Terry Gross

Comedian Richard Belzer returns to Fresh Air to discuss his new satirical book. He talks about how his humor is evolving, becoming more aware of the problems of racial and sexual humor.

Hwang's celebrated play dealt with Western ideas of women and Asian culture. His newest work is a musical about alien abductions called 1000 Airplanes on the Roof. Philip Glass composed the music.

Film critic Stephen Schiff says some viewers can't get past the graphic violence in David Cronenberg's movies to see the craft beneath. Now they have a chance with Dead Ringers, about twin gynecologists, both played by Jeremy Irons. The film may be less explicit, but it still features Cronenberg's signature psychological dread.

A childhood bout with meningitis left New Yorker staff writer Ved Mehta blind. Born in India, he moved to Bombay, then Arkansas, to attend schools for the blind. He joins Fresh Air to discuss how he navigates the world as a blind person, his career in publishing, and the importance of memory to his writing and everyday life.

Novelist Laurie Colwin has published a collection of essays about food called Home Cooking. While many of her friends enjoy traveling, her idea of a good time is staying home and making a good meal. She also cooks for the needy at homeless shelters.

Miles stars as a modern day Yenta in the new film Crossing Delancey. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in Midnight Cowboy, and appears in the new movie Spike of Bensonhurst. A native New Yorker, Miles often chooses eccentric roles firmly rooted in the culture of her hometown.

Mark Hoffman produced false documents designed to undermine the faith traditions of the Mormon Church. The church bought these papers in order to suppress them. This scheme eventually led to Hoffman murdering some of his collaborators and injuring himself in a bombing. Journalist Robert Lindsey tells the story in his new book, A Gathering of Saints.

Critic Stuart Klawans says Patricia Eakins' new short story collection is as preoccupied with strange animals as it is different literary traditions. The tales are instructive, while not always uplifting.

Vachss is based in New York and specializes in child abuse cases. His work extends into his crime fiction, which follows an unlicensed detective named Burke. Vachss also helped manage a juvenile prison.

After leaving art school, Malcolm McLaren started a clothing store called Sex, and later helped assemble the punk band the Sex Pistols. McLaren says the group's talent was secondary to its subversiveness.