Terry Gross

Film director Rob Sitch. He and his creative team at Working Dog, got their start in morning radio, then switched to TV. They made their first feature film The Castle in 1997. Their newest film The Dish is based on the true story of how three Australian scientists made possible the worldwide broadcast of Neil Armstrongs first steps on the moon. The film stars Sam Neill and Patrick Warburton ("Puddy" on Seinfeld).

Last week the Taliban, the Islamic Militants ruling Afghanistan issued a decree to demolish all pre-Islamic religious images. Reportedly they have partially demolished the 175 feet and 120 feet seventh-century Buddhas 100 miles west of Kabul, considered two of the most important ancient works. A talk with the Director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies At the University of Omaha, Thomas E. Gouttierre .

Junger traveled to Afghanistan to profile Ahmad Shah Massoud, (known as the Lion of Panjshir), the legendary leader of the guerrilla war against the Soviets, who is now fighting the Taliban. Junger traveled with photographer Reza Deghati who spent several years covering the war there. Jungers article The Lion in Winter appears in the March/April issue of National Geographics Adventure magazine. Its also the subject of a National Geographic Explorer program Into the Forbidden which aired march 4 on CNBC.

The writer behind five screenplays and several theater productions, his new play is called –Lobby Hero— and opens March 13 at Playwrights Horizons. He also wrote, directed and acted in the Oscar nominated –You can Count on Me,— which came out last year. The screenplay for that movie recently won Best Screenplay by the Writers Guild of America and is up for an Oscar in the same category. It is also an Oscar contender in the category of Best Actress in a Leading Role (played by Laura Linney). Other movies he has worked on include –The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Analyze This.

Davis talks about his experiences, growing up a hearing child with deaf parents. He had a complex and sometimes difficult relationship with his deaf, working-class Jewish immigrant parents. Its the subject of his memoir My Sense of Silence: Memoirs of a Childhood With Deafness). Davis is head of the English Department at the University of Illionis, Chicago. He has written several books and published essays in The Nation, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and other publications.

Sheehan reviews the new film The Mexican.

He's written six historical spy novels, all taking place in Europe just before World War II. They include Night Soldiers, Dark Star, The World at Night and his new one, Kingdom of Shadows.

Carter is the creator of the popular FOX TV series, The X-Files. The series, about a team of FBI agents investigating paranormal activity like alien abductions, telepathy, and the occult, has a cult following. This is its eighth and possibly final season. Carters newest series –The Lone Gunman— is a spin off of –The X-Files— and features three computer-savvy conspiracy geeks. It premiers this Sunday, March 4th at 9 PM on FOX.

British novelist A.S. Byatt. Her novel Possession was a bestseller, and her novella Angels & Insects was turned into an arthouse film. Byatt's new novel is The Biographers Tale (Knopf). This interview was recorded before a live audience at the Free Public Library in Philadelphia.

alled one of the greatest improvisers in the history of jazz, Jarrett was famous for his wildly passionate solo recitals. In 1996, Jarrett came down with a mysterious illness- an interstitial bacterial parasite— that caused him to stop performing for about two and a half years. Jarrett has started performing and recording again, but he still keeps a low public profile, so his condition will not worsen again. His newest CD is Whisper Not (Universal Classics). His other recent CD, Melody at Night, With You, was a solo album Jarrett recorded at his home studio in rural New Jersey.