Terry Gross

Tammy Faye Messner, the onetime first lady of TV evangelism, died Friday at the age of 65; she had battled cancer for years. Terry Gross interviewed the former Tammy Faye Bakker on January 15, 2004, about the rise and fall of the ministry she led with ex-husband Jim Bakker, the puppet show that gave them their start, and her surprising later life as a gay icon.

Mohammed Hafez, author of Suicide Bombers in Iraq: The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom, says the overwhelming majority of suicide bombers in Iraq are non-Iraqi volunteers. He says the war has unleashed a new generation of Muslim militants who care little about national boundaries. They're driven instead, he says, by the ideal of defending Muslims whoever and wherever they are.

Hafez is a visiting professor of political science at the University of Missouri in Kansas City. He's also the author of Manufacturing Human Bombs: The Making of Palestinian Suicide Bombers.

Poet Sekou Sundiata died this week at age 58; the cause was heart failure. Sundiata, who taught literature at New York City's New School University for many years, was considered one of the fathers of the spoken-word movement. He wrote the plays Blessing the Boats, The Circle Unbroken is a Hard Bop, The Mystery of Love, Udu, and the 51st (dream) state. His albums include Longstoryshort and The Blue Oneness of Dreams. We remember him with excerpts from interviews that originally aired in May 1994, April 1997, and November 2002.