Terry Gross

Irwin Winkler is a film producer whose credits include the Rocky movies, The Last Temptation of Christ, The Right Stuff, and Round Midnight. His newest project, Betrayed, is directed by Costa-Gavras.

The luthier got his start making acoustic guitars for country and folk musicians. He later built instruments for rockers more accustomed to the feel of an electric guitar. Ferrington's custom designs are often asymmetrical, and incorporate the wants and needs of his clients.

T.S. Eliot championed the writing of Amos Tutola decades ago for what guest critic Stuart Klawans believes may have been dubious, colonialist reasons. City Lights has just published new editions of two of Tutola's books, which Klawans says are quirky and timeless.

Samuel Delany's new memoir is called The Motion of Light in Water. Delany sees himself as part of newer, left-of-center generation of science fiction writers. He joins Fresh Air to talk about his position in the margins as a genre writer and a black gay man, his dyslexia, and his perspective on the AIDS epidemic.

Novellist Don DeLillo doesn't like talking about his novels; but he says there's much to discuss about his newest book Libra, based on the assassination of John F. Kennedy. DeLillo sought to fill in the gaps of that story, including what motivated gunman Lee Harvey Oswald.

Journalist Philip Langdon joins Fresh Air guest host Sedge Thomson to discuss the changing nature of home design throughout the United States -- which have reflects new ideas about work, family and community,

Writer Sheila Ballantyne's newest collection of short stories explores mortality. She says her musings on death help her better appreciate the time she has right now.

Jazz pianist Sumi Tonooka's mother was relocated to an internment camp during World War II, along with thousands of other Japanese Americans. Inspired by her family history, Tonooka performs a new piece with shakuhachi player Ronnie Seldin.

Comedy legend and Monty Python co-founder John Cleese wrote and stars in the new movie A Fish Called Wanda. He talks about the development of the film with co-stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline and director Charles Chrichton.

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone reviews this year's batch of theater festivals in western Massachusetts. She was especially taken by a production of Bertolt Brecht's Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, which recasts Nazis as Chicago gangsters.