Terry Gross

Comedy writer Alan Zweibel. He was one of the original writers for "Saturday Night Live." He wrote the `Samurai' skits for John Belushi, and the Emily Litella and Roseanne Roseannadanna skits for Gilda Radner. He now has two projects on television - "The Gary Shandling Show" and "The Boys," a comedy special on the Showtime cable network.

Writer Joe Kane. In 1985, Kane, who had been a freelance writer living in San Francisco, was asked to follow the first attempt to navigate the entire Amazon River, starting in the Andes of Peru and ending in the Atlantic Ocean. Kane was going to follow the group at intervals, publicizing their progress for the American and European press.

Dancer and choreographer Marta Renzi. Typical of her work is "Mountainview," a half-hour dance narrative that premieres this Thursday, August 3 on the PBS program "Alive From Off Center." "Mountainview" is set at the bar of rundown resort run by three generations of the same family. The families loves and jealousies are played out to the sounds of the jukebox, which features the music of Bruce Springsteen, Tammy Wynette and Aretha Franklin. RENZI choreographed the dances and other movements and collaborated with filmmaker John Sayles on the camera work.

Musicologist David Lewiston. Since the early 60s, Lewiston has traveled the world collecting the music of the indigenous cultures. He's recorded the Andean music of Peru, the fiestas of southern Mexico and the marimba music of Guatemala. In addition, he's travelled extensively in the Himalayas and other remote, mountainous areas of the Far East. These recordings have been released as part of the Nonesuch Record Company's Explorer Series. Over the last few years, Lewiston has focused on the music and rituals of the people of Tibet, now living in exile in northern India.

Time Magazine correspondent Otto Friedrich. Friedrich talks of his work at Time and Newsweek, from his coverage of the French war in Indochina, to the essays and cover stories he now writes at Time. A collection of his essays, titled The Grave of Alice B. Toklas, has just been published.

Blues musician John Hammond returns in Fresh Air's weekly performance segment with a demonstration of his slide guitar style. He plays songs by Son House and Big Bill Broonzey.

Social policy analyst David L. Kirp The author of many books on education in America, David Kirp's latest, Learning by Heart," describes the battles in 7 different communities over whether to allow children infected with AIDS to attend local schools.

Author Jose Torres. His new book, Fire and Fear, charts the personal turmoil and the athletic rise of heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson. Torres comes to the Tyson story well qualified: he's the former world light heavyweight boxing champion (his lifetime record was 52-3-1), and he trained with the same man who trained Mike Tyson. Since retiring, Torres has served as the New York state boxing commissioner and written a biography of Mohammad Ali titled Sting Like A Bee.

Joel Rosenman and John Roberts. Twenty years ago Rosenman and Roberts were in their 20s when they came into a large inheritance. They decided to take the money and promote a rock concert in upstate New York. What they ended up organizing was Woodstock, possibly the one event that best sums up an entire era of American history.

Author and satirist Robert Kaplow. Kaplow is the leader of the satirical group, "The Punsters," which has appeared on "Morning Edition," "All Things Considered," and more recently here on Fresh Air. Kaplow himself portrays Moe Moscowitz, the hyper-kinetic self-promoter and pitchman. Kaplow also writes novels for young adults. His latest novel is titled Alessandra in Love.