Terry Gross

Physicist Kent Cullers is Project Manager with SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute. A character in the new film "Contact" is based on Cullers. Cullers has been blind since birth and was the first totally blind physicist in the United States.

John Szwed has written a new biography of Sun Ra, the orchestra leader and piano player who claimed to be from outer space. His new book is "Space is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra" (Pantheon Books). Szwed is Musser Professor of Anthropology, African American Studies, Music and American Studies at Yale University.

Guitarist and record producer Scotty Moore, was Elvis Presley's first guitarist and manager and one of the early influences of the rock guitar sound. He has co-written an account of his work with the King of Rock'n'Roll, entitled "That's Alright, Elvis." (Schirmer Books) He also has a new CD out of collaborations he and drummer DJ Fontana did with various musicians including Keith Richards, Tracy Nelson and Cheap Trick, among others. The CD is entitled "All the King's Men." (RCA)