Terry Gross

Alan Alda played Hawkeye Pierce for 11 years in the television series M*A*S*H and has acted in, written, and directed many films. He has starred on Broadway, and his avid interest in science has led to his hosting PBS's Scientific American Frontiers.

Anthony Shadid's new book is Night Draws Near: Iraq's People in the Shadow of America's War. Shadid is the Baghdad correspondent for The Washington Post. The book culls stories from Shadid's many visits to Iraq over the past eight years.

Since 1999, Mariska Hargitay has played a police detective specializing in sex crimes on the NBC drama, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. Earlier this year, she won the Golden Globe for best actress in a dramatic series.