We talk to big fish in small ponds - this year's Mrs. Asparagus; a supermarket check-out celebrity; one of the inventors of books-on-tape; and, last but not least, the winner of this week's "Five Sounds in Search of an Author" contest.

What's the Next Big Thing?
Asparagus! says Sonya Hernandez-Joslin. But we have reason to believe she may be somewhat biased...

Seven Is Yours
Job title: Line Director. Responsibilities: Direct customers to the next available register. It's not the job for everyone, but it suits Bill Jones, who's acquired a devoted following at a Manhattan Whole Foods supermarket.

Art Heels
Komar & Melamid ruffled feathers in the art world when they created America's "Most Wanted" and "Most Unwanted" paintings with the help of a polling firm. Now, in collaboration with musician William McClelland, they're taking on a few more sacred cows with a practice they call "Light-Shadow Therapy." We subject Next Big Thing contributor Henry Alford to their treatment.

She's Getting... Pregnant!
In anticipation of Father's Day, we've got a tale of paternity longed for, and paternity denied, in the age of artificial insemination. Excerpts from Jeffrey Eugenides' story "Baster" are taken from his reading at the New Yorker's Fiction Live Festival last year.

Egg Donation
The latest in direct mail solicitations? A request for your eggs, in exchange for a sizable payment. Singer-songwriter and actress Joanna Parson finds the offer tempting. There's just one problem... her mother.

Books on Vinyl
Fifty years ago, fresh-out-of-college buddies Barbara Cohen and Marianne Roney approached Dylan Thomas with a request to record him reading his work. Thus was born Caedmon Audio. Host Dean Olsher talks to Cohen (now Barbara Holdridge) about her role in creating the phenomenon we now know as "books on tape."

Five Sounds in Search of an Author
Next Big Thing contest judge Jesse Green returns to judge this month's entries.

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