Terry Gross

Country music singer Ray Price He was a close friend and protege of Hank Williams. Price's hits include "Talk to Your Heart," "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes," "I'll be There," "Crazy Arms," "For the Good Times," and more. In 1996 he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. His latest album is "Ray Price: The Other Woman" (Koch).

Actor Sean Penn. He's currently starring in the new films "Hurly Burly," and "The Thin Red Line." Penn previously starred in "Dead Man Walking." Penn also wrote and directed the film "The Indian Runner" which he wrote based on a Bruce Springsteen song, and "The Crossing Guard.

Reknowned naturalist and film maker Sir David Attenborough. His new book and (upcoming PBS special is "The Life of Birds" (Princeton University Press). He examines birds from rainforests to desert, to cities and isolated wildernesses, the flying and the flightless, the seed eaters and the meat-eaters. The series was broadcast on the BBC last fall and will be presented on PBS sometime this year. The book is currently available.

Journalist Mark Hertsgaard. He traveled around the world examining environmentally-damaged places. His new book about it is, "Earth Odyssey: Around the world in Search of Our Environmental Future" (Broadway Books). Hertsgaard also writes for the New York times, The New Yorker, the Atlantic Monthly, and the Nation.

Satirist Al Franken, former writer for Saturday Night Live, and creator of Stuart Smalley (author of "I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!"). His new book is "Why Not Me: The Inside Story of the Making and Unmaking of the Franken Presidency" (Delacorte Press). It's the story of America's first jewish president, himself, Al Franken!

Actor-producer James Woods. He's currently starring in the new film, "Another Day in Paradise" based on the semi-autobiographical novel of ex-con Eddie Little. It's about a makeshift family of professional thieves looking for the big score and is directed by Larry Clark who made the gritty film, "Kids." Woods previous films include "Salvador," "Ghosts of Mississippi," "The Onion Field," and "Contact."

Music writer Peter Guralnick has written volume two of his biography of Elvis Presley. "Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley." (Little, Brown and Company). Part One of his biography is, "Last Train to Memphis."

Aaron Sorkin is creator of the new ABC TV show, "Sports Night" a behind-the-scenes look at a cable sports newscast, like ESPN. It's been described as "a home run" and "the most consistently funny, intelligent, and emotional of any new-season series." Sorkin also wrote the films "An American President," and "A Few Good Men."

Criminologist Richard Wright. He teaches at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He'll discuss the statistics released last month by the Justice Department showing that the crime rate has been falling steadily since 1991. He'll also discuss the link between the crime rate and the decline in crack use which he has studied. Wright is the co-author of the book, "Armed Robbers in Action: Stickups and Street Culture" (1997, Northeastern University Press).

Musician and singer Peter Wolf. He's the former lead singer with the J. Geils Band which he was with for 17 years. He's been a solo artist for a while. On his latest CD "Fool's Parade" (Mercury) he's incorporated the Memphis sound.