Terry Gross

We remember one of the most respected historians of the media Erik Barnouw. He died last week at the age of 93. He was the author of the classic three-volume History of Broadcasting. Barnouw was the first chief of the Library of Congress' Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recording Sound Division. In 1996 Barnouw wrote a memoir about his life, Media Marathon: A 20th Century Memoir.

Film critic Henry Sheehan reviews Ghost World.

Director Mike Nichols was recently nominated for an Emmy award for his direction of the HBO movie of the off-Broadway play Wit. He also directing the star-studded production of Chekov The Seagull at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park (now in previews). Nichols directed the films The Graduate (for which he won an Oscar for Best Director), Who Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Silkwood, Working Girl, and Primary Colors. Before he became a film director Nichols was known for his popular comedy improvisations with Elaine May.

It's not not surprising that Rufus Wainwright would become a musician and singer. He is the son of singer-songwriters Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle (of the McGarrigle sisters). He has just released his second album, Poses.

Eight years ago, at the age of 35, Philip Simmons was diagnosed with ALS, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig disease. The disease is degenerative, with no cure. Simmons has lived longer with the disease than most. He written a new collection of essays, Learning to Fall: The Blessings of an Imperfect Life (Homefarm Books). Simmons is a professor of English at Lake Forest College in Illinois.

Actor, writer, director Christopher Guest. He's best known for his role as Nigel Tufnel, the lead guitarist in the mock rock documentary. This is Spinal Tap. (which just celebrated its 16th anniversary). He got his start with SCTV, and later was a part of the Saturday Night Live crew. Guest went on to make the mockumentaries, "Waiting for Guffman" about a group of amateur thespians working on a community musical, and "Best in Show" about pure breed dogs, their owners and the dog shows they compete in.

John Cameron Mitchell wrote, directed and starred in the off-broadway hit rock musical, –Hedwig and the Angry Inch— (with songs by Stephen Trask). The play has just been made into a new film, also directed by and starring Mitchell. The film won the Audience Award for Drama and the Directing Prize at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. The story is about Hedwig, a German immigrant living in a trailer in Kansas, the victim of a botched sex change operation. With the help of her band, the Angry Inch, she tells the story of her life.

John Cusack stars in the new film America Sweethearts opposite Julia Roberts. By the time Cusack was 22 he had a number of films to his credit: The Sure Thing, Eight Men Out, Say Anything, and Fat Man and Little Boy. Later he went on to make The Grifters, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, The Thin Red Line, and Grosse Pointe Blank which he cowrote. His most recent film was High Fidelity based on the Nick Hornby novel.

Film critic Henry Sheehan reviews Americas Sweethearts.

We remember the former publisher of The Washington Post, Katharine Graham. She died July 17th at the age of 84. Graham's father owned The Post in 1933 and later her husband, Phil Graham, took over. Following her husband's suicide in 1963, Graham became publisher, knowing little about the managerial or journalistic aspects of the job. But, learning while she worked, she transformed the paper into one of the country's most respected newspapers. The Post broke the Watergate scandal and published the Pentagon Papers against a federal judge's ruling.