Terry Gross

Pulitzer-Prize winning writer Garry Wills. His new book is "A Necessary Evil: A History of American Distrust of Government" (Simon & Schuster). Wills is also the author of "Lincoln At Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America." And he's written other books on Nixon, Reagan and Kennedy, as well as a look at the relationship between politics and popular culture via celebrity, "John Wayne's America: the Politics of Celebrity."

Film historian Rudy Behlmer on the making of "King Kong." The original movie soundtrack for the 1933 classic film has just been reissued on CD. (Rhino) The film was directed by documentarians Merian C. Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack who also worked together on the groundbreaking documentaries, "Grass" and "Chang." The score was by Max Steiner. Behlmer wrote the liner notes for the the new CD. He's also the author of "Behind the Scenes."

Singer, songwriter, guitarist Robbie Fulks. His new CD is "The Very Best of Robbie Fulks" (Bloodshot label). Fulks has one foot in the singer/songwriter scene, and one in country music. In fact he spent three years writing songs in Nashville, but no one opted to record his songs. In 1998 he debuted with a new CD of his own music, "Let's Kill Saturday Night". Fulks began his career as a regular at the same fabled Greenwich Village hole in the wall where Bob Dylan made a name for himself.

Actor, director, writer Tim Robbins talks about his new film *The Cradle Will Rock*. It is the first film written and directed by Robbins since the Academy Award winning Dead Man Walking. The Cradle Will Rock is based on the events surrounding the production of a 1937 labor musical, directed by Orson Welles. The play was shut down by a government injunction for the cast's alleged left-wing politics. Robbins is known for his roles in such films as Shawshank Redemption, The Player, and Bull Durham.

Writer Ann Bannon (her pseudonym) has written a number of books of lesbian pulp fiction, including "Odd Girl Out," "I Am a Woman," and "Journey to a Woman." Bannon went on to become a college dean, and has kept her identity a secret.

A conversation about lesbian pulp fiction with: Jaye Zimet who has compiled a new collection of book covers for lesbian pulp fiction: "Strange Sisters: The Art of Lesbian Pulp Fiction, 1949-1969" (Viking Studio).

Before he became a well-known detective novelist, Lawrence Block wrote a number of books of lesbian pulp fiction, under the pseudonym Jill Emerson (and others). Block is best known for his detective novels featuring the Manahatten private eye, Matt Scudder. His novels have followed Scudder through alcoholism and into recovery through an Alcoholics Anonymous program.

Director of the United Hospital Fund's Project on Family Caregiving in an Age of Change, Carole Levine (Leh-VEEN). She brings her professional and personal life to bear on her work with the project: Since 1990, when her husband was critically injured in an automobile accident, she has been his caregiver. The Fund released a major new report on caregivers last month:"Rough Crossings: Family Caregivers' Odysseys through the Health Care System." Levine is also the founder and executive director of The Orphan Project: Families and Children in the HIV Epidemic.

Writers, professors, and brothers Frederick & Steven Barthelme. They've written a new memoir "Double Down: Reflections on Gambling and Loss" (Houghton Mifflin). After both their parents died within a year and a half of each other, the two grieving brothers went on a gambling spree that lasted years, and cost them their inheritance. They write, "We were on our own in a remarkable new way, and we were not ready."

American Submarines and espionage during the cold war. We feature an interview with Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew, authors of the best selling Blind Man's Bluff. Their book chronicles the voyages of submarines off the coast of the Soviet Union, during the height of the Cold War. Tens of thousands of American men traveled in these submarines, executing top secret missions. They monitored Soviet harbors and collected information using advanced eavesdropping equipment. Blind Man's Bluff is out in paperback.