Terry Gross

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the adaptation of Mario Vargas Llosa's novel Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter. The film was directed by Jon Amiel, and is set in New Orleans. Schiff says it's lost all the charm and complexity of its source material.

Writer and editor Victor Navasky has been with The Nation since 1978. Now the magazine -- a "journal of commentary and dissent" -- is celebrating its 125th anniversary with a new anthology. Navasky talks about the Nation's editorial stand on the Gulf crisis and how the peace movement is responding to events.

Arias advocates for writers who dissent against repressive governments. He lives in the United States, but occasionally returns to his home country. His newest novel, After the Bombs, about a young boy growing up in a politically unstable Guatemala City, has just been published in English.

Pakistan-born, British journalist Dilip Hiro covers Middle East affairs. His forthcoming book on the Iran-Iraq war is called The Longest War. He says Iraq and its leader Saddam Hussein gained power by receiving intelligence and material support from Western states, including the U.S. He says any conflict between the U.S. and Iraq could destabilize the region.

The African American film director made a number of documentary films; his first widely distributed, commercial film, To Sleep with Anger, stars Danny Glover. Burnett comes from the American South; he's inspired by a lot of the folklore that comes from that region.

Rhodes is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and journalist who wrote The Making of the Atomic Bomb. His new book is called A Hole in the World, about the abuse he and his brother endured at the hands of his stepmother. Rhodes eventually became a ward of the state, and grew up in a boys' home.

Raney began playing when he was 17. He was one of the first jazz guitarists to incorporate modern bop into his music. He suffers from Meniere's disease, which causes hearing problems -- he can perform solo, but has difficulty with other musicians. He collaborated with Stan Getz in the 1950s. Some of those early sessions have recently been re-issued on CD.

Kindcaid's new novel, Lucy, is based on her own experience of leaving her home country for New York City. She says much of her work has been informed by her difficult but loving relationship with her mother, whom she sees infrequently.

Savini creates the macabre effects for George Romero's zombie films. Now he's directed his own movie, a remake of Romero's classic, Night of the Living Dead. He shares some of the secrets behind how he simulates gore on set.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new movie about the infamous Claus Von Bulow murder trial. It stars Jeremy Irons, Ron Silver, and Glenn Close