Terry Gross

Foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times, Thomas Friedman. He's just won his third Pulitzer Prize, this time for his "clarity of vision, based on extensive reporting, in commenting on the worldwide impact of the terrorist threat." Friedman was awarded the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for his international reporting from Lebanon and the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting from Isreal. He's also the author of From Beirut to Jerusalem, and The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization.

Father James Martin has written a new memoir about his spiritual journey from the corporate world to the priesthood. His book is In Good Company: The Fast Track from the Corporate World to Poverty, Chastity and Obedience (paperback, Sheed & Ward). Martin is associate editor of America, the national Catholic magazine and is the winner of three Catholic Press Association Awards. Hes also the author of This Our Exile: A Spiritual Journey with the Refugees of East Africa.

He left the priesthood after 22 years to marry and has been married now for 25 years. Kennedy believes that celibacy should no longer be an absolute condition for the priesthood. Hes the author of the new book, The Unhealed Wound: The Church and Human Sexuality (St. Martins Gr

From the South African production of the opera Carmen, and Yiimimangaliso: The Mysteries, an opera based on the medieval Chester Mystery plays: Music Director Charles Hazlewood and Singers Sandile Kamle and Pauline Malefane. The operas were staged in Londons West End to rave reviews. They are currently making their American premiere at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina that runs May 24-June 9. (www.spoletousa.org). Hazlewood went to South Africa and auditioned over a thousand performers for Carmen.

He's been called the 'not-so missing link between soul and country'. His songs have been recorded by Vince Gill, George Strait, the Dixie Chicks, Shelby Lynne and many others. But he's also recorded over a dozen of his own solo albums and has sung background vocals on more than 40 albums. In 1999 he collaborated with his hero, blue grass legend Ralph Stanley on the album, I Feel Like Singing Today which was nominated for a Grammy.

Actor and rapper Will Smith. His film Ali in which he stars as fighter Muhammad Ali is now out on video and DVD. This summer he stars in Men in Black II. Smith also starred in the films The Legend of Bagger Vance, Men In Black, Independence Day, and Six Degrees of Separation. Smith got his start as a rapper, making his first record in high school. Known as the Fresh Prince he and his friend DJ Jazzy Jeff went on to make several albums and won two Grammys and three American Music Awards. He also starred in his own TV sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

Basketball Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic Bill Russell is considered the greatest defensive center in the history of the game. In the 1960s he helped the Celtic on to 11 NBA championships in 13 seasons. He was named the NBA's most valuable player five times. His book, Russell Rules: 11 Lessons on Leadership From the Twentieth Century's Greatest Winner, is now out in paperback. This interview first aired May 9, 2001.

Writer Daniel Handler is the author (under the name Lemony Snicket) of the children's books A Series of Unfortunate Events featuring the orphans Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire. In each of the nine books so far, the orphans face increasing misfortune, from being pursued by an evil Count out to get their inheritance, to undergoing unnecessary surgery. Handler's books are filled with literary references and in-jokes that only adults would get.

Singer Keely Smith has been called "The Queen of Swing" and "First Lady of Las Vegas." Smith is perhaps best known as the duet partner and wife of Louis Prima. Smith and Prima drew crowds to the lounges of Las Vegas in the 1950s. Their hits include "Jump, Jive, an' Wail," "Just a Gigolo," "I've Got You Under My Skin" and "That Old Black Magic." This interview first aired April 4, 2000.

Writer Noelle Howey has written a new memoir about growing up in a household where as she was coming of age, her father was coming out as a trans-sexual and her mother was coming into her own as an independent woman. Her new book is Dress Codes: Of Three Girlhoods-My Mother's, My Father's and Mine (Picador). Howey is coeditor of Out of the Ordinary: Essays on Growing Up with Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Parents. She received a 2001 Nonfiction Fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts.