Terry Gross

The plot shakeups at the beginning of this season's Mad Men have left Jon Hamm's character Don Draper a broken man. Hamm talks about Draper's evolution, details how he auditioned for the role and talks about his newest movie, Ben Affleck's crime thriller The Town.

Many of Spencer's novels feature a turning point -- a dreadful, unplanned act committed by one of the characters. In his latest book, Man in the Woods, a carpenter accidentally kills a man, which leads him to question himself and his relationship with God.

There are 10 times more microbial cells on and in our bodies than there are human cells. And these bacteria aren't just there for the ride. Dr. Jeffrey Gordon explains how they contribute to the physiology of the human body and why they may hold the key to fighting some diseases.

In Making Our Democracy Work: A Judge's View, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer outlines his ideas about the Constitution and about the way the United States legal system works. Breyer explains how the justices debate each case on their docket, why he interprets the Constitution as a living document, and details what he thinks is the worst decision the high court has ever made.

More than 6 million African-Americans moved from the South to cities in the Northeast and Midwest between 1915 and 1970. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson documents the resulting demographic and social changes in her history of the Great Migration, The Warmth of Other Suns.

Author Timothy Egan argues in The Big Burn that the forest fire of 1910 -- the largest in American history -- actually saved the forests, even as its flames charred the trees. It helped rally public support, Egan explains, behind Theodore Roosevelt's push to protect national lands.

After a lifetime of acting, the 85-year-old Hal Holbrook is still racking up new accomplishments. In 2008, he received his first Oscar nomination for his performance in Into The Wild. Last year, he starred in That Evening Sun. Now, he has a reoccurring role on the new FX series Sons of Anarchy.

Jonathan Franzen's new novel Freedom has been called "a masterpiece" by Time Magazine and has received rave reviews from critics. Franzen talks about the runaway success of his previous novel The Corrections, and the strong reaction elicited by Freedom.

Bedbugs virtually disappeared from the U.S. by the 1950s, but now they're back -- in homes, hotels and schools. Entomologist Michael Potter, who specializes in pest management, explains how to check hotel rooms for the "perfect parasite" -- and what to do if you suspect an infestation.

A new HBO documentary details Wright's experiences writing his Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Looming Tower. Wright explains what he learned while interviewing sources for his book -- and talks about the challenge maintaining objectivity while researching modern terrorism.