Terry Gross

Susan Orlean is a staff writer at The New Yorker. In 1994 she wrote a profile of David Friedman, one of the Friedman sons. David was known as Silly Billy, a popular clown who was a favorite at children's birthday parties in New York City. David's father and brother were accused of molesting children, and the family's story is told through their own home movies in the documentary film Capturing the Friedmans. Orlean is also the author of the best-selling book, The Orchid Thief.

He has written his first novel for adults, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. The narrator of the story is an autistic teenager who is obsessed with Sherlock Holmes and who must prove his innocence when a neighborhood dog is killed. One reviewer described it as "wonderful, simple, moving, and likely to be a smash." Haddon lives in England and teaches creative writing for the Arvon Foundation and for Oxford University.

In his recent columns he has been writing about the intelligence officers who disclosed to him that the Bush administration exaggerated the claims of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq before the war. Kristof recently returned from Iraq.

His new movie is Capturing the Friedmans. It's a non-fiction feature film about a seemingly normal Long Island, New York family. The film takes a look at the convoluted case and attempts to determine the true story. Capturing the Friedmans won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2003 Sundance festival. This is Jarecki's first feature film. He was also the founder and CEO of Moviefone, which was acquired by AOL in 1999 for nearly $400 million.

Susan Orlean is a staff writer at The New Yorker. In 1994 she wrote a profile of David Friedman, one of the Friedman sons. David was known as Silly Billy, a popular clown who was a favorite at children's birthday parties in New York City. Orlean wrote the profile before the story came out surrounding David's father and brother. She is also the author of the best-selling book, The Orchid Thief.

In the summer of 1998 she began work on her new album, Roads of Travel, and it was released in March, 2003. It includes a duet with her father, Johnny Cash. Other guest vocalists include Sheryl Crow and Steve Earle. Last month, Cash's stepmother June Cash died.

Dr. Samuel Barondes is a professor and director of the Center for Neurobiology and Psychiatry at the University of California. He's also the author of the new book, Better than Prozac: Creating the Next Generation of Psychiatric Drugs. In the book he traces the history and analyzes the effectiveness of the current crop of antidepressants and considers the drugs of the future.

Spencer's newest book is A Ship Made of Paper, and it has received critical acclaim. Our book critic, Maureen Corrigan, describes Spencer as a brilliant storyteller. Spencer is the author of seven previous novels, including Endless Love which sold over 2 million copies. He's also written for Rolling Stone, The New York Times and The New Yorker.

Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood co-founded the band Fountains of Wayne. Their new album, Welcome Interstate Managers, has just been released. The New York-based band released its self-titled debut album in late 1996. This interview first aired June 10, 1999.

Her new book, Highsmith: A Romance of the 1950's, is about her two-year affair with the writer Patricia Highsmith. They met at a Greenwich Village bar and were both writing lesbian pulp novels under pseudonyms. Meaker wrote Spring Fire (1952) under the pen name Vin Packer. It sold 1.5 million copies. She also wrote under the name Ann Aldrich. Meaker writes young adult novels under the name M.E. Kerr. Highsmith is known for her classic novels Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley.