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TV and movie score composer Mancini created the title theme to the The Pink Panther movies. A new special DVD 40th anniversary collection of Pink Panther films is available April 6. There's also a tribute CD, Pink Panther's Penthouse Party. His other film scores included Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Glenn Miller Story and The Days of Wine and Roses. He also wrote the theme for the TV show Peter Gunn.

In his new book, Disarming Iraq, Blix writes about what happened in the months leading up to the war in Iraq last year. Blix, formerly the head of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, has been named chairman of the newly formed International Commission on Weapons of Mass Destruction, which began its work in January 2004.

Cole is an authority on modern Islamic movements. He is professor of modern Middle East and South Asia history at the University of Michigan. His most recent book is Sacred Space and Holy War: The Politics, Culture and History of Shi`ite Islam. The book collects some of his work on the history of the Shiite branch of Islam in modern Iraq, Iran and the Persian Gulf region.

His new novel is Hard Revolution. It's set in Washington, D.C. in 1968, during the riots sparked by the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Pelecanos is also the author of Right as Rain, Soul Circus, Hell to Pay, Sweet Forever, King Suckerman, The Big Blowdown, Down By the River Where Dead Men Go, Shoedog, Nick's Trip and A Firing Offense. (This interview was originally broadcast on Aug. 25, 1998.)

Actor Ricky Gervais stars in, writes and directs the hit BBC sitcom, The Office. The show can be seen in the United States on BBC America. Gervais stars as the self-obsessed middle manager David Brent. The satirical The Office is shot in documentary style and follows the goings-on at a suburban paper company where life is stationary. It was just awarded the prestigious Peabody Award. The second season of The Office is available on DVD this month.

He is the author of Wild Grass: Three Stories of Change in Modern China. In the book, he chronicles the stories of three ordinary Chinese citizens who fought government oppression. They each fought locally but brought about national change. Johnson says economic reforms have created a space for dissent in Chinese culture. Johnson is the Berlin bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal. In 2001, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the Falun Gong.

Pak is an award-winning writer and director who has made his first feature film, Robot Stories. It tells four stories of love between humans and robots. The film has been received warmly by critics, winning more than 23 awards. Previously Pak made a number of very short films including Asian Pride Porn, Cat Fight Tonight, Fighting Grandpa and Mr. Lee.

Reporter Stephen Quinn talks about a program in Vancouver, Canada that provides clean needles and a safe injection site for heroin addicts. The idea is to prevent HIV, hepatitis and other blood-borne disease transmission. The program is controversial, and critics say it encourages drug use. He'll also talk about the politics surrounding the program. Quinn works for the CBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Sedaris is the author of the bestselling collections Barrel Fever, Naked and Me Talk Pretty One Day. His new collection is Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. Sedaris essays appear regularly in Esquire, GQ and The New Yorker. His radio pieces can be heard on This American Life. In 2001 he became the third recipient of the Thurber Prize for American Humor.

Langewiesche is a national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, and he is the author of a number of books including Inside the Sky: A Meditation on Flight. His new book is The Outlaw Sea: A World of Freedom, Chaos and Crime. It's about the unregulated world of the open sea where some 40,000 ships travel carrying raw materials and products. Their crews are often poorly trained and poorly paid. The ships are vulnerable to accidents, piracy and terrorists.