Terry Gross

broke into the R&B world in the 1970s as a drummer for The Cadillacs, then as a singer for Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. When he went solo, Pendergrass became known for the love ballads "I Don't Love You Anymore," "Close The Door" and "Turn Off The Lights," and for playing "for-women-only" shows. Pendergrass died Wednesday following a battle with colon cancer. He was 59. After a 1982 car accident left him paralyzed, Pendergrass continued to perform and make music. He released his last album of new material, You and I, in 1997.

Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal join Fresh Air to talk about their film The Hurt Locker. Set in Baghdad, the movie follows the story of three men who are part of the Army's bomb unit, charged with the task of disarming IEDs and other roadside bombs.

In November of 2009, journalist Aram Roston published a story in The Nation titled "How the US Funds the Taliban" about how U.S. military contractors are forced to pay suspected insurgents to protect American supply routes. Roston is an award-winning investigative journalist who has reported from Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. His 2008 book, The Man Who Pushed America to War: The Extraordinary Life, Adventures and Obsessions of Ahmad Chalabi, is about the relationship between the U.S. government and one privileged Iraqi.