Terry Gross

It's been almost six years since the Ayatollah Khomeini issued a death sentence against the author. Since then, Rushdie has lived in hiding, continuing to write and making a few semi-public appearances. His book, "Haroun and the Sea of Stories," published in 1990, was a fairy tale written for his son. His new book is collection of stories about the line that divides East and West, called "East, West."

Lowe's newest recording is "The Impossible Bird." In the early 1970s, he played London's pub rock scene in the band Brinsley Schwarz. After they broke up in 1975, Lowe produced five albums for Elvis Costello and worked with Dave Edmunds in the group Rockpile. He begins a national concert tour this month in the United States.

Commentator Dagoberto Gilb talks about his brush with literary celebrity during his recent book tour.

John Lee is a former member of the Masters of Doom. Federal agents had been monitoring the rivalry between his gang and their rivals, The Legion of Doom. Lee was arrested and sent to jail.

Journalists Michelle Slatalla and Joshual Quittner both work for Newsday. They've collaborated on a new book, called "Masters of Deception." It's about two rival gangs of teenage computer hackers in New York City, Masters of Deception and the Legion of Doom. The gangs, broke into phone company computers, downloaded confidential credit histories, and broke into private and corporate computer files. The rivalry was friendly until a computer remark by one hacker set off a "gang war."

Journalist Leslie Savan writes about television advertising. Her new book, "The Sponsored Life," reveals "how commercial values infiltrate our beliefs and desires, how we become more and more sponsored."

Braugher plays Detective Frank Pembleton on the hit NBC series. He was educated at Julliard and is an experienced Shakespearean actor. His other acting credits include the film, "Glory" and the TNT special, "The Court Martial of Jackie Robinson."

House speaker Newt Gingrich has called for abolishing the National Endowment for the Arts. We discuss the pros and cons of federal funding of the arts with two guests. Art critic Hilton Kramer is the founder of the Arts Magazine, "The New Criterion," and is former chief art critic for The New York Times. He's against federal funding for the arts. John Brademas is Chair of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, and former Democratic Congressman from Indiana. He also helped write the legislation that created the NEA.

We explore the current controversies over the NEA with Lynn Munson, former Special Assistant to Chairman Lynn Cheney at the NEA and current Research Associate at the American Enterprise Institute, and Paul Goldberger, The New York Times' Chief Cultural Correspondent.

Carter has written eight books since his presidency, including several memoirs. His newest book is a collection of his poems, "Always a Reckoning: and other Poems." Terry will talk with him about his poetry, and about his diplomatic work, including the recent agreements he brokered in Bosnia and Haiti.