Terry Gross

While Foss is often associated with serialism and other new music styles, he also has deep reverence for more accessible, canonical works. His goal in both his careers has been to bring adventure to listeners, and never merely to shock.

The actor left India to study in England; he says there were no opportunities to hone his craft in his home country. Despite personal discrimination and early difficulties finding race-approriate roles, Saeed refused to become bitter; he says harboring that emotion would have hurt his acting. He stars in the new film The Deceivers.

Eight Men Out, about a 1919 baseball scandal, is directed by John Sayles. Film critic Stephen Schiff says there are some good performances, but the movie is more of a moralistic argument than a story; it could have used some of the wit Sayles injected into his earlier B-movies.

Father Ralph Beiting's ministry serves the poor of the Appalachian region, which he says was overlooked by the reforms and social programs of the 1960s. He links poverty to the degradation of family life. Despite the difficulties associated with his work, Beiting has fallen in love with the area and its people.

Edward Hirsch was an All-American football player in college -- at the same time he became interested in poetry. He talks about how insomnia, sports, and restlessness affect his life and writing. He reads several poems for Fresh Air listeners.

Baker stars opposite Michael Keaton in the new movie Clean and Sober. Previously, she played a sex worker in Street Smart, which gained popularity after its home video release. Baker didn't start acting until she was in her thirties.

The Israeli author's new novel is about a man descended from both a Jewish Holocaust survivor and a Palestinian aristocrat. While Kaniuk fought for the Israeli War for Independence, he also signed -- along with other Israeli and Arab intellectuals and artists -- an agreement advocating for Palestinian independence.

The veteran journalist is also considered one of the founders of neoliberalism. Peters says more people can, like him, do what they love for a living if they focus less on money and more on the work. By choice, Peters pays himself a modest salary--less than what many reporters make today.

Hesseman played disc jockey Dr. Johnny Fever in WKRP in Cincinnati, and now stars as a high school teacher in the comedy Head of the Class. He tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about how his performances and personal experiences inform each other. Early in his career, Hesseman sold two ounces of marijuana to an undercover police officer; he later had his record expunged.

Doc Watson has announced he'll retire from touring -- though he'll continue playing music for the rest of his life. He joins Fresh Air to talk about his roots in North Carolina and his evolution as a guitar player. Watson often performed with his son Merle, who died in a tragic tractor accident.