Terry Gross

Religion scholar Bart D. Ehrman, who chairs the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, talks about his new book, Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend.

Director Paul Weitz's new film, American Dreamz, satirizes American Idol and stars Dennis Quaid as a dimwitted U.S. president who goes on the show in an effort to save his falling approval ratings. Weitz's other films include American Pie and About a Boy.

Psychologist and family therapist Dr. Dan Gottlieb's new book Letters to Sam is a collection of lessons on life he wrote to his grandson. Two decades ago, Gottlieb became a quadriplegic in an automobile accident. His grandson is autistic, and the letters have lessons about what it's like to be different.

Filmmaker Liz Mermin's new documentary, The Beauty Academy of Kabul, is about a group of American hairdressers who open a beauty school in Afghanistan to teach local women how to cut hair and apply make-up, thus making them financially independent.

Craig Ferguson hosts CBS's Late Late Show, which should give him a fairly good vantage point from which to poke fun at pop culture and the entertainment industry. He has pounced on the opportunity with his novel, Between the Bridge and the River.

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) talks about his new book, America Back on Track. In the book, Sen. Kennedy identifies what he sees as key challenges facing the United States now, and offers possible solutions.

Judges for the Pulitzer Prize Monday cited The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Mike Luckovich "for his powerful cartoons on an array of issues, drawn with a simple but piercing style." It's a second prize for Luckovich, who was also honored in 1995.

Nicholas Wade, science reporter for The New York Times, examines what we've learned about our human ancestors using the latest techniques in DNA analysis in his new book, Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors.

Catherine Keener recently won a second Oscar nomination for her performance in Capote and appeared in the popular comedy The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Now, she stars in Friends with Money, her third collaboration with writer-director Nicole Holofcener.

British actress Helen Mirren, perhaps best known for her long-running role as Det. Supt. Jane Tennison on TV's Prime Suspect, has had two quite closely related roles recently. She plays Elizabeth I in a new HBO four-part miniseries premiering April 22; then she appears as Elizabeth II in The Queen, a film from Stephen Frears.