Terry Gross

Fear of spiders -- and the infestation of rain forest arachnids in a small California town -- drive the new Frank Marshall horror film. Film critic Stephen Schiff says that it captures producer Stephen Spielberg's charm and humor -- but also his blandness.

Fresh Air producer Amy Salit interviews Yankovic, who now has eight parody albums under his belt. Before he writes his version of a song, he secures permission with the original artist -- which has given him the opportunity to meet several musicians he admires.

Frank Friel was the co-director and chief investigator of the Philadelphia Police/FBI Organized Crime Task Force, which dismantled the Nicodemo Scarfo-led mafia in the 1980s. The gang's violent acts terrorized the Philadelphia area; they also infiltrated Atlantic City's casinos. Friel has a new book about that time, called Breaking the Mob.

As a Vietnam veteran, Stone was able to enroll in film school on the GI Bill. His success as a screenwriter opened the door for him to direct. He talks about the trajectory of his career, and how he learned to work within the Hollywood system.

Two of the band's members, Sterfane Mellino and Mathieu Canavese join Fresh Air to talk about the history of their group, and their new album, Mlah. The liner notes are entirely in French -- the band says the decision helps preserve their national identity abroad.

Part I of the Fresh Air interview. Stone's newest movie, about the rock band the Doors, will soon be in theaters. The director is a Vietnam War veteran who earned a Purple Heart; his was experiences informed his early movie, Platoon.

The African American film director is best known for Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, which added a political dimension to the black action movie genre. Van Peebles says that, unlike his own work, the blaxploitation films that came later were apologies for systems of oppression, not critiques of them. Prior to his career in film, he lived in France as a writer. His new book, coauthored by his son Mario, is called No Identity Crisis.

Writer Stefan Kanfer's latest book is called "A Summer World," about the Borscht Belt -- a Jewish enclave in the Catskills that nurtured a generation of comics. Kanfer talks about the lives of some of the resorts' regulars, and why some the community is now in decline.

Earlier in life, Ram Dass, who birth name is Richard Alpert, earned a Ph.D. at Harvard. In the 60s and 70s, he, along with Timothy Leary, became interested in the religious potential of LSD. Dass is a practitioner of Eastern-inspired philosophy, and is careful to distance himself from corruption and cult-leader-like behavior of other gurus.

The writer, known for her ongoing series of autobiographies, is one of this country's leading black female poets. She talks with Fresh Air guest host Marty Moss-Coane about how she switches between prose and poetry, and the formal, respectful modes of communication she prefers in the classroom and other professional contexts -- which Angelou says is an integral part of the African American community.