Terry Gross

Writer and Vietnam veteran Lewis Puller's Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir, "Fortunate Son," is now out in paperback. His father, Chesty Puller, was a famous Marine. Lewis also joined the Marines in 1967, and was badly wounded in Vietnam.

Republican leaders Ralph Reed and Senator John Chafee. Reed is the Executive Director of the Christian Coalition, based in Chesapeake, VA. Chafee is a Republican from Rhode Island. He's a member of the newly formed Republican Majority Coalition. The Republican National Committee is meeting at the end of this month to elect a new chairman. The two men will talk about what direction the Republican party needs to take to win the 1996 Presidential election, and why the party failed to win in '92.

Child Psychologist and an expert on how chronic violence affects a child's growth and development James Garbarino. He's just co-authored a new book, "Children in Danger: Coping with the Consequences of Community Violence," about the children who grow up in the "war zones" of cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. Garbarino has also co-authored, "No Place to be a Child: Growing Up in a War Zone, and is president of the Erikson Institute for Advanced Study in Child Development.

Guest host Marty Moss-Coane talks with three young drug dealers from Camden, New Jersey. They're members of the 6th and Ferry gang, and go by aliases: Eddie Bauer, 16 years old, Kevin Madison, 20, and Sampson Riley, 18.

President of the all-women's, HBCU Spelman College, Johnnetta Cole was recently head of the Clinton transition team's education group, and was at one time considered as a possible secretary of education. She has a new book, "Conversations: Straight Talk with America's Sister President."

New York Times reporter Chris Hedges is based in Cairo, where he covers the Middle East. Terry will talk with him about the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in countries like Sudan, Algeria, Egypt, and Jordan. She'll also talk with Hedges bout being held captive at the end of the Gulf War by Saddam's Republican Guard. He was held along with NPR's Neil Conan.

A pioneer in brain and memory research, Dr. Daniel Alkon has written a new book, called "Memory's Voice: Deciphering the Mind-Brain Code." He uses the example of one disturbed person to look at how the brain remembers -- a childhood friend who was abused by her father and emotionally scarred. Alton suggests that people like his friend never complely unlearn behavior brought upon by such traumas, and that the impressions made on a child's memory will permanently linger in the complexes of the brain.

Journalist Erik Larson's article, "The Story of a Gun," is the cover story on this month's issue of "The Atlantic." It tells the tale of what happens with a gun, beginning with the maker, to the dealer, and to the murderer who uses it. Larson claims there is a de facto conspiracy of gun dealers, gun manufacturers, and federal regulators, "which makes guns all too easy to come by and virtually assures their eventual use in the bedrooms, alleys, and school yards of America."

Terry talks with film critic Stephen Schiff about his favorite ten movies from the year.

Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon are the founders of the Daughters of Bilitis, an early lesbian organization. They started the group in the 1950s before the rise of the gay liberation movement. Shortly after, they began publishing "The Ladder," the first Lesbian-themed magazine. Their landmark book, "Lesbian/Woman," published in 1972 has been updated. The two have also been a couple for 39 years.