Terry Gross

Astronaut Jim Newman. Dr Newman has logged many days in space, including many space walks. In 1998 he was a member of one of the first crews to work on the International Space Station, Endeavor. He'll talk about what it was like doing construction in space. Next year, NEWMAN will go back to space to work on and repair the Hubble Telescope.

Documentary filmmakers Chris Hegedus & Jehane Noujaim. Their new film Startup.com is a Cinema Verite look at the rise and fall of an internet startup company. The film premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival and is now opening in theaters. Hegedus has been making documentaries with veteran filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker for over 20 years. Their films include, The War Room, which chronicles Bill Clintons presidential campaign. Startup.com is Jehane Noujaims first feature film.

He plays Josh Lyman, the Deputy Whitehouse Chief of Staff on the NBC drama The West Wing. The show's season finale airs Wednesday, May 16th. Whitford began his acting career on the stage. He has also appeared in many films including Scent of a Woman, Philadelphia, A Perfect World, Revenge of the Nerds II, and Billy Madison. He'll talk about his role on the West Wing, and what it's like playing a high-ranking staff member in a fictitious White House.

Film critic Henry Sheehan talks to Terry Gross about this year's Cannes Film Festival. Sheehan, who is currently in Cannes for the festival, will talk about the festival's film, and the buzz. The Cannes Film festival began last week and ends this weekend.

Psychologist Daniel Schacter is the author of the new book The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers. The book looks at memory loss and age, arguing that gaps in memory are normal if not necessary to a sharp mind. He's a Professor of Psychology at Harvard University.

Journalist Michela Wrong is the author of the new book In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu's Congo. The book examines the 1960 CIA plot to murder Patrice Lumumba who was then leader of newly independent Congo. The plot led to Lumumba's removal from power and the ascension of Mobutu Sese Seko. Wrong is a staff reporter with The Financial Times.

Writer David Rakoff is a regular contributor to Outside, the New York Times Magazine, and public radios This American Life. One of his peers, writer Paul Rudnick says of him, –Rakoff is a comic saint... an ideal mix of the crabby and the debonair.— Rakoff has a new collection of essays, Fraud. He's also appearing in Amy & David Sedaris new off-broadway show.

Meadows was a regular on TVs Saturday Night Live for some 9 years. Leon the Ladies Man, a swinging politically incorrect radio love doctor that he played on the show, is featured in the film The Ladies Man which is now out on video.

She's been called The Queen of Swing and The 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, Ive Got You Under My Skin, and That Old Black Magic. Smith talks about her marriage to Prima, the music they made together, and her career. Smiths newest CD is Keely Sings Sinatra

Journalist David Cay Johnston won a Pulitzer Prize for beat reporting. His beat is taxes. He writes about tax inequities, tax loopholes and the IRS for The New York Times. In a recent article (April 8, 2001), JOHNSTON wrote about the effect of the estate tax on farmers. The President contends that to help save the family farm, estate taxes should be repealed. JOHNSTON found that very few farmers pay estate tax, and he couldn't find an example of one farm that had been lost because of estate taxes.