Terry Gross

The latest book by Israeli author Amos Oz is A Tale Of Love And Darkness, a memoir of growing up in Jerusalem in the turbulent 1940s and '50s, when a war-torn Israel was achieving statehood. Oz's home life was as intense as the world outside.

The book follows Oz through his mother's suicide to a growing interest in politics and writing. Along the way, he chooses a new name for himself — Oz, the Hebrew word for strength — over his family's name, Klausner.

We remember the gay journalist who was the founder and first president of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. He died Sunday at age 70. He worked at The Washington Post for 14 years, with posts as bureau chief in New York and Los Angeles.

The new biopic Kinsey takes on the story of scientist Alfred Kinsey, who pioneered research in human sexuality in the 1940s and 1950s. For the project, director Bill Condon — who also wrote the script — interviewed many of the scientist's colleagues.

The film stars Liam Neeson and Laura Linney as Alfred Kinsey and his wife, Clara McMillen, along with Peter Sarsgaard and John Lithgow. The researcher's life — and American society — were forever changed by his 1948 book, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male.