Terry Gross

Writer Leonard Wolf. His latest book "Dracula: The Connoisseur's Guide" is about our attraction to vampires and the curiosity they have provoked over the past 100 years. Wolf is thought of as a specialist on the subject, having written such books as "The Essential Phantom of the Opera," "The Essential Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde," "The Essential Dracula," and a number of other horror related books. Wolf is also the winner of the O.

Writer and former prosecutor Jeffrey Toobin. He's covered the O.J. Simpson trial for the New Yorker and has been a staff writer for the magazine since 1993. Now he is writing about the Oklahoma City Bombing trial and the issues it uncovers, from jury selection to victims' rights. Toobin is also a Legal Analyst for ABC's "Good Morning America" and the author of the bestselling book "The Run of His Life: The People vs. O.J. Simpson."

William Ulrich's new book is "The Year 2000 Software Crisis" (Yourdon Press). It is a guide to solving the problems that will arise in the millennium when computer software will translate the two-digit shorthand '00 as 1900, not 2000. For companies world-wide this computer failure could lead to business failure. Ulrich is President of Tactical Strategy Group, Inc. and a strategic Year 2000 advisor for corporations and government agencies.

Palestinian psychiatrist and human rights activist Dr. Eyad al-Sarraj. He is director of the Gaza Community Mental Health Program and is considered an authority on the traumas experienced by children under Israeli occupation. Sarraj has been an outspoken opponent of human rights violations whether committed by Israelis or Palestinians. Recently he was detained and interrogated by Palestinian police because of remarks he made critical of the Palestinian Authority. He was released after nine days following protests by Palestinian and international human rights groups.

Journalist Sean Kelly's 1993 book, "America's Tyrant: The CIA and Mobutu of Zaire" provides context for the unrest now in Zaire. Thirty years ago, Kelly covered Mobutu's rise to power. Kelly was with the Voice of America for twenty years. Now he teaches at American University in D.C.

Journalist Adam Hochschild's recent article in the New Yorker "Mr. Kurtz, I Presume" considers the colonial history of Zaire -- once known as the Congo -- looking for the prototype for Kurtz the fictional greedy ambitious white man of Joseph Conrad's novel "Heart of Darkness."

Pinsky joins Fresh Air to read his poem "House Hour."

In this excerpt from the award-winning NPR program, host Ira Glass features a 1967 "letter on tape" which was found in a Salvation Army Thrift Store. It features the father, mother and daughter of a Michigan family who's interactions on the recording reveal much about their relationships with one another.

Scholar and translator Robert Fagles. He is a professor at Princeton University and has gained recognition for his interpretation of "The Iliad." His latest translation of Homer is a new version of "The Odyssey" (Viking). Recently Fagles won the PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for lifetime achievement in the field of translation.

Reich reflects on his four years in the Clinton administration and why he stepped down. His new memoir is "Locked in the Cabinet."