Terry Gross

Andrew Spielman is one of the worlds leading experts on mosquitoes. He's just written a book, Mosquito: A Natural History of Our Most Persistent And Deadly Foe. (with Michael D'Antonio; Hyperion) Well find out why mosquito bites itch, and how the mosquito transmits deadly diseases. Spielman is a professor at Harvard University.

Stage and screen actor Jonathan Pryce plays Gustav Mahler in the new film Bride of the Wind. Pryce has won many acting awards, including two Tonys, first for The Comedians, and later for his role in the hit musical Miss Saigon. Hes also appeared in many films including Brazil, Evita, Tomorrow Never Dies, and Glengarry Glenn Ross.

Writer Michael Pollan's new book, The Botany of Desire: A Plants-Eye View of the World (Random House) takes a look at four plants cultivated by humans: the apple, the tulip, potatoes and marijuana. Pollan demonstrates that plants and humans have developed a reciprocal, co-evolutionary relationship: do we plant potatoes, or do potatoes seduce us into planting them? Pollan questions the assumption that we are in charge of our agriculture.