Terry Gross

Irwin Blye is a private investigator who has coauthored a book about his trade. He joins Fresh Air to talk about what his day-to-day work looks like--in contrast to the detectives of novels and films.

Former New York Times reporter Joyce Maynard moved to New Hampshire to start a family, where she started her Domestic Affairs column, which examines her new life as a writer and mother. A book of the same name has just been published.

Sam Charters is a white northerner who studies the history black southern music. He moved to Louisiana to learn about forgotten jazz players and make field recordings of unknown blues musicians.

Journalist Michael Hamburger took a break from his career to work as a caddy on a professional golf tour. His book, The Green Road Home, details what was expected of him, from carrying bags to providing emotional support.

As a teenager at the beginning of her folk career, Joan Baez played mostly sad, traditional songs. She later became an icon to teenage girls in the 1960s, played with Bob Dylan, and pursued political activism.

Jody Pinto is an installation artist whose work is inspired by the contours of the human body. Her newest piece, Fingerspan, is a bridge that extends throughout Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. It is her first major permanent work.

Artist-turned-musician Carl Finch discovered polka while working on an installation. He later started the new wave polka band Brave Combo.

Nien Cheng and her husband were educated abroad and lived a comfortable, bourgeois life before China's Cultural Revolution. Though Cheng faced persecution, interrogation, and imprisonment, she was mostly able to maintain her lifestyle--and her loyalty to her country. She now lives in Washington, D.C.

Bly's work has dealt with nature, the Vietnam War, and gender differences. He considers the impact living simply in Minnesota has had on his writing.

New York City-based journalist Pete Hamill briefly served as a newspaper editor in Mexico City. After conflicts with the publisher over how to cover a student protest, he resigned. Nineteen reporters joined him. Now back in U.S., he writes for the Village Voice.