Terry Gross

Bill Siemering works for "The Open Society Institute," a group that promotes open and free societies. It is funded by the Soros Foundation. He talks about building up radio in third world countries to serve as a tool for democracy. Siemering wrote the mission and goals statement for National Public Radio and served there as its first program director. He also served as V.P. at WHYY-FM in Philadelphia.

Writer and director M. Night Shyamalan. He's the man behind the new #1 hit film, "The Sixth Sense" about a boy who sees the dead. The film stars Bruce Willis. Shyamalan made his film debut with "Praying with Anger" which was named Debut of the Year by the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.

Botanist Margaret Lowman. She's a pioneer in research on forest canopies, i.e, the treetops - their inhabitants, flowers, fruits and morality. Her new book is "Life in the Treetops: Adventures of a Woman in Field Biology" (Yale Book News). LOWMAN is director of research and conservation at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida.

U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Pete Peterson. He's a former Florida congressman and a former P.O.W. during the Vietnam war. He spent almost seven years as a prisoner of war. Now everyday, living in Vietnam, he passes by the Hanoi Hilton, the building that held him. Peterson is the subject of a new PBS documentary, "Assignment Hanoi." (It airs on many PBS stations September 7th).

Writer and flight attendant Elliott Neal Hester. He writes the bimonthly column "Out of the Blue" for the online magazine, Salon. He's also working on an upcoming book about flying the "not so friendly skies."

Also one of the car's designers, Chuck Pelly. He is the President and CEO of Designworks/USA, international design consultants specializing in transportation and product design.

Assistant Curator in the Department of Architecture and Design at the New York's Museum of Modern Art, Christopher Mount. He's the curator of "Different Roads: Automobiles for the Next Century" thru September 21st. The exhibition presents nine contemporary automobiles which represent the next generation of cars.

Actors Ralph and Joseph Fiennes They're best known for their respective roles in "The English Patient" and "Shakespeare in Love." Their mother, Jennifer Lash, was an accomplished novelist in England. Her last novel, "Blood Ties" was written as she was dying of breast cancer. Her sons talk about their mother. Their sister Sophie, also joins the conversation.

From the new film "Illuminata," actor/director John Turturro and composer William Bolcom. The film is based on a stage play by Brandon Cole (who also wrote the screenplay with Turturro). Previously the two collaborated on the film "Mac." Bolcom won the Pulitzer Prize in Music in 1988 for his "Twelve New Etudes for Piano."

Syndicated columnist Cal Thomas and pastor Ed Dobson. Both previously worked with the Moral Majority: Thomas was Jerry Falwell's spokesman, and Dobson was Falwell's personal assistant. The two are now critical of the emergence of conservative Christian groups into politics, and they've collaborated on the new book: "Blinded by Might: Can the Religious Right Save America?" (Zondervan Publishing).