Terry Gross

Tom Wolfe wrote about Ken Kesey's LSD experiments in the book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. In 1987, Wolf spoke to Terry Gross about following Kesey and the Merry Pranksters.

Award-winning novelist Robert Stone hung out for many years with Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters. He recounts the group's cross-country road trips and experiences taking hallucinogenic drugs in his memoir, Prime Green.

Historian Adam Hochschild traces the patriotic fervor that catapulted Great Britain into war during the summer of 1914 — as well as the small, but determined British pacifist movement — in his historical narrative To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918.

Nearly 30 years ago, Hugh Herr lost both of his legs in a climbing accident at age 17. Today, he runs the Biomechatronics group at the MIT Media Lab and designs better prosthetic limbs for other amputees.

New York Times reporter Angela Elliott profiles the Brooklyn lawyer behind the anti-Shariah movement. She says David Yerushlami "has come to exercise a striking influence over American public discourse about Shariah."

New Yorker Washington correspondent Ryan Lizza spent four days with Michele Bachmann and her staff aboard their campaign jet in late June. His profile looks at the writers, beliefs and books that Bachmann has specifically mentioned as influences in her life.

When Columbus crossed the Atlantic in 1493, his journey prompted the exchange of not only information but also food, animals, insects, plants and disease between the continents. In a new book, Charles C. Mann describes the aftermath of Columbus' arrival in the Americas.

Jonathan Eig's book Get Capone reveals new insights into the famous Chicago gangster -- including how freely he spoke to reporters, the time he shot himself in the groin, and how general disease eventually robbed him of his health and sanity.

There are many things that make the 1933 movie King Kong great -- the special effects, the image of the giant ape climbing the Empire State Building, Fay Wray's screams -- and the score, composed by Max Steiner. Film historian Rudy Beholder tells the story of the movie's score and special effects.