Terry Gross

Percussionist Mickey Hart. He's best known as a member of rock group The Grateful Dead. But Hart is also an avid collector of percussion instruments and recordings in native settings. Hart has spent the last 18 years traveling the world in his search. His collection ranges from the dance music of American Indians to Eskimo throat singers and Solomon Islands water slapping. Highlights of his field recordings have just been released in a series titled "The World." (Rebroadcast. Originally broadcast on Wednesday, May 17, 1989.)

Film director Frank Oz. He directed the comedy "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" that starred Steve Martin and Michael Caine. But Oz is still best known as the creator and voice behind Miss Piggy, Cookie Monster and Fozzie Bear, characters who make up the Muppets. Oz, who joined Muppet Show-creator Jim Henson in 1963, also directed the Muppet films, like "The Muppets Take Manhattan." His other film is the musical comedy "Little Shop of Horrors." (Rebroadcast. Originally broadcast on Tuesday, December 20, 1988.)

Poet Mark Halliday reads one his latest works. Halliday, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, has read several of his poems on Fresh Air.

Edmund (Pat) Brown, the former governor of California. From 1959 to 1967, Brown commuted the death sentences of 23 convicts, but allowed 36 others to go to the gas chambers. He has written a book, Public Justice, Private Mercy: A Governor's Education on Death Row, about the extraordinary personal and political pressures that came to bear on each decision, and of the evolution of his thinking on the death penalty from his inauguration to his last day in office.

Actress and director Lee Grant. As an actress, Grant won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for her role in "Shampoo," Emmys for her work on "Peyton Place" and "Electra," and an Obie for "The Maids." As a director, she won an Academy Award for her documentary "Down and Out in America." This month, HBO is showing Grant's latest production, "Battered." It's a documentary about the victims, and perpetrators, of domestic violence. "Battered" airs as part of HBO's "America Undercover" series.

Physicist James Trefil. His writings have been praised for bringing the complexities of modern science to the general reader. One of his best-known books, Meditations At Sunset, won wide praise for his ability to explain the wonders of the physical world in ways the layman can comprehend. His other books include The Moment of Creation and Meditations at 10,000 Feet. His latest book, Reading The Mind of God, explores the sequence of events that led to the discovery of universality - the principle that the laws of nature on earth apply throughout the universe.

Film director Herk Harvey and script writer John Clifford. Their 1962 low-budget horror film, "Carnival of Souls," has just been re-released. The film was shown only sporadically at the time of its completion, mostly to drive-ins and as half of a double feature throughout the Southeast. But in the years since, it has attracted a steady and loyal following, largely because of its occasional appearance on late-night TV.

Guest Film Critic Peter Rainer, in attendance at this week's Montreal Film Festival, talks with host Terry Gross about some of the films previewed there. Rainer is the film critic for The Los Angeles Herald Examiner.

Dancer and actor Gregory Hines. Hines made a name for himself on Broadway, in shows such as "Eubie," and "Sophisticated Ladies," as well as Hollywood, where he appeared in "The Cotton Club," "White Knights," and "Running Scared." Hines' latest film, "Tap," is a musical about the waning days of that dance form. (Rebroadcast. Originally broadcast on Wednesday, February 8, 1989.)

Novelist Taghi Modarressi. His new novel, The Pilgrim's Rules of Etiquette, is set in Iran after the Islamic revolution. It revolves around an aging academic, well acquainted with the ways and mores of the West, and his family and friends as they deal with the fear and poverty during the Iran-Iraq War. But when his prize student is killed at the front, the academic, who until now has closeted himself away with his philosophical pursuits, must acknowledge the meaninglessness of his efforts when compared to the chaos of contemporary Iran.