Terry Gross

Writer Ted Conover (CON-over) spent a year as a prison guard inside New York State’s infamous Sing Sing prison. He wanted to experience first hand the conditions within a prison. He writes about it in his new book “Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing” (Random House). Conover’s previous books chronicled his time spent with illegal aliens (“Coyotes”) and railroad hoboes (“Rolling Nowhere”). Conover is a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine.

Singer/guitarist Alex Chilton has been playing music for decades. As a teenager he was a member of the Memphis Band Box Tops. He was 16 years old when they recorded their hit, the R&B song “The Letter.” Later with the band “Big Star” he became a underground hero. After dropping out of sight to kick an alcohol addiction, Chilton returned to performing. By then many younger bands, REM and The Bangles, considered him a legend. Chilton’s new release (as a part of a trio) “Set” (bar-none) was recorded on the spur of the moment, and without overdubbing.

Novelist Francine Prose. Her new book “Blue Angel” (Harper Collins) echoes the title of the film classic about a German teacher who becomes infatuated with a show girl (played by Marlene Dietrich). In Prose’s novel, a creative writing teacher falls in love with his talented student. Recently Prose wrote an article in the New York Times Magazine (Feb 13, 2000) about the problems with cultural programing ‘for women, by women.’