Terry Gross

Israeli journalist Gershom Gorenberg discusses the Christian Zionist movement, which teaches that the rebirth of Israel is a prelude to the second coming of Jesus Christ — and the end of the world.

John Hagee believes the end of days, the Rapture and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ are imminent. He says that the rebirth of Israel and the restoration of Jerusalem are a prelude to the return of the Lord.

It's become a $50 billion a year industry: Corporations like Booz Allen Hamilton, Lockheed Martin, and IBM are being paid to do things the CIA, the National Security Agency and the Pentagon usually do, including analysis, covert operations, electronic surveillance and reconnaissance.

Artist Suze Rotolo — the woman walking beside Bob Dylan on the album cover for The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan — was Dylan's girlfriend in the '60s. She's written about the relationship, and about that era's New York, in a new memoir.

Iran's president was relatively unknown on the international stage before he was elected, but he's a standard-bearer for a new generation of hardliners. In a new biography, journalist Kasra Naji explores Ahmadinejad's rise to power, his complex character and his motivations.

In her book Unveiled, Deborah Kanafani recounts her marriage and divorce to a high-ranking Palestinian diplomat — and the cultural rift between her "American" upbringing and her married life.

The celebrated Irish memoirist, who had been battling lung cancer, died May 9. Her 1996 memoir — about growing up poor in the Ireland of the '40s and '50s — became a best-seller. Terry Gross talked to her in 2001.

Veteran peace negotiator Padraig O'Malley worked on the conflicts in Northern Ireland and South Africa. Mac Maharaj played a role in the latter nation's anti-apartheid movement. Both took part in recent closed-door negotiations in Finland, aimed at bringing reconciliation among rival factions in Iraq.

At 8 years old, Emmanuel Jal was carrying an AK-47 rifle as a child soldier in the Sudan People's Liberation Army. Taken from battle and adopted by a British aid worker, he is now a rising international music star. He discusses his experiences and music. Jal's new album is titled Warchild.

Record producer and Sinatra historian Charles Granada discusses his book Sessions With Sinatra: Frank Sinatra And The Art of Recording and the box set — Frank Sinatra: The Best of the Columbia Years 1943-1952 — he helped to create.