Terry Gross

Historian Joan Jacobs Brumberg links the eating disorder to Victorian standards of femininity and contemporary ideas of health and beauty. Her findings suggest that increased social mobility put women and girls at greater risk for the disease.

Japanese American actor Mako appears in two new films out now: Tucker and The Wash. He moved to the United States shortly after World War II, and later served in Korea. He considered dodging the draft, but worried ihs actions might affect his parents' immigration status in America.

Andrew Holleran has writes about the lives of gay men. Now that several years have passed since the height of the AIDS epidemic, he's observed a kind of resignation to mortality and changing sexuality within his community.. Holleran's new collection of essays is called Ground Zero.

Tony Hendra's new book, Going Too Far, is a humorous history of baby boomer culture. Hendra was editor of Tthe National Lampoon for eight years. In addition to his several books, he wrote the British TV series Spitting Image and appeared in the heavy metal mockumentary This is Spinal Tap.

Science writer James Gleick's new book is about chaos theory, which informs all scientific disciplines. This concept can sometimes be difficult to understand; Gleick says that the unpredictability of the weather serves as an excellent example.

Jazz guitarist Marty Grosz returns to Fresh Air to sing songs about cities where he's lived.

The former child actor dropped out of the film industry and later worked in real estate. He's recently made a comeback with movies like Married to the Mob and Blue Velvet. Stockwell tells Fresh Air guest host Sedge Thomson about the new perspective he's gained an adult.

The author says his life -- and writing -- has been defined by struggle. He didn't read a novel until he was in his twenties. His first, controversial work, Last Exit to Brooklyn, documented its protagonist's violent, working class life. It's now being made into a film.

Kay Mills, herself a journalist, found several magazine articles about the progress of women in the news business -- but no book-length study. She has since filled that gap with her book A Place in the News.

Martin Scorsese's new movie, The Last Temptation of Christ -- adapted from a novel by Nikos Kazantzakis -- takes its cues from old western movies. Film critic Stephen Schiff says the director evangelizes through the back door, convincing us that we really are watching the greatest story ever told.