Terry Gross

Our weeklong retrospective of the year's most entertaining interviews continues with Nancy Cartwright. You've probably heard Cartwright's work, but you may not have known it was her: She's the voice of Bart Simpson in The Simpsons, both on TV and on the big screen. The Simpsons Movie was recently released on DVD.

Our weeklong retrospective of the year's most entertaining interviews continues with writer-producer Al Jean — a guy who knows Marge, Homer, Bart and the rest of the Simpsons gang better than almost anyone. He's executive producer and writer for The Simpsons, and he's been with the show since it began. This year's Simpsons movie, he's been heard to say, is about "what happens when a man doesn't listen to his wife." The film is now available on DVD. Before The Simpsons, Jean worked on TV's A.L.F. and It's Garry Shandling's Show.

As part of our weeklong retrospective of the most entertaining Fresh Air interviews from 2007, we revisit an October chat with actor Mark Ruffalo, then on the big screen in the film Reservation Road. Ruffalo's other films including In the Cut, Zodiac, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, You Can Count on Me and 13 Going on 30. This interview first aired on Oct. 11, 2007.

Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid, a regular guest on Fresh Air, returns to discuss developments in Pakistan, where former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto died after an attack at a political rally that also killed at least 20 others. Bhutto recently had returned to Pakistan from an eight-year exile to challenge President Pervez Musharraf for the country's leadership. Ahmed Rashid covers Pakistani politics and culture for various Western publications; he has written extensively about the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the country.

Executive producer and actor Jeff Garlin and actress Susie Essman discuss the hit HBO comedy series. Garlin plays Larry David's affable best friend and agent. Essman plays Garlin's wife — with a no-nonsense attitude and a foul mouth. This interview originally aired on Sept. 6, 2007.

By the end of The 40 Year Old Virgin, the title character had lost his virginity — and actor Steve Carell had become a star. The actor, who was a correspondent on Comedy Central's The Daily Show for several years, has gone on to films including Little Miss Sunshine and Evan Almighty, and next summer he'll star as hapless secret agent Maxwell Smart in a Hollywood adaptation of the vintage TV series Get Smart. And of course he's got a central role on NBC's The Office.

Actor John C. Reilly and director Jake Kasdan talk about their new film, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. Kasdan woke up in the middle of the night with the concept and even the title for the spoof of music biopics. This interview was initially broadcast on Dec. 3, 2007.

Songwriter Hugh Martin, now 95, collaborated with Ralph Blaine on a holiday classic: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." The song was made famous by Judy Garland in the 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis. Since then, many different versions have been recorded with changes in lyrics. This interview first aired on Dec. 22, 2006.

The book On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen has become a reference tool for many cooks. Now author Harold McGee has revised and updated the book. It's an exposition of food and cooking techniques, delving into technology and history. McGee diagrams the stages of making mayonnaise under a microscope, explains why peppers are hot, and why seafood gets mushy if you cook it improperly. McGee is a world-renowned authority on the chemistry of cooking.

Viggo Mortensen stars in the David Cronenberg Eastern Promises. Set in London, in the dangerous underworld of sex trafficking, the film is due out on DVD Dec. 23. The film was written by Steve Knight, who wrote the screenplay for Dirty Pretty Things. Cronenberg and Mortensen's previous collaboration was the acclaimed 2005 film A History of Violence. (REBROADCAST. ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 9/13/07).