Terry Gross

Stephen Colbert has a new book called America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't. It explores the dichotomy between thinking America is perfect — and feeling the urge to save the country from disaster at every moment.

The director of Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood talks to Fresh Air's Terry Gross about his new film, The Master, a tense drama with indelible performances from Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams.

Waging Heavy Peace is about his music, raising two sons with special needs, and his own medical conditions, which have included polio, epilepsy and a brain aneurysm.