Terry Gross

Actress Amy Sedaris. She’s the star of the comedy series “Strangers With Candy” that airs Monday and Saturday nights on Comedy Central. Sedaris plays Jerri Blank, a 47-year old ex-con, ex-prostitute lesbian high school freshman. She’s the sister of David Sedaris, a humor writer who has been on Fresh Air several times. Amy and David have produced and written several plays together, including the 1996 Obie award winning “One Woman Shoe.”

British writer Linda Grant. She’s the author of the new memoir, “Remind Me Who I Am, Again” (Granta Books) about her mother’s disappearance into dementia (diagnosed as Multi-Infarct Dementia). She first wrote about her mother’s situation in the pages of the Guardian. Grant’s other books include “Sexing the Millennium” and “The Cast Iron Shore.” (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW).

Susan Rice, the U.S. State Department’s Assistant Secretary for African Affairs.

Pro-democracy leader Zainab Bangura (ZI-nab bahn-GUHR-rah). She is a human rights activist and pro-democracy leader in Sierra Leone. She’s been threatened both by the government and the rebels because of her outspokenness.We’ll speak to her about the situation as it stands right now.

We talk about the controversial efforts to bring peace to Sierra Leone. As part of the agreement to end the civil war, members of the rebel forces were invited to participate at high levels of government…these were the same people who committed atrocities such as hacking off the limbs of children. First, we’ll speak with anthropologist Joseph Opala(oh-PA-la) Opala is an American who lived in Sierra Leone for 23 years. This past May, the Sierra Leone army staged a coup and Opala thought he would be safe in the hotel where the Nigerian General was staying.

Actress Tracey Ullman. She plays Frenchy, a manicurist married to an ex-con dishwasher in Woody Allen’s new comedy “Small Time Crooks.” She also worked with Allen on two of his previous films “Bullets Over Broadway,” and “Everyone Says I love You.” Ullman is the star of her own shows, HBO’s “Tracey Takes On,” and “The Tracey Ullman Show.”

Authors Adam Cohen and Elizabeth Taylor are the authors of American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley, His Battle for Chicago and the Nation” (Little, Brown & Co). In the book, the authors look at Daley’s legacy, how he transformed Chicago into a modern metropolis, but also turned it into the nation’s most segregated city.

Musician Pete Townshend turns 55 on May 19th. In the 1960's he made waves as the lead guitarist in the British rock group The Who. He was world famous for smashing guitars during concerts. After The Who split up, Townshend released a number of solo projects, and "Tommy," the rock opera he wrote for The Who in 1969, opened on Broadway. This summer The Who is back on tour. (REBROADCAST from 11/23/93).

In this program we hear selections of his music performed by singers Vernel Bagneris and Terry Burrell, and pianist Dick Hyman. We also hear from Marva Carter who is writing a biography of Cook. She is the director of Graduate Studies at the School of Music at Georgia State University.

Conductor Maurice Peress. He specializes in reconstructing historic American concerts. He’s worked with Ellington and Bernstein, and is the author of the forthcoming book, “Living With American Music: Dvorak to Duke Ellington.”