Terry Gross

The French filmmaker started making movies before the New Wave movement, and without having a vast knowledge of film history. Her latest, Kung Fu Master, is about forty-year-old woman who falls in love with an adolescent boy. Varda cast her son as the male lead.

The prolific songwriter and performer has been living in Idaho, away from the public eye. Now she returns with a new, more rocking album. King joins Fresh Air to talk about dropping out college to pursue a music career, writing songs with her former husband Gerry Goffin for other artists, and becoming a solo artist.

Coppola has written the music for several films of his son, Francis Ford Coppola, including the Godfather I and II. He has written a new score for the silent film Napoleon; he'll soon conduct a live performance of that music during a screening at Radio City Music Hall.

The former Silly Wizard fiddler isn't surprised by the international success of his music. Cunningham says that he can even here echoes of Scottish sounds in traditional American music.

Commentator Ilene Segalove talks about the newest gimmick in baseball collectibles -- cards that play audio. She considers the history of the baseball cards and why they become so valuable over the years.

The German-born writer's memoir documents her parents' involvement in World War II. Reichel grew up in Hamburg after the end of the war, as the country dealt with the guilt of its Nazi past. She says the pain of that history was felt by all citizens, even if it was deeply repressed.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews Ghostbusters II. He says the movie relies too much on prior knowledge of the original. But he enjoyed the performances, particularly Bill Murray's weird take on domesticity.

James Parks Morton is the dean of New York City's massive Saint John the Divine. To keep the cathedral and its services vital, Morton has spearheaded the inclusion of different faith traditions and outreach to poor communities.

As a child, the author traveled from her maternal home in Philadelphia to visit her father in North Carolina. He was a paraplegic as a result of a car accident. Campbell's new memoir details the complexities of their relationship.

Part II of the Fresh Air interview with Danny Elfman. He talks about writing the score for Tim Burton's new Batman movie. He sees his film composing as entirely distinct from his work in the rock band Oingo Boingo. The different approaches, he says, serve both efforts.