Terry Gross

Writer and Director Paul Thomas Anderson. His latest project is "Boogie Nights," a film about the pornography film industry in the late 70's and early 80's in the San Fernando Valley. Anderson's first film was the independent "Hard Eight" with Gwenyth Paltrow and Samuel L. Jackson.

All Things Considered senior producer Sean Collins will preview the upcoming yearlong NPR series on death and dying. The series will begin airing on Monday November 3rd. The series of reports is called "The End of Life: Exploring Death in America."

Actor Kevin Kline. He can currently be seen in the movies "In and Out" and "The Ice Storm." This winter, he'll also be playing the title role in the Anton Chekhov's play, "Ivanov." Kline's past movies include "Dave," "The Big Chill," and "I Love You to Death." He received an Academy Award for "A Fish Called Wanda."

Playwright and Screenwriter David Mamet. His latest film is "The Edge," and he's recently published two books: "The Old Religion," (Simon & Schuster) is a novel about a southern Jewish man falsely accused of murder. "True and False: Heresy and Common sense for the Actor" (Pantheon) is a guide to acting that negates the common and popular dramatic techniques. Mamet won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for "Glengarry Glen Ross."

Photojournalist Max Aguilera-Hellweg has a new collection of photographs taken in the operating room. Her images capture the inside of the human body as surgeons perform procedures like removal of brain tumors, a radical mastectomy, heart surgery and more. Her book is "The Sacred Heart: An Atlas of the Body Seen Through Invasive Surgery." (Bulfinch Press Book)

Nonfiction writer Ptolemy Tompkins, son of New Age writer Peter Tompkins. Ptolemy has written a memoir, "Paradise Fever: Growing up in the Shadow of the New Age," (Avon) about growing up the son of Peter Tompkins, the author of the cult bestseller "The Secret Life of Plants" who was also a World War II spy. Ptolemy Tompkins is the author of several other nonfiction works.

Basketball expert and playground legend Pee Wee Kirkland. Professor at Long Island University and basketball coach in Manhattan, Kirkland wrote the introduction to John Huet's photography book, "Soul of the Game" (Melcher Media/Workman pub.). It's about the impact playground basketball has on the sport. Kirkland also acted in and served as the Technical Basketball Advisor for the 1994 movie "Above the Rim."

Comedian Drew Carey His ABC Wednesday night sitcom resides in the top twenty, a product of Carey's "every guy" humor. Carey has written a new book, "Dirty Jokes and Beer: Stories of the Unrefined" (Hyperion). It's his autobiography as well as a joke book.

We commemorate our 10th year as a daily national show with interviews from 1987:
(a) Entomologist Dave Brody, curator of the entomology department of the Museum of Natural History in New York. Brody was the insect consultant for films like "Creepshow" and "The Believers." (Rebroadcast of 7/9/1987)

INT. 2: (a) Syndicated cartoonist Matt Groening. Terry talked with him as he was about to launch his animated cartoon family "The Simpsons." Before that he was best known for his strip, "Life is Hell," which appeared in alternative papers around the country. (Rebroadcast of 9/9/1987)