Terry Gross

Film critic Stephen Schiff says that Full Metal Jacket, about Marines training for and serving in the Vietnam War, is bleak and stylized, but suffers from a lack of developed characters -- a Kubrick trademark better deployed in 2001 and Dr. Strangelove.

Journalist Michael Hamburger took a break from his career to work as a caddy on a professional golf tour. His book, The Green Road Home, details what was expected of him, from carrying bags to providing emotional support.

Jody Pinto is an installation artist whose work is inspired by the contours of the human body. Her newest piece, Fingerspan, is a bridge that extends throughout Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. It is her first major permanent work.

Nien Cheng and her husband were educated abroad and lived a comfortable, bourgeois life before China's Cultural Revolution. Though Cheng faced persecution, interrogation, and imprisonment, she was mostly able to maintain her lifestyle--and her loyalty to her country. She now lives in Washington, D.C.

Artist-turned-musician Carl Finch discovered polka while working on an installation. He later started the new wave polka band Brave Combo.

Jazz critic Francis Davis says Nigel Kennedy avoids the dilettantism of other classical musicians who want to get down and dirty in other genres. Kennedy's new album features interpretations of Duke Ellington and Bela Bartok.

New York City-based journalist Pete Hamill briefly served as a newspaper editor in Mexico City. After conflicts with the publisher over how to cover a student protest, he resigned. Nineteen reporters joined him. Now back in U.S., he writes for the Village Voice.

Bly's work has dealt with nature, the Vietnam War, and gender differences. He considers the impact living simply in Minnesota has had on his writing.

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone reviews a new play and movie about the African American experience, both written by African American artists. She says the works should be celebrated for their refusal to pander to white audiences.