9/11

He is one of few western reporters to interview Osama bin Laden, which he did in 1998. Hes collaborated on the new book, The Cell: Inside the 9/11 Plot, and Why the FBI and CIA Failed to Stop It. (Hyperion). In the book they retrace the movements of al-Qaeda leading up to the September 11th attacks.

Father James Martin is associate editor of America the national Catholic magazine. Hes written a new memoir,Searching for God at Ground Zero, (Sheed & Ward) about the days following the September 11th attacks when he abandoned his editing duties to go and be with the rescue workers at the site of the ruined World Trade Center. Hes also the author of a memoir about his spiritual journey from the corporate world to the priesthood: In Good Company: The Fast Track from the Corporate World to Poverty, Chastity and Obedience

Former fire commissioner of New York City, Thomas Von Essen. He led the department through the Sept. 11 attacks and during rescue and early recovery efforts. During the attacks, the department lost 343 men, many of them Von Essen's friends and colleagues. Von Essen stepped down as fire commissioner on December 31, 2001. He's written a new memoir with Matt Murray, Strong of Heart: Life and Death in the Fire Department of New York.

National security expert Loch Johnson. Hes written several books about intelligence and the trade-off of personal freedom, including Bombs, Bugs, Drugs and Thugs: Intelligence and Americas Quest for Security. Johnson is a professor of political science at the University of Georgia. He has served on several US Senate committees on Intelligence.

Since September 11th, Joel Meyerowitz has taken over 7000 photographs of Ground Zero. He gained unlimited access to the site and did so in conjunction with the Museum of the City of New York. A selection of those pictures can been seen in the May 20th issue of The New Yorker.

Architecture critic for The New Yorker Paul Goldberger discusses the different ideas for what to do with the site of the World Trade Center.

Writer and retired New York city firefighter Dennis Smith arrived at the site of the World Trade Center towers on the day of the attacks to volunteer with the rescue effort. His new book Report from Ground Zero (Viking) is composed of first-person testimony of rescuers who were there when the towers were attacked and fell, and who helped in the efforts afterwards. Smith spent 18 years with the fire department. He is the author of nine books, including the bestseller Report from Engine Co. 82 about his years in the city's most dangerous and active firehouse.

In honor of the six-month anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, Meyerowitz talks about his World Trade Center Archive Project, a traveling State Department-sponsored exhibition of Ground Zero photographs. Meyerowitz originally spoke about his World Trade Center photos when he was a guest on Fresh Air on October 23, 2001.

Reverend Christopher Keenan is the Chaplain of the Fire Department of New York. He succeeds the Rev. Mychal Judge, who was killed on September 11th 2001 when hit by falling debris at the World Trade Center. Keenan is a Franciscan friar who was born in New York City. In the 80s, he established hospices for AIDS patients, and more recently, he's worked with the homeless.

Writer William Langewiesche is a national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly. He writes about recovery and cleanup efforts at the World Trade Center in his new book, American Ground: Unbuilding the World Trade Center (North Point Press). Langewiesche arrived at the scene days after the collapse and had unrestricted, round-the-clock access to events there.