Terry Gross

Dana Wechsler Linden and Mia Wechsler Doron, M.D., authors of the book, Preemies: the Essential Guide for Parents of Premature Babies. Linden and Doron are sisters, both personally interested in providing information to the public about premature babies. Ms. Linden gave birth to premature twins, and is a journalist. She is also a former senior editor at Forbes Magazine. Dr. Doron is a neonatologist at the Newborn Critical Care Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. Peter Nathanielsz, author of The Prenatal Prescription, (Harper Collins). Dr Nathanielsz explains what happens to the fetus while in a mother womb. He claims that the environment created in the womb affects a person throughout life, especially in areas of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and mood disorders. Nathanielsz is the director of the Laboratory for Pregnancy and Newborn Research at Cornell University.

Stacey and Doug Loizeaux are niece and uncle, and are part of the family-owned demolition company, Controlled Demolition, of Maryland. They are experts at imploding buildings. The buildings theye brought down include the Seattle Kingdome, the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas(which was brought down spectacularly with a fireworks display), and the bombed federal building in Oklahoma City. Doug father pioneered the techniques of implosion nearly 60 years ago.

We remember newspaper editor and anti-apartheid activist Donald Woods. His relationship with the slain black South African activist Steve Biko was dramatized in the 1987 film, Cry Freedom. He died yesterday in England, where he had lived for over 20 years. Well listen back to a 1987 interview.

Writer Michael Chabon won a year 2000 Pulitzer prize for his novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay which is now out in paperback (Picador). His other books include The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, and a collection of stories called Werewolves in Their Youth. Last year, his book Wonder Boys was adapted into a film starring Michael Douglas. He has also written for many publications including The New Yorker, Harpers, and Esquire.

Actor Steve Buscemi is currently starring in the new film Ghost World playing a blues record collector who can get a date. Recently he directed and produced the movie Animal Factory, a prison drama starring Wilhelm Defoe and Edward Furlong. He made his directorial debut with Tree Lounge in 1996. He acted in over 60 movies in the past twenty years; winning praise for roles in cult favorites like Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Fargo.

Otis Taylor brings his banjo to the studio for a concert and conversation. We'll hear tracks from his new CD, White African. Taylor plays guitar and ukelele in addition to banjo. His music is often described as minimalist, and his lyrics are often stories of race and racism. He's been compared to John Lee Hooker.

Retired Lt. Col. Bradley Biggs was part of America first all-black paratroop unit called the Triple Nickles. The 555th Battalion of the 82d Airborne. The troop was trained to go to war, but instead was sent to the West Coast to fight forest fires started by Japanese balloon bombs. They were the first parachuters to fight fires, and developed many of the techniques used today. Later they became the first army unit to be integrated into the –regular— army during World War II. Biggs has written a new memoir, The Triple Nickles

Historian Stephen E Ambrose's new book is “The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys who Flew the B-24s Over Germany.” (Simon & Schuster) It’s about the 18-22 year old men, including the young George McGovern, who flew dangerous missions in the plane they called “The Liberator.” The casualty rate was nearly 50 percent. Ambrose is the author of a number of books of history, including the New York Times number one bestseller “Nothing Like it in the World.”

Author Allen Kurzweil's latest novel is the literary thriller The Grand Complication. His first novel, A Case of Curiosities, (Harcourt, 1992) received international critical acclaim. Kurzweil worked for many years as a freelance journalist in Europe before settling in the United States and turning his attention to fiction.