Terry Gross

Recently, the Food and Drug Administration conditionally approved the sale of RU486, the French abortion pill, in the United States. The drug won't be available widely until mid-next year. Dr. Elizabeth Newhall works in a clinic in Portland, Oregon, where they have been testing the drug with their patients.

Nationally syndicated columnist and author Roger Simon. He's covered every presidential election for the past twenty years. He'll give us his impression of this year's election, the day after. Simon wrote the book "Road Show" about the 1988 presidential election. He's currently working on a book about this year's campaign which will be out next year.

Two guests discuss their work in Hollywood.

Next week, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist will be honored at the National Book Awards ceremony for her distinguished contribution to American letters. In 1992, at the time of this interview, she had a new novel "Jazz," and a book of essays, "Playing in the Dark." Her novel, "Beloved," won the Pulitzer prize. She's written five novels in all. (REBROADCAST FROM 4/24/92).

Director of the Brookings Institution Center for Public Management, John Dilulio, Jr. He's also a professor at Princeton University and member of the Council on Crime in America. He's just co-authored a new book called Body Count, in which he and others warn that though violent crime by juveniles may be down now, the worse is yet to come. They blame violent crime not on economic poverty, guns, or the use of lack of prisons.

President and founder of the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives Jerome Miller. When he was commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (1969-1972), he closed down the state reform schools and placed residents in community programs because of the brutal, inhumane way the residents were treated. His "experiment" turned out to be a success. He wrote about it in the book "Last One Over the Wall: The Massachusetts Experiment in Closing Reform Schools."

The novelist has been described by Kirkus Reviews as "The British master of social satire." He's written nine novels, short stories, and written for radio, television, and the stage. His newest novel is "Footsucker," whose narrator is a serious man with a full life and a foot fetish.

O'Brien took over David Letterman's spot in 1993, and his "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" has just celebrated it's third birthday. Previous to that, he was a writer for Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons.

He's the man who wrote "Blue Suede Shoes," the hit song sung by Elvis Presley which became the first Sun label record to sell over a million copies. Carl Perkins has also written the songs, "Matchbox," "Honey Don't," and "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" which have been recorded by the Beatles. Born in Tennessee, he's a pioneer of rockabilly music. His new memoir and CD are both called "Go Cat Go!"

Kingsley is the British actor who won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film, "Ghandi." He's also known for his roles in "Bugsy," Schindler's List," "Sneakers," and "Species," and many more movies and plays. Kingsley was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal Court in London and the National Theatre. His new film is "Twelfth Night."