Terry Gross

Commentator Steven Levy talks about the potential of the World Wide Web.

Elkin was called "one of the most entertaining stylists in contemporary American fiction." His use of metaphor, "transforms grotesque situations and the drab vulgarity of popular consumer culture into comic affirmations of human existence." (from Contemporary Literary Criticism). His novels included, The MacGuffin, The Magic Kingdom, and others. Elkin was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis twenty years ago and died of heart failure on Wednesday, May 31, 1995. We replay our 1993 interview with him. (Rebroadcast)

Movie Critic, Stephen Schiff reviews "Bridges of Madison County," starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep.

Margolick is the former author of the New York Times "At The Bar" column. He was recently promoted from the national legal affairs correspondent to San Francisco bureau chief for the New York Times. Margolick is presently covering the O.J. Simpson trial for the Times. His legal columns have been collected into a new book, At the Bar: The Passions and Peccadilloes of American Lawyers.

Mull became known for his performance as the anchor man on "Weekend Update," the news parody on Saturday Night Live," and as talk show host for late night show "Fernwood Tonight." He recently released his book Paintings, Drawings and Words. It provides not only a generous survey of his enigmatic art works, but the process by which he creates them. Mull is presently a regular on the TV sitcom "Roseanne."

Journalist for the New York Times, Roger Cohen. He speaks to Terry from Sarajevo, where he has been covering the war.

Technology columnist for Newsweek Steven Levy comments on porn and the Internet.

Journalist Laurie Garrett has recently returned from Zaire, where many people have died due to the spread of the Ebola virus. She is the author of the new book, The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance. She talks about how people in Zaire changed their behaviors in order to curtail the spread of the Ebola virus.

Movie critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new, three-hour epic based on the life of William Wallace.

We speak with two guests about the practice of religion vis-a-vis the Constitution: Keith Fournier, Head of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ). The ACLJ helped draft the Christian Coalition's Contract with the American Family, which calls on Congress to allow prayer in public places, curb pornography, and restrict abortion. On the other side of the debate, activist and preacher Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourners magazine, has started a new coalition called "Cry for Renewal." It's his alternative to the conservative agenda of the Christian Coalition.