Terry Gross

Director Fernando Trueba talks about his Oscar-nominated animated film Chico and Rita, which follows a pair of lovers who leave Havana's music scene in the 1940s to head to New York City.

New York Times reporter Jason DeParle recently traveled to Arizona, where many people have been dropped from the welfare program. Republican leaders now want to apply the changes made to the welfare program to other aspects of the social safety net, such as Medicaid and food stamps.

Carole King wrote songs for others before becoming a performer and writing for herself. In her new memoir, A Natural Woman, she details the stories behind some of her most famous songs and her relationships with songwriters like James Taylor, Gerry Goffin and Paul Simon.

New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey is currently the only knuckleball pitcher in the major leagues. His new memoir, Wherever I Wind Up, explains how his life — and career — have mimicked the unpredictable trajectory of the difficult pitch he throws game after game.

Anthropologist T.M. Luhrmann studies the personal relationships evangelicals develop with God. In her book When God Talks Back, she explains how relationships with God are often cemented through the power of prayer.

Brad Ausmus has been called one of the best catchers in baseball. He spent 18 seasons in the big leagues, playing for teams like the Dodgers and the Padres. He details what it's like to crouch behind home plate, deal with umps and make pitching calls.

This interview was originally broadcast on August 18, 2011.

Bitter debates about the national debt date back to the earliest days of the Republic, economist Simon Johnson says. Back then, the nation's failure to borrow was the problem. In White House Burning, Johnson and co-author James Kwack explore the meaning of the national debt and prospects for managing it.

New York Times correspondent Jeffrey Gettleman will receive a George Polk Award this week for being the first to report that the militant Islamist group al-Shabab had prevented starving people from leaving Somalia. He details how he got the story.

Journalist Peter Beinart supports Israel but thinks the Jewish settlements in the West Bank are compromising Israel's commitment to democracy. He has proposed a boycott of goods made in those Jewish settlements.

Peter Beinart's new book, The Crisis of Zionism, argues that Israel cannot be a true democratic state as long as there are settlements in the West Bank and calls for a boycott of goods made in those settlements. Gary Rosenblatt, publisher of The Jewish Week of New York, disagrees with this argument.