Terry Gross

He is one of New York's most notable spoken-word artists. He blends lyrics of urban dwelling with music. Born in Harlem, Sundiata is a professor of English literature at The New School for Social Research. He's released CDs of spoken word including The Blue Oneness of Dreams and Urban Music. This week, Sundiata premieres his new one-man show blessing the boats. It's about the year his kidney failed, he went into dialysis and then had a kidney transplant.

He is one of New York's most notable spoken-word artists.

Former senator, vice president, and presidential candidate Al Gore and his wife, Tipper. In the two years since the presidential election they have been working on the new book, Joined at the Heart: The Transformation of the American Family. The book explores the changes that have taken place in families over the past few decades, using examples of families the Gores have met along the way. Tipper Gore is a former photojournalist and served as adviser to the president on mental health policy. Their other book is the collection of photographs The Spirit of Family.

In her new guide to the evolutionary biology of sex, Judson explores the sex lives of animals and insects. Posing as Dr. Tatiana, sex-advice columnist, she answers "letters" posted by such creatures as the fairy wren, the stalk-eyed fly and the African elephant. Her new book is Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation. Judson has also written for The Economist, Nature and Science. This interview first aired Aug. 13, 2002.

He has starred in the mock-horror vomitorium comedies: The Evil Dead, The Evil Dead Two and Army of Darkness, all directed by Sam Raimi. He also has had television roles in the popular series Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules. More recently Campbell appeared in Spiderman and Serving Sarah. Campbell's memoir, If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor, is now out in paperback.

Burmese writer Pascal Khoo Thwe has written his autobiography From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey. (HarperCollins). Thwe grew up part of a tiny remote tribe in Burma which practiced a combination of ancient animist and Buddhist customs mixed with Catholicism. He was the first member of his community to study English at University. When a brutal military dictatorship took over Burma, Thwe became a guerrilla fighter in the movement for democracy.

His popular show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was the longest-running program on public television. It ran 33 years and ended its run in 2001. Rogers is the author of the new book, The Mister Rogers Parenting Book: Helping to Understand Your Young Child. (Running Press). Earlier this year, Rogers was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor the nation can bestow.

In his new book, The End of the American Era: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Geopolitics of the Twenty-First Century, Kupchan argues that the era of American dominance may be coming to an end. This demise will not be brought on by the Islamic world or China, but from an integrated Europe. He says that as Europe's political and strategic goals continue to diverge from those of the United States, Europe will rise as a new rival. Kupchan served on the National Security Council during the first Clinton administration.

Born and raised outside Chicago, Wax moved to England during her 20s, and found success as a performer, writer and TV personality. Wax scripted the British TV comedy Absolutely Fabulous and has had many other hit TV series on the BBC. Her new memoir is called How Do You Want Me?

Czech writer Arnost Lustig is considered one of the country's most prominent writers. His new novel, Lovely Green Eyes, is the story of a 15-year-old girl in Auschwitz and the compromises she makes in order to stay alive. Lustig himself survived Theresienstadt, Auschwitz and Buchenwald camps. His family died in the gas chambers. Lustig teaches at American University in Washington, D.C. He is also featured in the new documentary Fighter, in which he and long-time friend Jan Wiener retrace wartime memories.