Terry Gross

Historian Barbara Goldsmith. Her new book is both biography and a history of the time. It tells the story of the 19th century feminist and spiritualist Victoria Woodhull, "Other Powers: The Age of suffrage, Spiritualism, and the Scandalous Victoria Woodhull" (Knopf). Victoria Woodhull was the first woman to run for president. She was an ardent feminist who championed for women's rights, but her spiritualism put her outside the mainstream suffrage movement, as well as her attempts to blackmail her enemies.

Curator of the Archives and Collections at the International Center Of Photography in New York, Miles Barth. He curated an exhibit of the work of tabloid photographer, Weegee, whose real name was Arthur Fellig. Wegee eventually became one of the most celebrated news photographers of the century. His photographs taken with an on-camera flash, were of New York's seamy side from 1930s to the 1960s, of murders, suicides, and accidents. The exhibit is now touring the U.S.

Journalist William Mann has written a new biography of actor William Haines, "Wisecracker: The Life and Times of William Haines, Hollywood's First Openly Gay Star" (Viking). In 1930 Haines was a big box-office draw. He was also openly-gay to reporters, studio chiefs,and fellow actors. Eventually Haines was booted out of Hollywood, because he refused to give in to studio pressure to conform. He began a highly successful career as an interior designer.