Terry Gross

Peralta wrote and acts in the new movie 'Lords of Dogtown'. The feature evolved from Peralta's 2002 documentary 'Dogtown and Z-Boys.' Both films are about the community of skateboarders in California in the 1970s who originated extreme skateboarding.

Political scientist Jonathan Oberlander is an expert on health politics and policy. He is an associate professor of social medicine at the University of North Carolina. He is the author of the book The Political Life of Medicare. His articles and opinion pieces have appeared in Health Affairs, Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times.

Film producer Ismail Merchant died Wednesday at age 68. In conjunction with James Ivory, he produced A Room With a View (1985), Howards End (1992) and other films. Their newest film, Heights, hits theaters in June. (Original airdate: 9/10/87)