Terry Gross

Pierce won the "Songwriter of the Year" award at the 1993 Austin Music Awards. A tribute album of her songs performed by other singers, "Across the Great Divide," won the Album of the Year Award. She's originally from Lubbock, Texas, and little known outside the state. Her songs are quirky, and spiritual. Pierce also wrote and performed the one-woman show, ""Bad Girls Upset About the Truth," told in story and song about her problems with men and Jesus.

Psychiatrist Peter D. Kramer wrote "Listening to Prozac," an examination of the larger issues behind drugs that reshape temperament. Prozac is the most widely prescribed antidepressant today, with some four and a half million users since its introduction in 1987. Kramer raises serious questions about this "miracle mood enhancer": are we headed into an age of cosmetic pharmacology?

Kurtz is media reporter for "The Washington Post." He has a new book, called "Media Circus: The Trouble with America's Newspapers." In the book, he looks at how the press has bungled some important stories like the HUD scandal and the S&L mess, the William Kennedy Smith trial, and the Clarence Thomas hearings.

Handler has played leading roles in seven Broadway productions including, "Six Degrees of Separation," "Brighton Beach Memoirs," and "Master Harold. . . and the boys." He's 32 now; seven years ago he was diagnosed with leukemia. He had a bone marrow transplant, and he's now considered free of the disease. He has a new monologue, "Time on Fire," about his four year struggle with leukemia.

Actor and director Kenneth Branagh . Branagh and his wife, Emma Thompson are currently starring in the film adaptation of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing." This interview was recorded and originally broadcast in 1991 at the time of the release of their movie, "Dead Again," a psychological thriller. In 1989, Branagh made a film adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henry the Fifth;" he played the title role. That movie was nominated for an Oscar as best film.

Broadway lyricist Sheldon Harnick. He wrote the lyrics for the 1963 Broadway hit "She Loves Me." A revival of "She Loves Me" opens on Broadway on June 10. Harnick also wrote the lyrics for "Fiddler On The Roof."

The theater director and actor is a member of playwright David Mamet's circle of theater innovators. Macy has most recently starred in Mamet's new play "Oleanna", and was featured in his film "Homocide". They co-founded the Atlantic Theater Company, an ensemble which performs mainly original works by American writers. Members of the company wrote "A Practical Handbook For The Actor", from notes taken during acting workshops led by Mr. Macy. One critic writes that the ensemble "has rescued theater from the mindless".

Journalist David Sheff gained unprecedented access to the toy wizards at the Nintendo Corporation. His new book "Game's Over" explores the Japanese domination of the video-game market.

Foley directed the movies "Reckless" and "After Dark, My Sweet." His newest film is the screen adaptation of David Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross." The stage version won a 1984 Pulitzer Prize. The movie, starring Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon and Ed Harris, deals with men working in a real estate office who, because of the bad economy, must work in cut-throat conditions in order to survive.

One of Israel's leading journalists, Tom Segev has a new book,"The Seventh Million: The Israelis and The Holocaust," in which he argues that some Israelis use the Holocaust to encourage Israeli chauvinism and aggression. Segev writes a weekly column on politics and human rights for the daily newspaper "Haaretz."