Terry Gross

Stewart Hoover is a research scholar at the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania who specializes in the impact of communications technology on culture. In recent years, many have deemed religious television programming controversial. Many mainline church leaders fear the effect such programming will have on local churches. Hoover, along with George Gerbner, Larry Gross, Michael Morgan, and Nancy Signorielli, has just conducted a study on religious television programming.

Chuck Barris is the creator and producer of over a dozen television game shows, including "The Gong Show," "The Newlywed Game," and "The Dating Game." He gained his reputation as the "manic" host of "The Gong Show." Barris has written a semi-autobiographical novel "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," in which a game show host named Chuck Barris also secretly works as a C. I. A. agent. Barris claims to have had an opportunity to work for the organization, but that he turned it down.

Bella Abzug's political career began as a student at Hunter College. After graduating, she attended Columbia Law School, and began to practice law. She is a founding member of Women Strike for Peace and served as the national political director for ten years. Abzug was elected to Congress in 1970, where she was the co-founder of the National Women's Political Caucus. Abzug is currently the president of Women USA, a group working to get-out-the-vote among women.

Terry talks with three expatriate Chilean musicians who are practitioners of the New Song movement, a fusion folk style with a political slant born in the wake of Chile's recent political upheaval.

Hankus Netsky is the founder and leader of the Klezmer Conservatory Band. Klezmer mixes traditional Yiddish and Israeli music with American influences. Netsky joins the show to discuss the history of the genre and to share 78-records of klezmer music from the 1920s.

Former Major League Baseball Umpire Ron Luciano was known for his flamboyant style. His book "The Umpire Strikes Back," was a hot, and Luciano has written a follow-up "Strike Two." He shares humorous stories about his career in MLB and discusses some of the colorful characters working in the sport today.

Journalist and writer Tom Wicker grew up in the South. He joined the staff of the New York Times in 1960 and has worked for the paper since then. Wicker was one of the journalists covering President Kennedy's visit to Dallas in 1963, and his op-ed column "In the Nation," is nationally syndicated. Wicker has written non-fiction and fiction books. His latest novel, "Unto this Hour," is based in part on stories from his grandmother about her life in the Confederacy. The novel is set in the Civil Battle, the Second Bull Run.

Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter grew up in Plains, Georgia. She met her husband, Jimmy, when she was 17 and he was 20 years old. She was glad that his naval career allowed them to travel, and when they returned to Georgia after his father's death, Carter was upset. It was there, however, that she grew into a business partner in her husband's peanut farm. Carter spoke last week with Betty Ford on the topic of modern First Ladies. Carter's life before and during the presidency is discussed in her new memoir "First Lady from Plains."

Philadelphia Vincent Persichetti a noted composer, especially for concert band. A new work of Persechetti, "Flower Songs," will be premiered at the Academy of Music by the Philadelphia Singers. The work includes poems by e. e. cummings. Persichetti joins the show to talk about how he knew he would be a musician by the age of three and the composer's "inner ear."

Actor, director, and choreographer Maurice Hines comes from the famous tap-dancing family. He is the founder of the company Ballet Tap U. S. A. Hines appears in the film "Cotton Club." Hines joins the show to discuss working as a child with his father and brother, Gregory, touring Europe, learning ballet at the age of 30, the difference between "up-in-the-air," and "close-to-the-floor" tap dance, break-dancing, and the great dancers of film.