Terry Gross

Cultural historian Christopher Frayling is the author of Once Upon A Time in Italy: The Westerns of Sergio Leone. The book chronicles the history of the spaghetti western. Ennio Morricone, who composed music for the Sergio Leone films, will be awarded an honorary Oscar at this year's Academy Awards. This interview originally aired on Aug. 1, 2005.

Peter O'Toole starred in Lawrence of Arabia, The Lion in Winter, and My Favorite Year. He has been nominated for an Oscar for his role in the film Venus. This interview originally aired on Apr. 16, 1993.

Liberal political columnist Molly Ivins died yesterday at the age of 62. In her long career, she wrote for newspapers such as The Texas Observer and The New York Times, and her columns were widely syndicated. These interviews originally aired on Oct. 3, 1991 and Oct. 7, 2003.

In this week's issue of The New Yorker, Michael Specter writes about the murders of 13 journalists in Russia that have taken place since Vladimir Putin took office in 1999. Specter's article is "Kremlin, Inc: Why are Vladimir Putin's opponents dying?"

Former FBI Agent Eric O'Neill and Director/Screenwriter Billy Ray have collaborated on the new film Breach. It is based on the true story about FBI operative Robert Hanssen who was found guilty of treason and the FBI agent (O'Neill) who was assigned to Hanssen to draw him out of deep cover.

Stuart Bowen, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, has just issued his quarterly report investigating waste, fraud and security problems in the reconstruction efforts. Next week Bowen will appear before a House Committee beginning hearings into waste and fraud in reconstruction. Formerly, Bowen served in the White House under George W. Bush, and was a partner at the Washington, D.C., law firm of Patton Boggs LLP. Bowen's ties to Bush go back to the early 1990s, when he worked in the Texas Governor's office. Bowen was also an intelligence officer in the U.S.

Polish writer Ryszard Kapuscinski died on January 23, 2007, at the age of 74. As a foreign correspondent, Kapuscinski covered coups and revolutions in the developing world for forty years. Many of his articles appeared in a series of books that made him famous: The Soccer War, Another Day of Life, and Shah of Shahs. This interview originally aired in 1/21/1988.

Actor Forest Whitaker has been nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the film The Last King of Scotland. Whitaker played jazz musician Charlie Parker in Bird, a British soldier kidnapped by the IRA in The Crying Game and an internal affairs detective on the FOX TV show The Shield. This interview originally aired on Oct. 17, 2006.

Attorney Eugene Fidell is the president of the National Institute of Military Justice. He is also a partner and head of the Military Practice Group at the Washington, D.C., firm of Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell, LLP.

Army Lieutenant Ehren Watada is the first American officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq on the grounds that he thinks the war is illegal. He is joined by one of his lawyers, Eric Seitz, a civilian. Watada is now being court-martialed for his refusal, and for statements he made opposing the war and the Bush administration's leadership.