Terry Gross

Poet John Balaram has translated the poetry of an 18th century Vietnamese concubine in the new book, –Spring Essence: The Poetry of Ho Xuang Huong— (Copper Canyon Press) Ho Xuang Huong won acclaim for her poetry despite the fact that she was a woman and she challenged established conventions. Most of her poems also were double entendres: a hidden sexual meaning lay behind her words. Balaban was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam war, and went back to the country after the war to collect and preserve Vietnamese folk poetry.

Michael Cuscuna and Charlie Lourie are co-founders of Mosaic Records, a label committed to reissuing classic jazz recordings, many of them originally recorded by Blue Note. The two have also collaborated on the new book, "The Blue Note Years: The Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff," (Rizzoli International Publications). It includes 200 photographs taken by Francis Wolff from 1941-1965, who also co-founded the Blue Note label. Many of Wolff's photographs were used as Blue Note album covers.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, as anti-communist sentiment gained ground in the United States, paranoia and persecution swept through Hollywood. The House Un-American Activities (HUAC) began interrogating some of the country's most talented filmmakers and actors, accusing them of being communists or communist sympathizers.