Terry Gross

In an open letter to the next president, author Michael Pollan writes about the waning health of America's food systems — and warns that "the era of cheap and abundant food appears to be drawing to a close."

Author Charles Ardai is founder of Hard Case Crime, a publishing group that reprints classic crime fiction and publishes new pulp fiction in paperback editions. Ardai, who writes under the pen name Richard Aleas, has won the Edgar Award for mystery writing.

Emmy-winning director and producer Larry Charles has a penchant for the ridiculous — witness his credits, which include Borat, Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Now, Charles wants to turn his latest film, Religulous, into an HBO series.

Supporters and detractors alike can't seem to get enough of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Anchorage Daily News columnist Michael Carey discusses the woman who promises to bring "a little bit of reality from Wasilla Main Street" to Washington, D.C.

Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, the National Security Agency stepped up its efforts to collect intelligence domestically by filtering millions of phone conversations and e-mail messages. In his new book, The Shadow Factory, journalist James Bamford reveals that the ultra-secret agency has half a million people on its watch lists.

Curtis Sittenfeld's new novel American Wife is about a kind, bookish, young woman who marries a wealthy charismatic young man who eventually becomes president. It's based on the life of Laura Bush. One reviewer calls it "a compassionate, illuminating, and beautifully rendered portrait."

Sarah Silverman's Comedy Central show — quirky, snarky, often wildly inappropriate — strikes some audiences as clueless and tasteless. To fans, including Fresh Air host Terry Gross, it's really funny satire.

Comic and actor Louis C.K. sends up middle-aged American life — including his own difficulties raising his four-year-old daughter — in the new Showtime special, Chewed Up. C.K. previously played a part-time auto mechanic struggling to be a family man in the HBO sitcom Lucky Louie.

Some feminists have had a hard time accepting Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin as a symbol of women's empowerment. But political science professor Ronnee Schreiber argues that conservatism and feminism are not mutually exclusive ideologies.

Last week, fliers went up in predominantly African-American neighborhoods of Philadelphia warning that people with outstanding warrants or unpaid parking tickets could be arrested if they show up at the polls. Zach Stalberg of the Committee of Seventy discusses this effort to discourage voters.