Terry Gross

Controversial author Salman Rushdie. Terry last talked to him in late 1990 about his life. For over three years, Rushdie's been in hiding, a result of the reaction to his novel "The Satanic Verses." That novel offended many Muslims and led to the Ayatollah Khomeini putting a one-million-dollar death sentence on Rushdie's head. Just lately, he's begun to travel and make public appearances, even though he's still a target for assassination. Rushdie called us from his hiding place somewhere in Great Britain.

Frances Lear founded Lear's Magazine. At one time she was married to TV producer Norman Lear, and though her life, from the outside, seems quite pleasant and successful, her new memoir "The Second Seduction" details a life full of pain.

Cinematographer and director Ed Lachman. He's shot films for many famous directors both in Europe and America, including Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders, Bernardo Bertolucci, Paul Schrader and David Byrne. He's also shot his own films and videos. He most recently worked on the new Hanif Kureishi film "London Kills Me."

Actress Christine Lahti. She starred in the movie "Housekeeping," co-starred with Goldie Hawn in "Swing Shift," which won her the New York film Critics Award as Best Supporting Actress, and is now in the new film "Leaving Normal." (Universal Pictures) She also has a long stage career, appearing in "The Heidi Chronicles." She talks about how hard it is for women to get good roles in Hollywood, and how she's turned many down because she didn't like the characters she'd be portraying.

Stan Sesser, a staff writer at The New Yorker magazine, just wrote a lengthy article called "Report From Cambodia." A country that's been dirt poor for several decades is experiencing a new prosperity since the United Nations peace agreement was signed last October. Oddly, the agreement calls for a sharing of power with the Khmer Rouge, an action Sesser equates with allowing the Nazis back into power in post war Germany. (The article is in the May 18, 1992 issue of The New Yorker.)

Writer Aram Saroyan ("AH-rum"). His father was William Saroyan; his stepfather is Walter Matthau. In the Sixties, he went through a minimalist poetry writing phase. Then he turned to autobiographical narrative, concentrating on his parents' turbulent marriage, his father's death, and his own family. His new book is called "Friends In The World: The Education of A Writer." (Coffee House press)

David Savage is the Supreme Court reporter for the Los Angeles Times. He's just written a book called "Turning Right: The Making of the Rehnquist Supreme Court," (John Wiley and Sons) about how the Supreme court turned conservative in the 80s, and what future decisions the court will make.

Robert Bly is one of the founders of the modern men's movement. He wrote the movement's most influential book, "Iron John." Terry asks him if the men's movement is in conflict with the women's movement. Robert Bly is also a poet, critic essayist and translator. (Bly's book "Iron John" is published by Vintage).

John Lee is a first-generation Korean reporter whose beat at the Los Angeles Times has been Koreatown during and since the riots. Many Korean merchants were targeted, and many wielded guns to defend themselves. He feels that the Korean side of the conflict hasn't been accurately portrayed by the media.

Anthropologist David Maybury-Lewis. He's the founder of Cultural Survival, an organization that that helps indigenous peoples whose ways of life are threatened by development. He's hosting a new PBS series called "Millennium," which starts tonight, and he's the author of the companion book, also called "Millennium." The series and the book seek to gain tribal wisdom for the modern world. (The book is published by Viking.)