Terry Gross

For his new book, Walt Disney: The Triumph of American Imagination, entertainment expert Neal Gabler was given complete access to the Disney archives. His biography begins when Disney was just a glimmer of an idea, and ends at the entrance to the Walt Disney mausoleum.

Annette Bening is staring in the new film adaptation of Augusten Burroughs' memoir, Running With Scissors. She was nominated for Oscars for her roles in Being Julia, American Beauty, and The Grifters. She is married to actor Warren Beatty and has four children.

Harvey Pekar has edited a new volume of comics called The Best American Comics 2006. Pekar began writing comic book stories in 1972. The first collection of Pekar's work was American Splendor. Pekar also wrote the book Our Cancer Year in collaboration with his wife, Joyce Brabner. This interview first aired Nov. 10, 2005.

Richard Ford, author of The Sportswriter and Independence Day, has written a new novel entitled The Lay of the Land. Independence Day was the first book to win both the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award.

Kenya political activist Wangari Maathai won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. Her new memoir is called Unbowed. She is the founder of the Green Belt Movement, which has planted over thirty million trees across Kenya. In 2002, she was elected to Kenya's parliament, and in 2003 was appointed assistant minister for the environment.

Gambian attorney Fatou Bensouda is the deputy prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which deals with genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The court's first case concerns crimes involving child soldiers. She has served as Attorney General, Secretary of State and Minister of Justice for The Gambia. She is also an authority on gender and violent crimes against women.

Lou Dubose's latest book is about Vice President Dick Cheney. Dubose, a former writer for the Texas Observer, has covered Texas politics for more than two decades. He's also the co-author (with Molly Ivins) of two books about George W. Bush, and has also written about Tom DeLay and Karl Rove.

Journalist Tina Cassidy was inspired to write about cultural birth practices after hearing many accounts of birth experiences. Cassidy is a former reporter for the Boston Globe and writes for other publications including The New York Times Magazine.