Terry Gross

French economist Jacques Attali (ah-tahl-lee). He'll discuss what lies ahead for the Soviet economy. Attali is a special advisor to French President Francois Mitterrand and the president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. He's also the author of the book, "Millennium: Winners and Losers in the Coming World Order" (published by Random House).

Author Shelby Steele. Steele's best-selling book, "The Content of Our Character," is a personal analysis of racism in America. Steele says it's time Blacks in America stopped using racial victimization as a crutch and started to rely on their own efforts to gain access to the mainstream. (It's newly published in paperback by Harper).

Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Richard Thompson. He first became known from his work with "Fairport Convention." He's since gone solo and is known for his dark songs which blend elements of British folk ballads and the blues. His new album is "Rumor and Sigh," (on Capital Records).(Rebroadcast. Originally aired 6/28/91)

Photographer Annie Leibovitz. She's famous for her portraits of celebrities that capture the person behind the public image. She's photographed John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Ella Fitzgerald, Mick Jagger, Tennessee Williams and others. Her photographs have been featured in Rolling Stone, and Vanity Fair. A new book of her photographs has just been published: "Annie Leibovitz Photographs 1970-1990." (Harper/Collins).

We discuss the upcoming confirmation hearings of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court with New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis. In the late 50s and early 60s, Lewis covered the Supreme Court for the Times. His new book, "Make No Law," examines one of those cases, the Sullivan libel case against the Times. (It's published by Random House).

Jazz trumpeter Jack Walrath. Walrath is the musical director of Mingus Dynasty Band, a group that continues to explore the compositions of the late Charles Mingus. Their new album is called "The Next Generation." (It's on Columbia Records).

In the wake of Baltic independence, we examine the history of the region with professor Walter Clemens, who's just published the book, Baltic Independence and Russian Empire (St. Martin's Press).

Arnolds Karklis and Vidvuds Mednis of the Latvian-American rock group The Quags. The guys will play music and talk about their now-free homeland, and their new recording, One Of Us (Plate Records).

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews, "Europa, Europa," the foreign film based on a true story about a Polish-German Jewish boy who escapes the Germans and Russians by hiding his true identity.

Professor and educator E.D. Hirsch, Jr. He's the author of the best selling book, "Cultural Literacy," (paperback published by Vintage Books) in which he argues that children in the United States lack "cultural literacy," or the basic grasp of background information that allows them to be literate and to function effectively in society. He has put his theories to work in an elementary school curriculum, The Core Knowledge Series.