Terry Gross

Milt Bearden spent 30 years in the CIA. He ran the CIA covert operations in Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion, and helped train the Afghan freedom fighters. Bearden also was station chief in Pakistan, Moscow, and Khartoum. He received the CIA highest honor, the Distinguished Intelligence Medal. Since the Sept. 11th attacks, Bearden has been a frequent commentator on TV and in print. He is also the author of the novel, The Black Tulip: A Novel of War in Afghanistan (paperback, Random House).

Australian actress Cate Blanchett. In her latest film Charlotte Gray she plays a courier behind enemy lines during World War II, directed by Australian director Gillian Armstrong. She also in three films out now: The Shipping News, Bandits and The Lord of the Rings. Blanchett was nominated for an Academy Award for her starring role in Elizabeth. Her other films include Pushing Tin, Oscar and Lucinda, The Talented Mr Ripley, and The Gift.

President Clinton's former campaign strategist and political advisor Paul Begala talks about life in the Clinton Whitehouse.

President Clinton's former budget director and chief of staff Leon Panetta.

Journalist Paul Eisenstein covers the automotive industry and is publisher and editorial director of the The Car Connection Web site, which publishes automotive industry news, opinions and car reviews. Hel talk about the latest car trends (the station wagon is back — though they don like to call it that) and the economic outlook for automakers. The North American International Auto Show — where most manufacturers unveil their new products — takes place in Detroit Jan. 12-21.

Actor, director, screenwriter Billy Bob Thornton. The 1996 film Sling Blade which he wrote, directed and starred in put him on the map and earned him an Academy Award for Best Adapted screenplay. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the 1998 film A Simple Plan. Last year he directed the film All the Pretty Horses. He currently starring in four films, the Coen Brothers The Man Who Wasn There, Bandits with Bruce Willis, and Monster Ball. Last fall he released a CD on which he sings his own songs, Private Radio.

Composer Jerry Goldsmith has been writing film and TV music since the 1950s. He won an Academy Award in 1976 for his music for The Omen. His film scores include: Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Sand Pebbles, Chinatown, and A Patch of Blue. His TV credits include: The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Dr. Kildare, The Waltons, and Barnaby Jones. Theres a new CD collecting his music, The Film Music of Jerry Goldsmith (Telarc).

Randall Kennedy is a Harvard Law professor. His new book, Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word (Pantheon Books) is based on a series of classroom lectures he prepared exploring the history and use of the word "nigger." He found the word in literature, political debates, cartoons and songs. And he explores the use of the word from a hateful slur to a term of endearment. Kennedy is a Rhodes Scholar and he served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Kennedy also the author of Race, Crime and the Law.

He the New York Times Foreign Affairs Correspondent. He's just returned from three weeks in Iraq. He's reported from North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.

With writer Penny Valentine, biographer Vicki Wickham recently published Dancing with Demons: The Authorized Biography of Dusty Springfield. Wickham was Springfield close friend and manager for over a decade of Springfield career.