The modern zoo bears little resemblance to those you, or your parents, may remember. The cramped dirty cages that characterized the zoos of a prior era have now been replaced by more open settings that may mimic an animal's natural habitat.

One of the principal architects of that transformation was longtime Columbus Zoo director Jack Hanna. He took over an aging and decrepit facility and turned it into a showplace, attracting thousands of visitors.

In this 1989 interview Hanna discusses his autobiography Monkeys On The Interstate.

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Throughout the 1970s and 80s, the most prominent face of the Palestine Liberation Organization, or PLO, was its leader, Yasser Arafat. His was an image that many associated with terrorism and violence

In the early 1990s, the PLO put forth a new spokesperson, A well dressed and articulate woman in her 40s named Hanan Ashrawi. She became well known to American television viewers as a sharp contrast to the Arafat image.

In this1995 interview Ashrawi talks about her autobiography This Side of Peace.

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Hot air balloons, or lighter-than-air craft, have been around for centuries. But it wasn't until March 1999 that humans were able to circumnavigate the entire world in a single hot air balloon flight.

The two men who did it were British balloonist Brian Jones and Bertrand Piccard, a Swiss psychiatrist and balloonist. They co-piloted a massive balloon called Breitling Orbiter 3, which launched March 1,1999 from Switzerland and landed in Egypt 19 days and 27,900 miles laer.

In this interview recorded just a few months later, Piccard and Jones talk about their history-making adventure.

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No matter where you work, no matter what you do, no matter how long you've done it, there's a good chance you'll be fired someday. Especially in today's economy as employers don't seem to have any loyalty to employees anymore.

Sometimes the situation is so comical, the only way you can get through it is to laugh at it.

Actress and writer Annabelle Gurwitch has been fired. And she knows lots and lots of other people who have been fired. So she gathered their stories in a book called Fired!

In this 2006 interview Gurwitch talks about how she put the book togther.

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Most authors would be very, very happy if their books sold half a million copies.

Dean Koontz has sold 500 million books since his first one was published in 1968.

A master of suspense thrillers, with some horror thrown in, Koontz never fails to satisfy readers. His books routinely appear on major bestseller lists.

In this 2004 interview Koontz talks about his writing, and what sprurises him, and his thriller Life Expectancy,

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From the age of 12, when she joined the cast of TV’s “General Hospital,” Amber Tamblyn's talent has made her a popular and award-winning actress. But she is also well known for her writing, especially her poetry.

She has actually published seven books, including the 2009 collection Bang Ditto. It was while she was on tour promoting that book that i had a chance to meet her – and to hear what really matters to her in her creative life.

In this 2009 interview, Amber Tamblyn talks about her writing -- and her father's influence.

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As a top ranking career diplomat, Matlock was at the very center of the U.S.-Soviet relationship. He was there for everything from the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 to the Breakup of the Soviet Union almost 30 years later.

In this 2004 interview Matlock discusses his book Reagan And Gorbachev, and reveals the special role played by the keaders' wives.

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Greg Mathis was a juvenile delinquent Growing up in rough Detroit neighborhoods Mathis fell in with the wrong crowd and was arrested several times before he was even 17.

But when he reached a critical turning point, Mathis was able to turn his life around. He got his GED, went on to get a bachelor's degree, and graduated from law school. And passed the bar.

He faced still more obstacles on his way to becoming a popular TV courtroom personality. In fact, only Judge Judy has been on the air longer.

In this 2002 interview Mathis reflects on his life, his career, and the role his mother played.

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There are many reasons someone might be an atheist. For famed magician Penn Jillette, one half of the Penn & Teller magic duo, his atheism results from what he frames as a vigorous intellectual exercise.

As a youth, Jillette read his Bible, but rejected it as illogical and flawed..

In this 2011 interview about his book God, No! Jillette explains his atheism as one aspect of a multi-faceted personality.

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For 22 years he was known as the "Clown Prince" of the Harlem Globetrotters. But for basketball Hall of Famer Meadowlark Lemon, there was a larger, much larger, purpose for his life.

In 1986 Lemon was ordained a Christian minister. And proud as he was of his on-court accomplishments, Meadowlark Lemon had much bigger things on his mind in this 1987 interview about his autobiography Meadowlark.

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