Terry Gross

Dancer and choreographer Mark Morris. Before forming his own company in 1980, Morris performed with a wide assortment of dance troupes, including the Lar Lubovich Dance Company, Laura Dean Dancers, and the Eliot Feld Ballet. He has choreographed for the Boston Ballet and the Joffrey Ballet, and recently completed the choreography for the opera "Nixon in China."

Three members of the famed New Orleans cajun band Beausoleil, headed by Michael Doucet, will perform several songs from their most recent album.

Composer, arranger, conductor Gunther Schuller. One of the most ardent supporters of new music, Schuller is equally at home with the music of bebop and the big band era as he with the 12-tone classical composers. Schuller is the past head of the New England Conservatory of Music, where he founded the New England Conservatory's Ragtime Band. In the late 40s, when he first cultivated his eclectic approach to music, Schuller held jobs simultaneously with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and with Miles Davis' tuba band.

Author Gerald Petievich. Petievich spent 15 years as a U.S. Secret Service agent. His experiences as a member of the Los Angeles Federal Strike Force against Organized Crime and Racketeering inspired his book To Live and Die In L.A. He later co-wrote the screenplay for William Friedkin's film of the same name. Petievich's new novel is called Shakedown.

Guest film reviewer Michael Sragow reviews "Crocodile Dundee II," starring Paul Hogan.

Writer Geoffrey O'Brien. His new book, Dream Time: Chapters from the Sixties, is an exploration of the phenomena of the 60s, from strobe lights and miniskirts to Be-Ins and Transcendental Meditation. O'Brien attempts to capture the cultural, social and political ferment of the era, as opposed to an objective, historical accounting. O'Brien is also the author of Hard Boiled America," a survey of paperback crime fiction.

Singer Irma Thomas. Ms. Thomas has been making records since 1958, and had a string of New Orleans rhythm-and-blues hits in the early sixties. Her popularity, however, is due in large part to her energetic live performances. Her new album, "The Way I Feel," has just been released on Rounder Records.

Writer Barbara Garson. Her writing includes the anti-war (Vietnam) play MacBird! and the book All the Livelong Day, a study of the blue-collar life of the assembly line. Her latest book, The Electronic Sweatshop, explores white collar automation - the way computers are being used to transform secretaries, executives and professionals into clerks.

Writer Paul Theroux. Since his first book, Waldo, was published in 1966, Theroux has written prolifically. His extensive travels have taken him through Africa, Asia and Central America, and a central theme of his work is the ironic examination of the clashing and mingling of Western and Third World cultures. Theroux's newest book, Riding the Iron Rooster, is an account of his travels by train through China.

Writer Doris Lessing. Since her first novel, The Grass is Singing, published in 1950, she has written many books and plays, including the Children of Violence series, The Golden Notebook, and more recently Shikasta and her "space-fiction" series. Her new novel is titled The Fifth Child. Fresh Air book critic John Leonard once described Mrs. Lessing as "one of the half-dozen most interesting minds to have chosen to write fiction in English in this century."