Terry Gross

A live concert with Yomo Toro. A native of Puerto Rico, Toro plays Puerto Rican jibaro music on the cuatro, a small guitar-like instrument with five sets of double strings. Toro is joined by Ruben Figueroa on bass and guitar and Luis Cabrera on percussion.

The humor writer's new book details his travels across America to fulfill ten personal goals, including working at the world's largest McDonalds, finding and kissing 60s actress Tina Louise, and photographing his dog in front of Babe Ruth's tomb. His previous book is called Roadside America.

New Yorker writer Paul Brodeur's new book considers the health hazards and cancer risks associated with power lines and electronic devices. Later, Fresh Air host Terry Gross talks to Dr. William Farland of the EPA to get the agency's perspective on this matter.

Critic Owen Gleiberman reviews the home video release of the curiously high-quality exploitation movie, featuring excessive nudity and a surprisingly emotional center. He says its a better vehicle than Drugstore Cowboy for star Kelly Lynch's talent.

Chestnut earned his law degree at Washington D.C.'s Howard University, but soon returned to his hometown of Selma, Alabama, where he opened a law office -- before legal protections like the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act were passed. His new memoir is called Black in Selma.

Adler has a new memoir about his career in musical theater. He wrote songs with Jerry Ross for The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees. Ross died early in their partnership in 1955.

Stephen Schiff reviews The Two Jakes, directed by star Jack Nicholson. Schiff says nothing about the film is particularly bad -- nor does anything stand out.

Sarris reviews movies for several newspapers and teaches at Columbia University. In the 1960s, he pushed forth the auteur theory, which said that films could best be understood by the director's singular vision within the context of their full body of work. Now, he often finds genre films more interesting than mainstream movies that explore important ideas.

Esposito has been featured in Spike Lee's movies Mo' Better Blues and Do the Right Thing. He joins Fresh Air to talk about the intensity of working on the set of Do the Right Thing, and how he started acting at the age of six.

Performance artists Karen Finley and Holly Hughes, whose work is often sexual and political in nature, recently had their NEA grants vetoed, despite a recommendation by the organization's peer review board. Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Stephan Salisbury speaks to Fresh Air about the controversy.