Terry Gross

Actor and director Kenneth Branagh (rhymes with "Savannah"). His most recent film "Hamlet" has just been released on video. There's a companion book to the film which includes the screenplay, introduction, and film diary (W.W. Norton). Branagh's other films include adaptations of Shakespeare's "Henry the Fifth", with himself in the title role, Othello, playing Iago, "Dead Again," a psychological thriller starring Branagh and Emma Thompson, and "Much Ado About Nothing," also starring himself.

Former Massachusetts State Senator Joseph Timilty. In 1993 he was indicted for conspiracy to commit fraud in a condominium development project. He refused to plea bargain, was arrested and spent four months in prison. His new memoir is of those four months: "Prison Journal." (Northeast University Press)

Folk singer and collector of folk recordings Mike Seeger. In the early 1950s he sought to preserve the music traditions of the mountains of the Southeast U.S. thru recordings and through his own playing. In 1958 he cofounded the New Lost City Ramblers. Seeger is the half-brother of folk singer Pete Singer. He has a new collection of music he recorded: "Close to Home: Old time Music From Mike Seeger's Collection: 1952-1967" (Smithsonian). There's also a new collection: "There Ain't No Way Out: New Lost City Ramblers" (Smithsonian)

Curator of Herpetology in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Harry Greene and Professor of Integrative Biology at the University of California. He has a new book on snakes (with photographs) "Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature." (University of California Press)

Spider specialist at London's Natural History Museum Paul Hillyard. His 1994 book is "The Book of the Spider: From Arachnophobia to The Love of Spiders" (Random House)

Henry Foster Jr., M.D. is Senior Advisor to President Clinton on Teen Pregnancy Reduction and Youth Issues. He founded the I Have a Future program to encourage at-risk youth to stay in school, and to build self-esteem. Foster was nominated by Clinton to be U.S. Surgeon General but his nomination was withdrawn because of controversy over Foster's record on abortion. He has a new book, "Make a Difference." (Scribner)

Commissioner for New York's Child Welfare Agency, the Administration for Children's Services Nicholas Scoppetta. He recently called for an expansion of foster care for the city's children, including "neighborhood based" care. Scoppetta understands well the struggles of children in foster care. As a five year old boy, he was taken out of his home in New York's Little Italy for neglect, and lived in several foster institutions for six years.

Poet and undertaker Thomas Lynch has combined his two occupations to produce his new book, "The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade." (W. W. Norton) The work is a collection of essays whose topics range from the scheme to use cemeteries as golf courses to poignant stories from his twenty year career as an undertaker. Lynch says he thinks that the meaning of life is connected to death, and his book primarily discusses the impact of the dead on the living.

President of the NAACP -- Kweisi Mfume. He was a five term U.S Congressman for Maryland, and former Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. In 1996 he was appointed the head of the NAACP. He wrote a memoir, "No Free Ride: From the Mean Streets to the Mainstream." (Ballintine Books). (REBROADCAST from 8/21/96)