*Newsmaker Interview: Juan Cole *Blood Test *Interview: Gary Shteyngart *Church & State *Five Things You Need to Know about Gulf Seafood *Next Week's News

NEED TO KNOW for Friday, August 20th on PBS at 8:30 p.m. (check local listings). Episode #116. To find out about developing stories, visit www.pbs.org/needtoknow.Viewers can visit www.pbs.org/needtoknow for updates on these stories and more. Note: Stories are subject to change due to breaking news.

*Newsmaker Interview: Juan Cole- Middle East scholar Juan Cole discusses with Need to Know's Alison Stewart the U.S. military pullout from Iraq on August 31st and the prospects for a peaceful Iraq, in light of the escalating violence and an unresolved governing coalition.

*Blood Test: What you don't know about Blood- Since World War II, blood has been considered the gift of life. But today a growing number of experts are questioning whether it should be so widely used in transfusions. Need to Know investigates whether the risks of transfusions outweigh the benefits....and what alternatives some hospitals have discovered.

*Interview: Gary Shteyngart- Jon Meacham speaks with Author Gary Shtyengart about his new book, "Super Sad True Love Story," a dystopian take on a future America where the U.S. has become an economic supplicant to China, the country is rapidly becoming a police state, and, the main character's penchant for reading books is seriously frowned upon.

*Church & State- As the controversy over the proposed building of a Muslim community center and mosque two blocks from Ground Zero continues, Jon Meacham takes the viewer on a historical walking tour of lower Manhattan, birthplace of religious freedom in America.   

*Five Things You Need to Know about Gulf Seafood- At the beginning of August, government scientists released a report saying that 75 percent of the oil spilled from BP's Deepwater Horizon rig has been contained or mitigated.  Despite President Obama's recent public swim in the Gulf, and officials from NOAA and the White House stating the Gulf seafood is safe to eat, Need To Know takes a closer look at those assertions.

*Next Week's News- Satirist Andy Borowitz gives his perspective to the news of the future.