Terry Gross

Nicholas Blanford is the Beirut correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor. His new book, Killing Mr. Lebanon, is about the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Ariel Levy is a contributing editor at New York magazine, where she writes about sexuality, culture and gender politics. Her new book is Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture. One reviewer writes that Levy "strips the 'Girls Gone Wild' culture of its cuteness in her provocative [book], arguing that post-feminist poster girls such as Playboy Bunnies offer only faux empowerment."

Musicians and composers Phillip Johnston and Joel Forrester of The Microscopic Septet have reunited for the release of their two-volume History of the Micros: Seven Men in Neckties & Surrealistic Swing. The Microscopic Septet composed and recorded the Fresh Air theme song.

Former President Jimmy Carter addresses the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians in his new book, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid. Carter has founded a conflict resolution organization and won a Nobel Peace Prize for his mediation work.

Neil Simon is this year's recipient of the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. (The award ceremony will be broadcast this week on many PBS stations). His plays and movies include Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, The Goodbye Girl, The Out-of-Towners and The Sunshine Boys. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his play Lost in Yonkers and is the author of Rewrites, a memoir. This interview originally aired on Oct. 17, 1996.

Writer and producer Ed Burns draws on his experience as a former Baltimore detective to create the acclaimed HBO series The Wire, now in its fourth season. It's a crime drama with a central theme of surveillance technology used to capture drug dealers.

With writer-director Christopher Guest, Parker Posey has poked fun at small-town theater, overzealous dog owners, and folk singers. Now, she takes on the Oscars, co-starring in Guest's fourth parody film, For Your Consideration. Posey has also appeared in films such as Dazed and Confused, Kicking and Screaming and The Daytrippers.

The news parody publication The Onion has released a new compilation of articles, Homeland Insecurity: Complete News Archives Volume 17. Editors Joe Garden and Joe Randazzo talk about the project and poking fun at current events.

Kiran Desai's novel The Inheritance of Loss won the 2006 Man Booker Prize. Her mother, Anita, has been short-listed for the prize three times. Her books include Fire on the Mountain, Clear Light of Day and In Custody. Kiran was born in New Delhi and moved to the United States as a teenager.