Terry Gross

O'Brien took over David Letterman's spot in 1993. Now, nearly four years since becoming host of "Late Night with Conan O'Brian," he's become a household name. Previous to that, O'Brien was a writer for Saturday Night Live. His sketches included "Mr. Short Term Memory" and "The Girl Watchers." He was also a writer/producer for "The Simpsons." (Originally aired 10/30/96)

Biographer Laurence Bergreen talks with Terry about his newest book "Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life". It is published by Broadway books. While this is certainly not the first biography of Armstrong, Bergreen used many of Armstrong's previously unexplored personal letters and diary entries. Bergreen traces Armstrong's life from his birth in New Orleans in 1901, through his four marriages, and his many contributions to American Jazz.

Russo gained critic's recognition for his portrayal of life in a declining upstate New York mill town with his novels Mohawk and The Risk Pool. His latest novel His book "Nobody's Fool" was adapted into a film starring Paul Newman. His latest novel is "Straight Man." It is published by Random House.

Smith's work has won acclaim in the independent film community, including awards at the Cannes and the Sundance film festivals. His new film "Chasing Amy" is the third installment of his New Jersey Trilogy, a series set in central New Jersey, where Smith grew up and still lives. "Chasing Amy," like Smith's other films, deals with the complexities of human relationships during the confusing time before adulthood with an off-beat sense of humor.

Author Robert Kanigel discusses his new biography, "The One Best Way: Frederick Winslow Taylor and the Enigma of Efficiency." (Viking) Taylor was a nineteenth century pioneer of business management. He developed Taylor's Scientific Management, a system which would encourage higher efficiency by creating more stressful work which was rewarded with higher wages.

Carlin has written his first book called "Brain Droppings" (Hyperion Books). It's a collection of original humor pieces. He has been working in comedy for forty of his sixty years.

Beth Givens of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse talks about privacy in the digital age.

Smith is the author of the book "Private Matters," about our contradictory ideas about privacy. She's the daughter of novelist Bernard Malamud.

Last year, Terry talked to him about his then new CD, "Young At Heart". It is a collection of Frank Sinatra tunes. Just after World War II, Moody joined the bebop big band of Dizzy Gillespie and played with Milt Jackson. His most famous recording is of an improvisatory piece he performed in 1949, now known as "Moody's Mood For Love." (REBROADCAST FROM JULY 23, 1996)

The son of writer Vladimir Nabokov is a writer himself, and works as a translator of his father's works. In 1989, Dmitri edited a volume of his father's letters dating from 1940-1977. The letters trace Vladimir Nabokov's struggles beginning with his arrival in America from Russia, to his legal battles over censorship of his most famous novel, "Lolita." A movie version of "Lolita" has been made but an American distributor for the film has not been found. The film's screenwriter is former Fresh Air film critic Stephen Schiff.