Terry Gross

Historian Taylor Branch. He won the Pulitzer Prize for the first book of his planned trilogy of the Civil Rights movement: "Parting the Waters: America In the King Years 1954-63" His most recent book "Pillars of Fire: America In the King Years 1963-65" has just come out on paperback. (Simon & Schuster) It begins where the other book ended, and covers what he considers the peak years in the movement. At the center of the book are Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Robert Kennedy, LBJ, and J. Edgar Hoover. This originally aired 1/19/98.

Legendary Broadway dancer Gwen Verdon. She starred in "Damn Yankees," "Sweet Charity." "Redhead," and "Chicago." Verdon won four Tony awards and a lifetime achievement award from the New Dramatists playwrights workshop. (REBROADCAST from 5/5/93)

Journalist Mark Hertsgaard. He traveled around the world examining environmentally-damaged places. His new book about it is, "Earth Odyssey: Around the world in Search of Our Environmental Future" (Broadway Books). Hertsgaard also writes for the New York times, The New Yorker, the Atlantic Monthly, and the Nation.

Satirist Al Franken, former writer for Saturday Night Live, and creator of Stuart Smalley (author of "I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!"). His new book is "Why Not Me: The Inside Story of the Making and Unmaking of the Franken Presidency" (Delacorte Press). It's the story of America's first jewish president, himself, Al Franken!

Actor-producer James Woods. He's currently starring in the new film, "Another Day in Paradise" based on the semi-autobiographical novel of ex-con Eddie Little. It's about a makeshift family of professional thieves looking for the big score and is directed by Larry Clark who made the gritty film, "Kids." Woods previous films include "Salvador," "Ghosts of Mississippi," "The Onion Field," and "Contact."

Music writer Peter Guralnick has written volume two of his biography of Elvis Presley. "Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley." (Little, Brown and Company). Part One of his biography is, "Last Train to Memphis."

Actor Nick Nolte. He's currently starring in "Affliction" and "The Thin Red Line." Nolte got his breakthrough in the television miniseries, "Rich Man, Poor Man" in 1976. His films include "48 Hours," "Down and Out in Beverly Hills," "Prince of Tides," and "Afterglow." (REBROADCAST from 1/6/98)

Novelist Russell Banks. He's written a dozen or more novels including: "The Sweet Hereafter" (which was made into a film by Atom Egoyan), Rule of the Bone, Searching for Survivors,The Book of Jamaica, and Continental Drift. His novel "Affliction" has been made into a new film. It stars Cissy Spacek, James Coburn, and Nick Nolte. (REBROADCAST from 12/23/97)