Music critic Anthony DeCurtis reviews a new double CD from Bob Dylan. Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Volume 8 features rare and unreleased songs recorded by Dylan between 1989 and 2006. Bob visits with Tim Reid and Tom Dreesen, who made up the first -- and last -- black and white stand-up comedy team in America. They're the subjects of a new book, called Tim and Tom: An American Comedy in Black and White, about their ill-fated and often painful attempt to foster tolerance in the 1960s and 70s. LESS

Eugene Rotberg started his career as an attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission in the early 60s then was Vice President and Treasurer of the World Bank for almost 20 years. He's testified before Congress multiple times about the problems facing the US banking system -- the same exact problems that triggered the need for the $700 billion government bailout. Rotberg talks with Bob about why the Fed and regulatory agencies have been resistant to change and why there likely won't be any permanent fixes made to the system in foreseeable future. Theoretical physicist Brian Greene has authored two of the best-selling and most accessible books on science: The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos. Greene talks with Bob about his most recent book, Icarus at the Edge of Time, which is a retelling of the Greek myth of Icarus. For decades now, folk singer Judy Collins has been performing songs that she hopes "help people heal." On October 14, Wildflower Records will release Born to the Breed - A Tribute to Judy Collins. The album will include covers of songs Collins made famous by artists such as Joan Baez, Leonard Cohen, Rufus Wainwright, Jimmy Webb, Shawn Colvin and Dolly Parton. LESS

In the early 1970s, a young writer named Paul Theroux traveled by train through Europe and Asia. The resulting book, 'The Great Railway Bazaar,' launched Theroux's career and set a high standard for the modern travelogue. More than 30 years and 30 books later, Theroux talks with Bob about why he made the trip again, searching for differences and similarities, both in himself and the many countries he visits. Therouxâs latest book is called 'Ghost Train to the Eastern Star.'

Lila Downs didn't always appreciate her multi-cultural background. Her Irish-American father taught at the University of Minnesota, her mother is Mixtec Indian from Oaxaca, Mexico--and for a while Downs rejected all of that to be a traveling "Deadhead." But through music, she embraced her Mexican heritage, now performing passionate songs in Spanish and English. Downs talks with Bob about her life, career and her most recent album titled 'Shake Away.' LESS

Heidi Hyatt is the widow of musician Walter Hyatt who died in a plane crash eight years ago. During his lifetime, the singer/songwriter was part of the Austin music scene and Hyatt is credited with being the original Americana musician. Heidi talks with Bob about a new CD she produced of her late husband's music. It's called Walter Hyatt: 'Some Unfinished Business, Volume One.'

Then, this year marks the Oxford English Dictionary's 80th anniversary and to celebrate, Bob speaks with chief editors John Simpson and Jesse Sheidlower to discuss the etymologies of a few of the 291,500 entries in the world's most comprehensive collection of the English language.

Finally, a conversation with Ammon Shea, author of 'Reading the OED.' It chronicles Sheaâs year spent reading the Oxford English Dictionary â all 21,730 pages of it âand tells what he discovered about the English language from A to Z. LESS

Journalist and photographer David Bacon covers labor and immigration issues in his new book Illegal People. He illustrates how globalization and even some well-meaning legislation creates the need for people to migrate and criminalizes immigrant workers. Then, Jackson Browne has been called a "thinking man's rock star." The confessional singer-songwriter is known for his introspective and poetic lyrics but is also the creative force behind the Eagles' first hit, "Take It Easy." Bonnie Raitt, The Byrds, Gregg Allman and many others have recorded songs by the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. Browne discusses his life and most recent album, Time the Conqueror, his first studio recording in six years. LESS

Julian Barnes is the author of ten novels, several collections of essays and stories, and most recently, Nothing To Be Frightened Of. Bob talks with Barnes about his book, which is part essay and part memoir, and is described as a meditation on religion, mortality and the fear of death. Then, Spike Lee has made feature films and documentaries about race relations, urban crime, poverty and political issues. Usually his movies speak for themselves. Bob talks with Lee about his film career, from She's Gotta Have It to Do the Right Thing to When the Levees Broke to his latest movie, a World War Two drama titled Miracle at St. Anna. LESS

Bernard-Henri Levy is a French philosopher and one of Europe's best-selling authors. For his 2006 book, American Vertigo, Levy retraced the footsteps of an earlier Frenchman, de Tocqueville. He talks with Bob about his new book, Left in Dark Times: A Stand Against the New Barbarism. Then, the average American uses 150 gallons of water per day. In the developing world, people are lucky to find five gallons and that water is often contaminated. The United Nations estimates that dirty drinking water kills about 500 children each day. Water is now the third largest industry in the world, right behind electricity and oil. But can anyone really own water? That's the question Irena Salina investigates in her documentary, Flow: For Love of Water. LESS

Bob talks with writer Philip Roth who claims that his two closest friends are "sheer playfulness" and "deadly seriousness." Both are routinely found in his writing from his first novella, Goodbye, Columbus, to his best-known Portnoy's Complaint, to his more recent American Pastoral. Now Roth has written his 29th book. Indignation is set during the second year of the Korean War and Roth’s narrator is Marcus Messner, a 19-year-old son of a Newark kosher butcher. Then, after 25 years of making records, jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli finally decided it was time to honor one of America's greatest composers. Bob talks to Pizzarelli about his album, With a Song in My Heart, which pays tribute to the late Richard Rogers. LESS

After the publication of Thomas Frank’s 2004 book, What’s the Matter With Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America, columnist George Will called the author “a formidable controversialist -- imagine Michael Moore with a trained brain and an intellectual conscience.” Frank talks with Bob about his new book, The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule, in which he distinguishes between conservatism in Kansas and conservatism-in-power.
Then, satirical novelist, Christopher Buckley comes in to chat about his latest novel Supreme Courtship, which takes on the most revered branch of our Federal Government. LESS

Bob speaks with actress Melissa Leo and director Courtney Hunt about their film Frozen River. The movie follows two women whose need for fast cash drives them to smuggle illegal immigrants across the Canadian border. Then, in 1957, Joan Baez bought her first guitar for $50. Two years later, she made her debut at the Newport Folk Festival, astounding the audience with her unique three-octave vocal range. Bob talks with Baez about "Day After Tomorrow" - her first new studio recording in five years. They’ll also talk a little politics. Baez has always spoken her mind and next week, she’ll receive the Spirit of Americana Free Speech Award from the Americana Music Association, which recognizes artists who have challenged the status quo through their music and action. LESS