 100 most influential people last year by Time magazine — in part because of a study he published, a month before Hurricane Katrina, that looked at thousands of hurricanes over several decades and found that the average power of the storms had doubled.

Paul Rudd, who co-starred in Knocked Up and The 40 Year Old Virgin, produced and stars in the new independent film The Ten — a series of irreverent vignettes that reinterpret the Ten Commandments for a modern audience.

Rudd also stars in the upcoming movie I Could Never Be Your Woman, with Michelle Pfeiffer. His other films include Clueless, Anchorman and The Cider House Rules, and he's been seen on TV's Friends and Reno 911!.

Actress Liv Ullman, longtime muse of filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, talks about working with the legendary director, who died today at the age of 89. Bergman made more than 50 films, including The Seventh Seal, Cries and Whispers, and Fanny and Alexander. (Rebroadcast of 5/11/1993)

Forbes magazine writer Robyn Meredith talks about the economic realities behind her new book: The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China and What It Means for All of Us. Previously, Meredith wrote for The New York Times and USA Today.

Memphis soul label Stax records is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year; a series of tribute concerts are being held, and PBS airs the documentary Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story next week. We feature interviews with musicians who were a big part of the Stax sound.

First up: Guitarist, songwriter and producer Steve Cropper, best known for playing with Booker T & the MGs. He co-wrote "Soul Man" and "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay." This interview first aired on Sept. 18, 1990.

Memphis soul label Stax records celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. One of its biggest stars was Isaac Hayes, who topped the charts in the '70s, going gold with the album Hot Buttered Soul and platinum with his 1972 soundtrack to the movie Shaft. The latter won him an Oscar.

This interview first aired on July 28, 1994.

Nancy Cartwright's work is widely heard and well loved, but not many people know it's her. She's the voice of Bart Simpson on TV's The Simpsons — and in the long-awaited feature film that hits theaters this week.