Showing results by author "Terry Gross" in All Categories

Satirist and host of the public radio program Le Show, Harry Shearer, on how he's been dealing with the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on his show. Will Ferrell is a regular cast member of Saturday Night Live. Last weekend the show began the new season in a somber tone, opening the show with Mayor Guilliani surrounded by a group of New York fire fighters, police and EMT workers. Ferrell has portrayed President George Bush on the show as well as Janet Reno, Alex Trebek and Robert Goulet; his other send-ups include musical middle school teacher Marty Culp, and Spartan...

Writer Mary Karr on this edition of Fresh Air. Mary Karr, author of the best-selling memoir The Liar's Club. Her new memoir Cherry which chronicles her teen age years is now out in paperback. In a follow up to what critics call "a hard scrabble childhood," she returns to East Texas to detail her adolescence. Karr relates anecdotes of rebellion, self-doubt and sexual coming of age. The recipient of several literary awards such as the Pushcart Prize and the Bunting Award, she has published two volumes of poetry. She is the Peck Professor of English Literature at Syracuse...

Sinatra experts, columnist and editor Tom Kuntz and Wall Street Journal staff reporter Phil Kuntz, and Chinese independent filmmaker Peter Loehr, on this edition of Fresh Air. The Kuntz brothers' new book The Sinatra Files: The Life of an American Icon Under Government Surveillance excerpts and analyzes portions of the FBI's massive file on Frank Sinatra, begun in the mid-1940s up through 1972. Tom Kuntz is the editor of "Word for Word," a column in The New York Times' " Week in Review" section. Native New Yorker Peter Loehr has become China's first independent...

Remembering former publisher of The Washington Post, Katherine Graham and jazz critic Kevin Whitehead on this edition of Fresh Air. Graham died on July 17, at the age of 84. Graham's father owned The Washington Post in 1933 and later her husband, Phil Graham, took over. Following her husband's suicide in 1963, Graham became publisher, knowing little about the managerial or journalistic aspects of the job. But, learning while she worked, she transformed the paper into one of the country's most respected newspapers. The paper broke the Watergate scandal and published the...

Poet, critic, and novelist Carol Muske-Dukes and remembering social critic and novelist Mordecai Richler on this edition of Fresh Air. Muske-Dukes' new novel Life After Death is the story of a woman who says one day to her husband in anger "Why don't you just die?" The next day he drops dead. The book follows her journey into grief, self-reproach, and self-discovery. Muske-dukes is the Director of the PhD Program in Creative Writing and Literature at the University of Southern California. She's published three previous novels, and six collections of poetry, the most recent is...

Historian David McCullough and LA Times food editor Russ Parsons on this edition of Fresh Air McCullough is the Pulitzer-Prize winning author of Truman. His new book is the biography of founding father and second President of the United States. The book is John Adams. Food Editor for The Los Angeles Times, Russ Parsons, examines the science of cooking in his new book, How to Read a French Fry: and other Stories of Intriguing Kitchen Science.

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."

The host and creator of This American Life Ira Glass on this edition of Fresh Air. His show can be heard on 350 public radio stations nationwide. Glass will talk about how he came to develop the style that defines the show and you'll hear some classic This American Life moments. There's a new double CD of the best shows called Lies, Sissies, & Fiascoes.

Irish writer Nuala O'Faolain on this archive edition of Fresh Air. Her latest book is her first novel called My Dream of You.

Jeffrey Toobin, staff writer at The New Yorker and writer Ben Cheever on this edition of Fresh Air. Jeffrey Toobin's new book is an investigation.

Novelists Jonathan Franzen and David Leavitt on this edition of Fresh Air. Jonathan Franzen's critically acclaimed new novel The Corrections.

Musician Ravi Shankar, actors Vince Vaughn and Gene Hackman on this edition of Fresh Air. Today, we learned that former Beatle George Harrison has died.

Singers Teddy Pendergrass and Al Green on this edition of Fresh Air Teddy Pendergrass was a popular soul singer in the group "Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes.

Author Martin Amis on this edition of Fresh Air. Amis is considered one of the leading British writers of the late twentieth century and one of the most controversial.

Military affairs correspondent for The New York Times, Michael Gordon on this edition of Fresh Air. He's former Moscow bureau chief for the paper. He covered the war in Chechnya when The Times was one of only two Western news organizations allowed in Chechnya by the Russian military. Gordon also covered the Gulf War and the war in Kosovo, and is co-author of the book The Generals' War about the Gulf War.

Beth Wictum is lab director of the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory (VGL) at the University of California at Davis. It's a forensics lab that helps investigators solve crimes using animal DNA. For instance: a key clue in a sexual-assault conviction was dog urine. The victim was unable to identify the suspect but her dog had relieved himself on his truck during the assault.

The host of NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday, Scott Simon and remembering dancer Gwen Verdon on this edition of Fresh Air. Simon's written a memoir, Home & Away: Memoir of a Fan. Fresh Air remembers dancer Gwen Verdon. She died today at the age of 75. She became an overnight Broadway sensation in 1953 as a dancer in Can Can, for which she won her first Tony Award.

White House Correspondent for The Washington Post Dana Milbank on this Fresh Air. He covered the recent presidential campaign and the aftermath. He's written a new book about it, Smashmouth: Two years in the Gutter with Al Gore and George W. Bush.

Former Washington deputy bureau chief for ABC News and award winning producer A'Lelia Bundles on this edition of Fresh Air. Her new book is a biography of her great-great-grandmother Madam C.J. Walker, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker. Walker was the daughter of slaves, and a widow at the age of 20.

From the Library of Congress, Recording Sound Specialist, Samuel Brylawski and acquisition specialist Cooper Graham and former White House press secretary Marlin Fitzwater on this edition of Fresh Air. The two compiled a collection of presidential speeches dating back 85 years Historic Presidential Speeches (1908-1993).