Terry Gross

Creator and CEO of the Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN), Brian Lamb. He launched the network in 1979 because he felt society was being treated unfairly by television news. He wanted to broadcast information from beginning to end, so that audiences could get a full picture of what transpired, and not just pieces of it. The channel provides hours of footage of the U.S. Congress and its committees, party conventions, and provided sprawling coverage of the Presidential campaign -- all without commentary or editing.

Anthropologist Elliot Liebow. He is the author of the classic 1967 study "Tally's Corner," a look at African-American street corner life. The bestseller was Liebow's doctoral dissertation, and it's still used by many college students. His new work, the first he's published in over twenty years, is called "Tell Them Who I Am: The Lives of Homeless Women."(Free Press/Macmillan). He investigates the patterns and routines of homeless women around Washington, D.C.

Novelist Joyce Carol Oates. The prolific writer has penned 23 novels, in addition to plays, poems, short stories and criticism. Her new novel is called "Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang,"(Dutton) about a group of high school girls who form a violent gang in upstate New York during the Fifties. Their mission is violence against men. Oates is a professor of humanities at Princeton University. Her previous book is the critically acclaimed "Black Water," nominated for the 1992 National Book Critics Circle Award.

Performer, comic and writer Sandra Bernhard. Some know her from her role in the ABC sitcom "Roseanne;" she also had a successful one-woman off-Broadway show called "Without You I'm Nothing," which was turned into a film and album of the same name. Her HBO special last year, "Sandra After Dark," satirized the old "Playboy After Dark" variety show. She appeared in Martin Scorsese's "King of Comedy," among other feature films. She was also linked as a possible love interest to Madonna.

Dr. Kevin Cahill. He specializes in tropical medicine, and he looks at the role of health in promoting world peace. He is President and Director of the Center for International Health and Cooperation in New york. His work looking at health amid natural disasters and wars has taken him all over the world, from Nicaragua in the 70s to Somalia today. He is the author or editor of 22 books.

Founder of the anti-abortion group, "Operation Rescue," Randall Terry. Recently, his group tried to stop abortions by blocking access to clinics in seven cities across the United States, including Philadelphia. Terry also has a new book, "Why does a nice guy like me keep getting thrown in jail?" (Huntington House Pub., Lafayette, LA; Resistance Press, Windsor, N.Y.) (REBROADCAST. Originally aired 7/20/93.)

Poet, writer, and teacher Nancy Mairs. She's a Catholic feminist, who started out Protestant, and who late in life became a feminist. She calls herself, "the connoisseur of catastrophe." She's known for writing honestly about her struggles with multiple sclerosis, depression, and the life-threatening illness of her husband, also about being a woman, a mother, and a wife. Her newest book of personal essays is "Ordinary Time," (Beacon). One reviewer calls it, "a small miracle of honesty mediated by dignity and humor." (REBROADCAST.

Retired cop, and former head of the Queen's District Attorney's squad, Remo Franceschini spent 35 years keeping track of and busting organized crime in New York City. Franceschini figured out the family structure of the mafia, keeping a "Wall of Fame" family tree of photos and names of mobsters. Early on he predicted the rise of John Gotti, who became known as the "Teflon Don." Franceschini personally wire-tapped Gotti's headquarters, which led to indictments.

Playwright, female impersonator, and now novelist Charles Busch. His play, the camp classic, "Vampire Lesbians of Sodom," was the longest-running play in Off-Broadway history. His other plays include, "Psycho Beach Party," and "Red Scare on Sunset." He has a new show which parodies the variety shows of the 60s, "The Charles Busch Revue," in which he makes seven costume changes in an hour and 15 minutes. One reviewer writes, "Among New York's drag performers, he is certainly the most congenial.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews Rising Sun, starring Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes. It's based on a novel by Michael Crichton, who also wrote Jurassic Park.