Showing results by author "Terry Gross" in All Categories

Conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra Benjamin Zander and British actress Brenda Blethyn, on this edition of Fresh Air.

Humorist Fran Lebowitz and writer Anne Lamott on this archive edition of Fresh Air. The Washington Post called Fran Lebowitz "The funniest woman in America." Humorist Lebowitz has come out with her first children's book, Mr. Chas and Lisa Sue Meet The Pandas. In 1978, she wrote the critically acclaimed book Metropolitan Life a collection of witty essays on life. Writer Anne Lamott's new book is Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.

Illustrator Marjane Satrapi and guitar legend Jimmy Page on this edition of Fresh Air. Marjane Satrapi is the author of the memoir, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. The book is in the form of an illustrated comic. Satrapi was born in 1969 in Iran, and grew up in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution.

Psychologist Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela on this edition of Fresh Air. Her new book is A Human Being Died That Night: A South African Story of Forgiveness. It's about Eugene de Kock, the commanding officer of state-sanctioned apartheid death squads.

Middle East historian David Fromkin on this edition of Fresh Air. David Fromkin is a professor of International Relations, International Law, and Middle Eastern Politics at Boston University. He's also the author of the best selling book, A Peace to End All Peace: Creating the Modern Middle East 1914-1922.

Hear writer/director Judd Apatow and actor Seth Rogan, rock critic Ken Tucker, and film critic David Edelstein, on this edition of Fresh Air. Judd Apatow wrote and directed the hit comedy Knocked Up, which is now out on DVD. Rogan stars in it as a slacker who becomes a father after a one-night stand. Apatow also wrote and directed the comedy hit The 40 Year Old Virgin. Apatow also worked on the Emmy award-winners Freaks and Geeks (as did Rogan) and The Ben Stiller Show.

Comedian Marc Maron and gossip columnist Liz Smith on this edition of Fresh Air. Maron's hit one-man show in Manhattan, Jerusalem Syndrome, is described as a "poetically paranoid rant on corporate culture and the quest for spiritual fulfillment." Maron has appeared on David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, and was the host of Comedy Central's Short Attention Span Theater.

Hear British scientist Richard Dawkins and geneticist Francis Collins on this edition of Fresh Air. Richard Dawkins is a professor of the public understanding of science at Oxford University. The New York Times has hailed him as a writer who "understands the issues so clearly that he forces his reader to understand them too". In his latest book, he writes about what he sees as the irrationality of a belief in God and sets down his arguments for atheism.

Hear New York Times science reporter Nicholas Wade and film director Marc Lawrence on this edition of Fresh Air. Nicholas Wade's new book examines what we've learned about our human ancestors using the latest techniques in DNA analysis. Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors is now out in paperback.

British comedian, stand-up performer, and actor Eddie Izzard on this edition of Fresh Air. Izzard is currently selling out venues in the U.S. and Canada with his new stand-up show Circle. He has won over fans with his quirky comedy and his cross-dressing. The Chicago Tribune says, "Izzard lives up to his billing. He's very bright, very fast, and very hip."

Actor Michael C. Hall and director and screenwriter Hal Hartley on this edition of Fresh Air. Michael C. Hall plays David Fisher, the gay brother who co-runs a funeral home on the HBO hit Six Feet Under. The American Film Institute has nominated Hall for Best Male TV Actor-Drama for his role in the series. Hall comes to TV from the stage. Most recently, he was on Broadway as the emcee in Cabaret. Prior to that role, he was in a number of off-Broadway productions.

Fresh Air guest host Barbara Bogaev talks with actor Michael C. Hall from HBO's Six Feet Under. He plays David Fisher, the gay brother who co-runs a funeral home on the show. He's currently starring as Billy Flynn, an oily attorney in the Broadway revival of Chicago. James Earl Jones, of the astounding voice, talks about his memoir. And you'll hear a review of the foreign film Mostly Martha.

Hear music-comedy duo Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie of the group Flight of the Conchords, writer Reynolds Price, and film critic David Edelstein, on this edition of Fresh Air. Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie hail from New Zealand and were named Best Alternative comedy Act at the 2005 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival.

Hear actor, producer, writer, and director George Clooney, historian Robert Satloff, rock critic Ken Tucker, and film critic David Edelstein on this edition of Fresh Air. Robert Satloff is the author of the book Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust's Long Reach into Arab Lands. It's about the Arabs who protected or aided Jews in North Africa - where Nazi Germany, Vichy France, and fascist Italy exported anti-Semitic policies during World War II.

Guest host Peter Clowney talks with John Cameron Mitchell on this archive edition of Fresh Air. He wrote, directed and starred in the off-broadway hit rock musical, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, with songs by Stephen Trask. The play has just been made into a new film, also directed by and starring Mitchell. The film won the Audience Award for Drama and the Directing Prize at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.

British journalist Peter Stothard and fashion journalists Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine on this edition of Fresh Air. Peter Stothard is the author of the new book, Thirty Days: Tony Blair and the Test of History. Stothard chronicles the thirty days between March 10 to April 10, 2003, in the days leading up to the Iraq war and the early days of the war.

Singer songwriter John Fogerty, TV critic Tom Shales and author James Andrew Miller on this edition of Fresh Air. John Fogerty's new album is a double CD concert album Premonition. Featured on the recording is many of his biggest hits with Creedence Clearwater Revival: "Who'll Stop the Rain," "Down on the Corner," "Bad Moon Rising," and "Proud Mary." Fogerty won a Grammy Award in 1997 for his album Blue Moon, Swamp. Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller are the authors of the new book, Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. The book is a history of...

Jimmy Wales; comics Aziz Ansari, Rob Huebel, and Paul Scheer; and music critic Milo Miles are the guests on this edition of Fresh Air. Jimmy Wales is the co-creator of the interactive online encyclopedia Wikipedia, which was founded in 2001. Readers of Wikipedia write and edit the entries themselves. The site also has its own editors. Some entries, including the one on the "2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict" have been edited more than 4,000 times.

Professor Eric Klinenberg and comedian Dave Attell on this edition of Fresh Air. Professor Klinenberg's new book is Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago. It's about a 1995 heat wave in that city which proved to be an insidious natural disaster. Streets buckled, electric power blew, and over 700 people died. Klinenberg is an associate professor of Sociology at New York University.

Comedian Dave Attell is the host of Comedy Central's Insomniac with Dave Attell.

Writer Jon Krakauer talks about his new book about Mormon Fundamentalism, Mormon practitioner Richard Turley and Nigerian-born actor Chiwetel Ejiofor on this edition of Fresh Air. Jon Krakauer is the author of the book Into Thin Air about the disastrous Mt Everest Climb in 1996 in which eight climbers were killed.