Terry Gross

Hans Bethe won the 1967 Nobel Prize for Physics for determining the nuclear processes that power the sun and stars. Bethe was also involved in the creation of the atom and hydrogen bombs at the Los Alamos project during World War II. Bethe is now an activist for a nuclear freeze, and co-authored a New York Times op-ed on the topic. He joins the show to discuss the development and future of nuclear arms.

Paul Zimmerman is the screenwriter of the upcoming film "The King of Comedy," directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert DeNiro and Jerry Lee Lewis. Zimmerman was previously the movies editor for Newsweek and has written several books. ZImmerman is based in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and has become active in the Bucks Alliance for Nuclear Disarmament (B.A.N.D.). The group has invited Helen Caldicott of Physicians for Social Responsibility to speak at a local event.

Geoffrey Stokes has been a staff writer for The Village Voice since 1973. He is the editor of the "New Village Voice Anthology," a collection of articles from the newspapers from 1956-1980. Stokes joins the show to discuss the Anthology and the Voice's history.

William Murray is the son of atheist crusader Madalyn Murray O'Hair, whom the family considered "the most hated woman in America." At the age of 14, Murray was the plaintiff in a Supreme Court case his mother filed to remove prayer from the Baltimore Public Schools. Murray experienced a difficult relationship with Murray O'Hair, who terrorized him as child. As an adult, Murray converted to Christianity and hasn't spoken to his mother since 1977. His new book is "My Life Without God."

Poet, playwright, and novelist Ntozake Shange is best known for her choreo-poem "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow is Enuf," which has been adapted for public television. Her first novel, "Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo" has just been published. It follows three sisters whose weaver mother named them after vivid dyes. The novel mixes poems, spells, potions, and recipes, and explores the territories and choices of modern Black women.

John Cage is an avant-garde musician known for his "chance compositions," which use "found" sounds. His music mixes Eastern philosophy with Western high-technology. Cage is also an expert on mushrooms. In celebration of his birthday, the Philadelphia Museum of Art is putting on an exhibition of his scores, "John Cage: Scores & Prints." Cage joins the show to discuss his art and philosophy.

Native Philadelphian Peter Liacouras is the seventh president of Temple University. Prior to holding the role, he served as the Dean of Law at Temple from 1972 and has been a member of the faculty since 1963. He's also worked as Special Assistant Prosecutor in Philadelphia, and worked on a four-year study on the use and abuse if computers in the criminal justice system. He joins the show to discuss his vision for Temple, and the university's new advertising campaign.

Juan Gonzalez has just returned to the Philadelphia Daily News after taking a year's leave to found and serve as the first president of the National Congress of Puerto Rican Rights. Enrique Arroyo is the director of the Puerto Rican Congress of New Jersey. They join the show to discuss Latino issues in the Delaware Valley.

Judith Martin, better known as Miss Manners, the name under which she writes her Washington Post advice column. She also reviews theater under her own name for the Post. She's recently written "Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior." Martin joins the show to defend the importance of etiquette, discuss class relations and manners, and answer Fresh Air staff's questions on topics such as splitting the check, catching an unzipped "fly," sexism and other "-isms' in the workplace, and the perils of modern dating and marriage.

Writer and rabbi Chaim Potok is best known for his novels. However, he served as the Secretary of the Writings Committee of the Jewish Publication Society Committee of Scholars. The group has been working since 1957 on a new translation of the Old Testament, and the third volume was just published. It is the first translation in 2200 years to base itself on the original Hebrew texts. Potok joined the show in June, and he's back to offer comparisons between the new translation, the King James Bible, and the 1917 Jewish Publications translation. Potok will also answer listener calls.