Terry Gross

Rap vocalist Darryl McDaniels of RUN-DMC talks about the group's success. McDaniels is the "DMC" of the group. They were the first rap group to earn gold, platinum and multi-platinum albums. Their most recent album is "Down with The King" released in 1994. But RUN-DMC is expected to release their next album later this year. The group is credited with bringing new fashions, new dances, and new language to popular culture.

Historian James McPherson is a Professor of American History at Princeton University. He's written eleven books about the Civil War, including his Pulitzer Prize winning book, "Battle Cry of Freedom." His latest book is "For Cause & Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War" (Oxford University Press). Drawing on 25,000 letters and 250 private diaries, McPherson looks at why so many soldiers willingly risked their lives to fight in the war.

The Harvard Law School professor's new book examines race and the criminal justice system, "Race, Crime, and the Law." In his research, Kennedy, finds that African-Americans have suffered more from being "left unprotected by law enforcement authorities than from being mistreated as suspects or defendants."

Peter Balakian is Professor of English at Colgate University, and the author of a new memoir "Black Dog of Fate: An American Son Uncovers His Armenian Past. He grew up in an affluent New Jersey suburb, unaware of the tragedy that was part of his family's past: the genocide of a million Armenians in 1915 by the Ottoman Turkish government. He started to learn about the past when he discovered the document of his grandmother's human rights suit against the Turkish government, and the lost memoir of his great uncle, a bishop in the Armenian church.

Composer Alf Clausen is the man behind the music of "The Simpsons." There's a new compliation CD of music from the animated cartoon TV series, "The Simpsons: Songs in the Key of Springfield" (Rhino).

Lead prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson criminal trial, Marcia Clark. She has since stepped down as Prosecutor in the Office of the Los Angeles District Attorney. She has a new memoir about the trial and her experiences: "Without a Doubt" (Viking).

For five years, Tabor played the part of Hank Kingsley, talk-show sidekick on the HBO comedy series, "The Larry Sanders Show." He's had many character roles on television and film. He made his film debut with a critically-acclaimed performance as Al Pacino's deranged law partner in the 1979 film "And Justice For All." He's currently starring in the TV movie "Weapons of Mass Distraction" written by Larry Gelbart. It premieres May 17.

Hughes has been Time magazine's art critic for more than 25 years. He is the author of a number of books and the recipient of a number of awards, most recently one from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His latest book is "American Visions: The Epic History of Art in America" (Knopf). There's also a companion 8-part PBS series which he hosts, beginning May 28.

Robin Gorna has been active in AIDS work since 1986. She is Head of Health Promotion at the Terrence Higgins Trust in London. She is the author of "Vamps, Virgins and Victims: How Can Women Fight AIDS?" She recently attended the National Conference on Women & HIV which was held in L.A. May 4-7.

Dafoe says he is attracted to roles that are morally ambiguous. His villainous turns include: "To Live in Die in L.A.," "Platoon," "Wild at Heart," and "The English Patient." When he's not starring in films he's performing on stage with productions by the Wooster Group, an experimental theater in New York. The group's director is Elizabeth LeCompte, Dafoe's longtime companion, and mother of their 14 year old son.