Terry Gross

Journalist Christopher Dickey is Newsweek magazine Paris bureau chief and Middle East regional editor. His article in the November 19th issue is called "The Saudi Game" and details America complex relationship with Saudi Arabia. Dickey has written a number of critically acclaimed books, including the novel Innocent Blood and the non-fiction works Expats and With the Contras.

Niall Ferguson is the author of The Pity of War: Explaining World War I. (Basic Books) Ferguson is Fellow and Tutor in Modern History at Jesus College, Oxford, England. His other books include Paper and Iron and The House of Rothschild. Ferguson talks about why W.W.I was the century's worst war and why he blames Great Britain for prolonging the war.

As part of the New Yorker's Beyond Words series, we hear Simon Schama read from Winston Churchill's work, Winston and Clementine: The Personal Letters of the Churchill's (1914-1916) by Winston Churchill. The Beyond Words series was taped October 11 in New York City at Town Hall. Proceeds benefit the September 11th Fund.

Writer Ken Kesey died Saturday 11/10/01 at the age of 66. Kesey was a leading figure of 60s counterculture. As the organizer of the Merry Pranksters, Kesey did as much as anyone to popularize the use of LSD and other hallucinogens. Kesey also wrote two of the most popular books of the era, Sometimes a Great Notion and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. He also the author of Demon Box, Caverns and other books.

Ricky Jay has been called "a master in the art of deception," and "one of the greatest sleight of hand artists in the world." Next spring Jay will star in the one-man show Ricky Jay on Broadway. A few years ago, he starred in the off-Broadway show Ricky Jay and his 52 Assistants, which was directed by David Mamet. Jay has had a long-term collaboration with Mamet, acting in the films House of Games, Things Change, Homicide, Spanish Prisoner, State and Main, and co-starring in Mamet's new film, Heist.

Israeli journalist David Horovitz is the editor of the Jerusalem Report. He will discuss how Israelis are responding to the Sept. 11th attacks, the war on terrorism, and the continued violence in the Middle east. Horovitz is the author of, A Little Too Close to God. He was the recipient of the Bai Bai International Award for journalism in 1994.

Ghassan Khatib is the Director of the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center and publisher of Palestine Report Online. He offers the Palestinian perspective on the peace process and post-September 11th events.

Presidential historian Michael Beschloss' second volume on the LBJ tapes is called Reaching for Glory: The Secret Lyndon Johnson Tapes, 1964-1965. Beschloss talks about the tapes and we hear excerpts — including recordings of conversations about Vietnam and the Civil Rights movement. We also hear Johnson speaking with Jackie Kennedy. Beschloss has written five previous books on American presidents and is a regular contributor to The News Hour with Jim Lehrer.

Jeffrey Toobin, staff writer at the New Yorker. His new book is an investigation into the bush gore presidential recount. Its called, Too Close to Call : The Thirty-Six-Day Battle to Decide the 2000 Election (Random House). He also has a piece in the latest New Yorker, about the new anti-terrorism legislation. His last book, A Vast Conspiracy, was about the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. His book The Run of His Life was about the OJ Simpson Trial. Toobin is also a legal analyst for ABC news.

Writer Ben Cheever's new book is called Selling Ben Cheever: Back to Square One in a Service Economy (Bloomsbury). In 1995, Cheever lost his publisher and was not able to sell his third novel. To continue working, he decided to take jobs at chain bookstores, car dealerships, and sandwich shops. His book is about his 5 years working in the 'service economy.' Cheever's novels include The Plagiarist, The Partisan, and Famous After Death. He has been a newspaper reporter and an editor at Reader's Digest.