Terry Gross

It's been almost six years since the Ayatollah Khomeini issued a death sentence against the author. Since then, Rushdie has lived in hiding, continuing to write and making a few semi-public appearances. His book, "Haroun and the Sea of Stories," published in 1990, was a fairy tale written for his son. His new book is collection of stories about the line that divides East and West, called "East, West."

Lowe's newest recording is "The Impossible Bird." In the early 1970s, he played London's pub rock scene in the band Brinsley Schwarz. After they broke up in 1975, Lowe produced five albums for Elvis Costello and worked with Dave Edmunds in the group Rockpile. He begins a national concert tour this month in the United States.

Journalists Michelle Slatalla and Joshual Quittner both work for Newsday. They've collaborated on a new book, called "Masters of Deception." It's about two rival gangs of teenage computer hackers in New York City, Masters of Deception and the Legion of Doom. The gangs, broke into phone company computers, downloaded confidential credit histories, and broke into private and corporate computer files. The rivalry was friendly until a computer remark by one hacker set off a "gang war."

John Lee is a former member of the Masters of Doom. Federal agents had been monitoring the rivalry between his gang and their rivals, The Legion of Doom. Lee was arrested and sent to jail.

Benben co-starred in the new movie, "Radioland Murders" as a radio scriptwriter trying to save his marriage. He also stars in "Dream On," the HBO comedy series. The FOX network recently started airing reruns from the series first season. "The New York Times" has called his "Dream On" character "an adult Charlie Brown," with "offbeat charm." (Rebroadcast)

Brunt writes in the The New York Times magazine section, "To be poor in a country that places a premium on wealth is in itself shameful. To be white and poor is unforgiveable." He says poor whites have no defenders, and they are made to feel ashamed of themselves because of the assumption that they "should" be able to make a success of themselves. Brunt's father abandoned the family; his mother died when he was eight. Brunt spent years in foster homes and orphanages where he was abused. (Rebroadcast)

Journalist Leslie Savan writes about television advertising. Her new book, "The Sponsored Life," reveals "how commercial values infiltrate our beliefs and desires, how we become more and more sponsored."

Braugher plays Detective Frank Pembleton on the hit NBC series. He was educated at Julliard and is an experienced Shakespearean actor. His other acting credits include the film, "Glory" and the TNT special, "The Court Martial of Jackie Robinson."

House speaker Newt Gingrich has called for abolishing the National Endowment for the Arts. We discuss the pros and cons of federal funding of the arts with two guests. Art critic Hilton Kramer is the founder of the Arts Magazine, "The New Criterion," and is former chief art critic for The New York Times. He's against federal funding for the arts. John Brademas is Chair of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, and former Democratic Congressman from Indiana. He also helped write the legislation that created the NEA.

We explore the current controversies over the NEA with Lynn Munson, former Special Assistant to Chairman Lynn Cheney at the NEA and current Research Associate at the American Enterprise Institute, and Paul Goldberger, The New York Times' Chief Cultural Correspondent.