Showing results by author "Terry Gross" in All Categories

Hear comic Don Rickles, documentary producer Huw Cordey, and rock critic Ken Tucker on this edition of Fresh Air. He's known for insulting his audiences on stage, but Don Rickles doesn't consider himself an insult comic. His heyday was in the 1950s and 60s, on TV and in Vegas. Frank Sinatra was an early fan and helped get him noticed. Rickles has a new memoir, Rickles' Book: a Memoir.

Hear journalist Marcus Stern, film critic David Edelstein, and music critic Milo Miles on this edition of Fresh Air. Marcus Stern is a member of the San Diego Union-Tribune 2006 Pulitzer Prize-winning team that uncovered the bribery scandal involving former U.S. Congressman Duke Cunningham.

Hear writer and editor David Talbot and actor Kevin Costner on this edition of Fresh Air. David Talbot is the founder of the online journal Salon.com. He's written a new book about John and Robert Kennedy, entitled Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years. Then, Kevin Costner, whose new film is Mr. Brooks.

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.

Hear critic-at-large John Powers and Iraqi activist Yanar Mohammed on this edition of Fresh Air. First, John Powers reports back from his trip to the Cannes Film Festival. Then, Yanar Mohammed, the internationally renowned founder of the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq. The organization fights to stop atrocities against women and advocates for women's rights.

Hear writer/director Judd Apatow, actor Seth Rogan, rock critic Ken Tucker, and book critic Maureen Corrigan, on this edition of Fresh Air. Judd Apatow wrote and directed the new comedy Knocked Up, and Seth Rogan stars in it as a slacker who becomes a father after a one-night stand.

Hear novelist Philip Roth, film critic David Edelstein, and TV critic David Bianculli on this edition of Fresh Air. The Pulitzer Prize winning author's 27th book, Everyman, is now out in paperback. It's a novel about a 71-year-old, divorced, successful, advertising man and his response to his physical decline and approaching death.

Hear Win Butler and Regine Chassagne of Arcade Fire on this edition of Fresh Air. Win Butler and Regine Chassagne are the husband and wife team who lead the art-rock band Arcade Fire, which hails from Montreal. They have two albums to their credit: Neon Bible and their 2004 debut album, Funeral. The band is made up of seven performers whose instruments, at times, include Dobro, hurdy-gurdy, piano, sax, violin, harpsichord, xylophone, and Caribbean steel drums.

Hear The Daily Show with Jon Stewart's Larry Wilmore,on this edition of Fresh Air. Before landing the Senior Black Correspondent gig on the hit Comedy Central faux newscast The Daily Show, Wilmore was a writer for In Living Color and The PJ's. He also created and was executive producer of The Bernie Mac Show, for which he won an Emmy and a Peabody Award. Then, Geoff Nunberg considers the strengths and limitations of Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia.

Journalist Bill Moyers and novelist Joshua Ferris on this edition of Fresh Air. Moyers returns to PBS with Bill Moyers' Journal. The first episode is a 90-minute documentary about the role of the press in the lead-up to the Iraq War. Then, Joshua Ferris is making his debut with the novel Then We Came to the End, a satire about life in a Chicago advertising agency. Ferris' short fiction has appeared in the Iowa Review, Best New American Voices, and Prairie Schooner.

Carlo Bonini, of La Repubblica newspaper in Rome, broke the story about the Italian intelligence agency SISMI's involvement in forging and planting documents that stated that Iraq had secured uranium from Niger. Those documents helped President Bush make the case for invading Iraq. Bonini's new book (with Giuseppe D'Avanzo) is Collusion: International Espionage and the War on Terror.

Hear historian Raymond Arsenault, critic-at-large John Powers, and film critic David Edelstein, on this edition of Fresh Air. In Raymond Arsenault's book Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice, Arsenault recounts how an integrated group of self-proclaimed freedom riders challenged segregation by riding together on buses through the deep South.

Hear comedian and actor Garry Shandling, rock critic Ken Tucker, and book critic Maureen Corrigan on this edition of Fresh Air. Garry Shandling's 1992-1998 HBO series, The Larry Sanders Show, a parody of talk shows, is now out in a four-DVD box set.

Hear presidential historian Michael Beschloss and jazz critic Kevin Whitehead on this edition of Fresh Air. Michael Beschloss' new book is Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789-1989. He takes a look at the crucial moments when a President risked his political career for the good of the country, often by taking an unpopular or controversial stand.

Hear veterinarian Melinda Merck, veterinarian and animal behaviorist Nicholas Dodman, and classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz, on this edition of Fresh Air. Melinda Merck is a pioneer in the field of veterinary forensics and works for the ASPCA. She is the author of Veterinary Forensic Investigation of Animal Cruelty: A Guide for Veterinarians and Law Enforcement. In June she will publish a textbook, Veterinary Forensics: Animal Cruelty Investigations.

Hear actor Michael Chiklis and songwriter Bobby Braddock on this edition of Fresh Air. Michael Chiklis stars as rogue cop Del Vik Mackey in the FX Channel dramatic series The Shield. The Peabody award-winning show is now in its sixth season. Previously, Chiklis starred in The Commish. Over the years, he's also made guest appearances on Seinfeld, L.A. Law, Miami Vice, and Wise Guy.

Pulitzer prize-winning journalist from the Boston Globe Charlie Savage; the late Reverend Jerry Falwell; the dean of the Regent University School of Law, Jeffrey Brauch; and book critic Maureen Corrigan, on this edition of Fresh Air. Charlie Savage has been writing about a Christian law school whose graduates have become influential in the Justice Department. The school is the Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, which was founded by televangelist Pat Robertson.

Hear Washington Post reporters Kevin Merida and Michael Fletcher, and psychologist Philip Zimbardo on this edition of Fresh Air. Kevin Merida and Michael Fletcher's new book is Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas. The book grew out of their article for the Post, "The Lonely Stand of Clarence Thomas".

Hear actor Matthew Perry and actress Sarah Polley on this edition of Fresh Air. Matthew Perry was a Friends cast member, currently appears in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and stars in the new film Numb. He plays a screenwriter who is plagued by feelings of anxiety, detachment, and panic.

Hear musician Paul Motian, playwright Neil Simon, and film critic David Edelstein on this edition of Fresh Air. Paul Motian has over 50 years of experience in music. He has played in many different settings, most notably with the Bill Evans trio with bassist Scott LaFaro. Their recordings include the classics Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Portrait of Jazz. Motian also played with Thelonious Monk, Lee Konitz, and Paul Bley, and enjoyed a long collaboration with Keith Jarrett.