Terry Gross

Actor Joseph Gannascoli played mob captain Vito Spatafore on The Sopranos — until Vito, like so many other characters in six seasons, got whacked. Offscreen, Gannascoli wrote a crime novel, A Meal to Die For, about a mob chef summoned to prepare a feast for a boss headed for the slammer. Rebroadcast from May 31, 2006

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf faces protests at home — and given his stance on the Taliban, eroding support in the West as well. Journalist and author Ahmed Rashid parses the challenges and possibilities of contemporary Pakistani politics.

The TV Set, starring David Duchovny and Sigourney Weaver, satirizes the punishing process of producing a TV pilot. Writer and director Jake Kasdan knows his material: He directed and co-produced the pilot for the acclaimed but short-lived TV series Freaks and Geeks.

With nearly 40 films to his credit, including Days of Heaven, American Gigolo, An Officer and a Gentleman, The Cotton Club, and Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Richard Gere knows an iconic character when he sees one.

In his latest film, The Hoax, Gere plays a scam artist who lands a seven-figure book deal with a major publisher. It's based on the true story of Clifford Irving, who claimed to be an authorized biographer of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes.

In a single monologue, the protagonist of Mohsin Hamid's sophomore novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, tells his life story to an American stranger over dinner in a Pakistani cafe. Hamid's first novel, Moth Smoke, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.

New cancer-fighting techniques, including drugs designed to target cancer cells, mean thousands of patients are surviving cancer. Researcher and author David G. Nathan explains The Cancer Treatment Revolution.

Maz Jobrani, Ahmed Ahmed and Aron Kader make up the Axis of Evil Comedy group. (They're of Iranian, Egyptian and Palestinian descent, respectively). Their special premiered on Comedy Central last month. It's out on DVD this week.

English comedian and actor Sacha Baron Cohen's popular film Borat is now out on DVD. Cohen is best known for his characters Ali G (a journalist from England), Bruno (a flamboyantly gay Austrian fashion reporter) and Borat (a reporter from Kazakhstan). (REBROADCAST from 1/4/07)

Geneticist Francis Collins is director of the National Human Genome Research Project. He is also an evangelical Christian, and author of the book The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.