Terry Gross

Memphis soul label Stax records is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year; a series of tribute concerts are being held, and PBS airs the documentary Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story next week. We feature interviews with musicians who were a big part of the Stax sound.

First up: Guitarist, songwriter and producer Steve Cropper, best known for playing with Booker T & the MGs. He co-wrote "Soul Man" and "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay." This interview first aired on Sept. 18, 1990.

Memphis soul label Stax records celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. One of its biggest stars was Isaac Hayes, who topped the charts in the '70s, going gold with the album Hot Buttered Soul and platinum with his 1972 soundtrack to the movie Shaft. The latter won him an Oscar.

This interview first aired on July 28, 1994.

Nancy Cartwright's work is widely heard and well loved, but not many people know it's her. She's the voice of Bart Simpson on TV's The Simpsons — and in the long-awaited feature film that hits theaters this week.

Al Jean knows Marge, Homer, Bart and the gang better than almost anyone. He's executive producer and writer for The Simpsons, and he's been with the show since it began. The new Simpsons movie, he's been heard to say, is about "what happens when a man doesn't listen to his wife."

Before The Simpsons, Jean worked on TV's A.L.F. and It's Garry Shandling's Show.

German filmmaker Werner Herzog discusses his new film Rescue Dawn, a Hollywood adaptation of his 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly. Both the movie and the documentary are based on the true story of Dieter Dengler, the only U.S. pilot to successfully escape from a North Vietnamese-controlled prison.

British blue-eyed soul singer Nick Lowe played London's pub scene in the '70s in the band Brinsley Schwarz, produced five albums for Elvis Costello, and played with Ry Cooder and Jon Hiatt in Little Village. Now he's back with a solo album, his ninth, called At My Age, and he joins Terry Gross for an interview and an in-studio performance.

Mohammed Hafez, author of Suicide Bombers in Iraq: The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom, says the overwhelming majority of suicide bombers in Iraq are non-Iraqi volunteers. He says the war has unleashed a new generation of Muslim militants who care little about national boundaries. They're driven instead, he says, by the ideal of defending Muslims whoever and wherever they are.

Hafez is a visiting professor of political science at the University of Missouri in Kansas City. He's also the author of Manufacturing Human Bombs: The Making of Palestinian Suicide Bombers.

Tammy Faye Messner, the onetime first lady of TV evangelism, died Friday at the age of 65; she had battled cancer for years. Terry Gross interviewed the former Tammy Faye Bakker on January 15, 2004, about the rise and fall of the ministry she led with ex-husband Jim Bakker, the puppet show that gave them their start, and her surprising later life as a gay icon.

Poet Sekou Sundiata died this week at age 58; the cause was heart failure. Sundiata, who taught literature at New York City's New School University for many years, was considered one of the fathers of the spoken-word movement. He wrote the plays Blessing the Boats, The Circle Unbroken is a Hard Bop, The Mystery of Love, Udu, and the 51st (dream) state. His albums include Longstoryshort and The Blue Oneness of Dreams. We remember him with excerpts from interviews that originally aired in May 1994, April 1997, and November 2002.

Filmmaker John Waters, a frequent Fresh Air guest, visited the show in 1988, the year the original, nonmusical Hairspray hit theaters. His trashy filmography includes Pink Flamingos, Desperate Living, Polyester, Cry Baby, and Pecker.

These days, Waters is host of the Court TV show 'Til Death Do Us Part, and he's recently made a CD titled A Date With John Waters, released in February 2007. He's got a cameo in the new Hairspray, as well.

This interview first aired Feb. 8, 1988.