Terry Gross

In his autobiography, Batman and Me, Kane tells how he came up with the idea for the caped crusader, and what influence he had on the TV series and previous Batman movies. Kane drew Batman from its inception in 1939 to the late 60s. DC Comic still publishes Batman. The new movie Batman Begins has just hit theaters nationwide. This interview was originally broadcast on March 23, 1990.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is on many bestseller and book club lists, and Haddon won the U.K.'s prestigious Commonwealth Writers Prize.

Jack Coughlin, a gunnery sergeant in the Marines, is the author of the new book Shooter: The Autobiography of the Top-Ranked Marine Sniper. He grew up in a wealthy Boston suburb and joined the Marines at age 19, spending the next 20 years behind the scope of a long-range rifle as a sniper. He has more than 60 confirmed kills, 38 of which took place during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Economists Isabel Sawhill and Brian Riedl discuss the federal deficit: how the country reached this point and how it might get back into the black. Sawhill is a senior fellow and vice president and director of economic studies at the Brookings Institution, a non-partisan think tank in Washington, D.C. Brian Riedl is lead budget analyst and the Grover M. Hermann Fellow in Federal Budgetary Affairs at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank also based in Washington.

The latest novel from best-selling English author Nick Hornby, A Long Way Down, focuses on a group of suicidal people who accidentally meet atop a tall building — and how that meeting changes their fates. He also writes "Stuff I've Been Reading," a column for The Believer magazine. Many of Hornby's novels have been made into films, including About a Boy, High Fidelity and Fever Pitch.

Grammy-winning Delbert McClinton is considered a legend among Texas roots music aficionados. He's been making music since the 1950s in a style that seamlessly blends country, blues, soul, and rock and roll. Before he became known as a singer, he was a harmonica player with the Straightjackets, backing blues legends such as Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Reed and Sonny Boy Williamson. On tour in England in 1962, McClinton gave harmonica lessons to a young John Lennon.

As special master of the Federal Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund, Feinberg decided how much families of the terrorist attacks' victims would receive and which family members were eligible for compensation. He also was on a team that determined the fair market value of the Zapruder film of the Kennedy assassination. Feinberg has written a book about his work on the Sept. 11 Fund, What is Life Worth?: The Unprecedented Effort to Compensate the Victims of 9/11.

He plays Bruce Wayne -- and his alter ego, Batman -- in the new film Batman Begins. Bale's other films include American Psycho, Laurel Canyon, Captain Corelli's Mandolin and The Machinist. He is also the voice of Howl in the new Japanese animated film Howl's Moving Castle.

He turned 90 years old on June 8, and he is still performing and recording. He's collaborated with Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Sting — among others — on a new album to be released later this summer.

He's been called the funniest man on television, and Richard Pryor calls Chappelle his favorite comedian. Chappelle himself claims he's "America's No. 1 source for offensive comedy." Chappelle's Show is Comedy Central's top ranked broadcast. Season two is just out on DVD. Dave Chappelle’s movie roles include parts in Half-Baked, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and Con Air. This interview was originally broadcast on Sept. 2, 2004.