American history

Historian Joseph Ellis. He's written a new biography about Thomas Jefferson which aims to debunk many of the myths about the third president: "American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson" (Knopf). It won a National Book Award for nonfiction this November. Ellis has also contributed to filmmaker Ken Burns’ documentary “Jefferson” which will air in February. Ellis is a professor of American History at Mount Holyoke College, and has written five other books including “Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams.”

Urban designer William Morrish. He addresses the problems of urban sprawl, the present state of post World War Two housing developments, and the ongoing relationship between cities and suburbs. Morrish and his wife are the directors of the Institute for the American Urban Landscape at the University of Minnesota.

Historian Stanley Kutler. He's just edited a collection of "The New Nixon Tapes." The book is titled "Abuse of Power" (The Free Press). Kutler sued the National Archives and the Nixon Estate for the release of 3000 hours of tapes in 1996, 200 hours of which are now available. Kutler is also the author of "The Wars of Watergate," and historical advisor for the television documentary, "Watergate."

Historian Dayton Duncan. He's the author of the book "Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery -- an Illustrated History" (Knopf). He also co-produced the PBS series of the same name with documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, and is the author of "Out West" (Penguin), in which he re-travels the Merriweather Lewis and William Clark journey.

Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. The Pulitzer Prize winning author of "No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War 2" has written a memoir about her own life, "Wait 'Til Next Year" about growing up in the suburbs of New York in the 1950s.

Maureen Corrigan reviews "Big Trouble" (Simon & Schuster) by J. Anthony Lukas.

Presidential historian Michael Beschloss. He transcribed tapes, edited and provided commentary for the new book "Taking Charge: The Johnson White House Tapes, 1963-1964" (Simon & Schuster). When Johnson took office, he began recording his daily private conversations. This book is the first volume of transcripts and covers the aftermath of the Kennedy Assassination, the creation of the Warren Commission, the civil rights bill, and the Tonkin Gulf attack, and his thoughts about the Vietnam war. Beschloss has written three other books.

Author Don DeLillo on his new novel "Underworld." (Scribner) This 827-page work weaves in and out of the latter half of this century, incorporating modern icons such as Frank Sinatra, Lenny Bruce, and J. Edgar Hoover. The novel's first scene visits the Giant-Dodgers pennant game of October 3rd, 1951 -- also the date of the first nuclear test in the Soviet Union.

In this part of the show...Terry Gross talks with two people who as teenagers who left home and road trains during The Great Depression. Jim Mitchell and Peggy DeHart are both featured in Michael Uys' film Riding The Rails. Mitchell was 16 years old in 1933 when he first board a train. DeHart was 15 in 1938.

Film maker Michael Uys. His latest project is Riding The Rails which he co-wrote, co-produced, and co-directed. The documentary film recounts the experiences of the more than 250 thousand teenagers who left their homes during The Great Depression and hopped on trains in search for a better life.