Terry Gross

A talk with two individuals at the forefront of medical ethics: Robert Baker, Professor of Philosophy at Union College in Schenectady, New York who contends that medicine is in its biggest crisis in 150 years. (It was in 1847 that the AMA wrote it's code of ethics). And Medical Ethicist Art Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

In 1995, Divakaruni's short story collection "Arranged Marriage" garnered three awards. Her new novel, "The Mistress of Spices," tells the story of a woman whose knowledge of the healing power of spices takes her on a supernatural adventure. Divakaruni teaches creative writing at Foothill College in California and is president of MAITRI, a support hotline for South Asian women.

Pack Underhill studies what is called retail anthropology, in which he tracks the habits of shoppers in order to learn the best way to convince them to make a purchase. His retail consulting firm, Envirosell, has helped big-name companies such as McDonald's, Levi Strauss, and Blockbuster to study their customers browsing and buying routines.

Ballard's novels often deal with the changes affected by modern science and technology. His novel "Crash" relates these changes to sexually-deviant behavior. The book has been made into a movie by filmmaker David Cronenberg and won an award at the 1996 Cannes Film Festiival. Ballard also wrote the books "Empire of the Sun" and "Concrete Island," among others.

Commentator Gerald Early tells us why he was unsatisfied with "When We Were Kings" the Oscar-award winning documentary about the classic showdown between Muhammad Ali and George Forman in 1974 in Zaire.

A live on stage conversation between film critic Roger Ebert and film director Martin Scorsese, held at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio in February. They discuss the scope of Scorsese's career.

Ballard's novel "Crash" is the basis for Cronenberg's new film of the same name. Ballard is also the author of "Empire of the Sun" (which was made into a film by Steven Spielberg), and "Concrete Island." He's written over 20 novels.

Cronenberg directed the films "M. Butterfly," "The Fly," "Dead Ringers," and "Naked Lunch," all of which tell a story of sexually deviant behavior. In his new movie "Crash" he continues the theme, combining sex and car wrecks, and explores its place in an age of modern technology.

Screenwriter John Gregory Dunne. He and his wife, writer Joan Didion, have been working in film for 25 years. Their latest project was the screenplay for "Up Close and Personal" the movie starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert Redford, based very losely on the Jessica Savitch story. In Dunne's new book "Monster: Living off the Big Screen" (Random House) he chronicles their eight year odyssey with the project.

Foreign editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer, David Zucchino. In his new book "Myth of the Welfare Queen," he turns his attention to his own town, Philadelphia, where he follows the lives of two welfare mothers, Odessa Williams and Cheri Honkala. One reviewer writes, "David Zucchino has shattered unequivocally the stereotype of women receiving welfare."