Terry Gross

Terry talked with Terry in 1987 about how Judaism has affected different aspects of his life in and out of comedy. (Rebroadcast)

Writer and professor Mary Jo Weaver teaches Religious and Women's Studies at Indiana University. Her new book is, "Springs of Water in a Dry Land." It's about the double bind that many Catholic women find themselves in, of either living within an institutionalized and oppressive church structure, or rejecting a church which is a source of spiritual enrichment. Weaver argues that it is possible for a woman to be a feminist and remain Catholic. (Rebroadcast)

Armstrong's best-selling book traces 4000 years of Monotheism in the form of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.The author, a Catholic nun for seven years in the 1960's, left the order to take a degree at Oxford, and now teaches at the Leo Baeck College for the study of Judaism. (Rebroadcast)

Journalist Ari Goldman is the religion correspondent for The New York Times. He's written a new book, "The Search for God At Harvard," about the year he took off from his job to attend the Harvard Divinity School. It details his experiences there and how they affected his own faith as an Orthodox Jew. (Rebroadcast)

Sogyal Rinpoche was born in Tibet and raised in the buddhist tradition. He also studied at Cambridge University in England. He has lived outside of Tibet, in exile, for 20 years. Rinpoche is the incarnation of Terton Sogyal (1856-1926), a Tibetan mystic and the teacher of the last Dalai Lama. Rinpoche's new book, "The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying," combines Tibetan wisdom with modern research on death and dying. (Rebroadcast)

Film critic Stephen Schiff has a review of "Ready To Wear," Robert Altman's ensemble film about Paris fashion shows.

We play some great Christmas music, from previous Fresh Air concerts. The segment includes Susannah McCorkle, Charles Brown singing "Merry Christmas Baby," and composers Martin and Blane telling the story behind their song, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." (Rebroadcast)

Humorist and NPR commentator David Sedaris charms us with "Santaland Diaries." The piece comes from Sedaris' book "Barrel Fever," and first ran on NPR's Morning Edition a few days before Christmas 1992. Even though Sedaris has achieved national fame and movie contracts for his humor writing, he still cleans apartments during the day, because, he says, he can only write at night.

We feature interviews with two people involved with the film "Heavenly Creatures." New Zealand director and writer Peter Jackson and co-screenwriter Frances Walsh. They have collaborated on two other films, "Dead Alive" a horror-movie spoof and "Meet The Feebles," a zombie film -- both of which have a cult following in their home country.

Film critic Stephen Schiff has a review of Little Women, the latest of many adaptations of Louisa May Alcott's classic novel.