Showing results by author "Terry Gross" in All Categories

Author Jim DeRogatis on this edition of Fresh Air. DeRogatis is the author of Let It Blurt: The Life & Times of Lester Bangs, America's Greatest Rock Critic. Recently portrayed by Philip Seymour Hoffman in Cameron Crowe's movie Almost Famous, Bangs wrote about rock 'n' roll for Rolling Stone, Creem, and The Village Voice.

Political Analyst Alan Schroeder on this edition of Fresh Air. Alan Schroeder's new book Presidential Debates: Forty Years of High-Risk TV, examines the history of the televised presidential debate. Drawing from his experience as a print journalist and TV producer, he details the decisions that influence every aspect of the event: the color of the backdrop curtain to the camera angles chosen.

Director of the United Hospital Fund's Project on Family Caregiving in an Age of Change, Carole Levine on this rebroadcast edition of Fresh Air. Levine brings her professional and personal life to bear on her work with the project. Since 1990, when her husband was critically injured in an automobile accident, she has been his caregiver.

Actresses Jane Kaczmarek and Edie Falco on this archive edition of Fresh Air. Jane Kaczmarek's been nominated for an Emmy (Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series) for her role on FOX's Malcolm in the Middle. She plays the harried mother of four boys. Kaczmarek was a series regular on Equal Justice and has had recurring roles on Frasier, The Practice, and Cybill.

Journalist James Bennet on this edition of Fresh Air. Bennett has been in the Middle East covering how the crisis there is affecting Israelis and Palestinians. He's been reporting on both sides of the conflict for The New York Times. (Broadcast Date: March 19, 2002)

Washington Post reporter Peter Baker on this edition of Fresh Air. Baker is the journalist who co-wrote the story breaking the news about Monica Lewinsky, and he's just written a book about that episode of the Clinton presidency, called The Breach: Inside the Impeachment and Trial of William Jefferson Clinton.

Former presidential speechwriter Michael Waldman and publisher Andre Schiffrin on this edition of Fresh Air. Waldman's new book is called POTUS Speaks: Finding the Words that Defined the Clinton Presidency. From 1993 to 1999, Waldman was a special assistant and chief speechwriter to Bill Clinton.

Serbian student activist Srdja Popovic and writer and retired New York City firefighter Dennis Smith on this edition of Fresh Air. Srdja Popovic is one of the founders of the student nonviolent group which helped bring down Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic. The group known as Otpor (the Serbian word for "resistance") had a clenched fist as their symbol, but they used humor and theatre to ridicule Milosevic and other government officials.

Paralympic gold medallist Chris Waddell and actor Guy Pearce on this edition of Fresh Air. Chris Waddell has won metals in both the winter and summer Paralympic Games, competing as both an alpine mono-skier and a wheelchair racer. Waddell is currently competing in the Paralympics in Salt Lake City. He has already won a silver medal this week. Guy Pearce is currently starring in the films The Time Machine and The Count of Monte Cristo.

Composer Charles Strouse on this edition of Fresh Air. His Broadway musicals include Bye Bye Birdie, Annie, Applause, It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman, and Golden Boy, which originally opened on Broadway in 1964 and starred Sammy Davis, Jr. The show will be revived later this month by City Center Encores in New York. Strouse also composed music for film and TV, including "Those Were the Days," the theme song for TV's All in the Family.

Singer Vernel Bagneris and writer Gary Paulsen on this edition of Fresh Air. Vernel Bagneris wrote, directed and starred in the 1979 hit show, "One mo' Time." It's being revived and opens on Broadway this week at the Longacre Theater. The setting is a hot, sultry night at New Orleans' Lyric Theatre in the 1920s. Bagneris performs Charlestons, rags, cakewalks, and other songs of the Vaudeville age, including "There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight," "Down in Honky Tonk Town," and "Everybody Loves My Baby."

Filmmaker Peter Jackson and photographer Doug Niven on this edition of Fresh Air. Peter Jackson directed Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. The film has been nominated for 13 Academy Awards, including Best Director, Best Picture and Screenplay. His other films include Heavenly Creatures and The Frighteners. The New Zealander is also slated to direct the other two upcoming films of the Hobbit trilogy, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Film composer Howard Shore on this edition of Fresh Air. Howard Shore has over sixty film scores to his credit including the recent The Lord of the Rings, also The Fly, Dead Ringers, Naked Lunch, The Silence of the Lambs, Ed Wood, and Philadelphia. Shore was also one of the original creators of Saturday Night Live, serving as Musical Director from 1975 to 1980.

Editor in chief of Gourmet magazine Ruth Reichl and former deputy commissioner of baseball Stephen Greenberg on this archive edition of Fresh Air. Ruth Reichl's is a former restaurant critic for The New York Times and the author of Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table, a memoir of her lifelong passion for food, which was a best seller. She continues her story with the new book Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table.

Comedian and actor Tim Meadows and singer Keely Smith on this archive edition of Fresh Air. Meadows was a regular on TV's Saturday Night Live for some nine years. Leon the Ladies Man, a swingin' politically incorrect radio love doctor that he played on the show, is featured in the film The Ladies Man, now available on video. Keely Smith has been called "The Queen of Swing" and "The First Lady of Las Vegas." Smith is perhaps best known as the duet partner and wife of Louis Prima.

Filmmaker Jamsheed Akrami is a scholar of Iranian film. His two documentaries are Dreams Betrayed and Friendly Persuasion: Iranian Cinema After the Revolution. Together, they explore Iranian filmmaking before and after the 1979 revolution. In Iranian films, male and female characters are not allowed to touch, ever, and women must be veiled at all times. Despite these and other limitations, Iranian cinema has garnered international critical acclaim.

Percussionist Jonathan Haas and writer Jake Arnott on this edition of Fresh Air. Jonathan Haas is a solo timpani player who's garnered international praise. He plays all styles of music, from classical to jazz and rock. He's commissioned pieces for the timpani. He is the principal timpanist for the New York Chamber Symphony, the Aspen Chamber Orchestra, and the EOS Ensemble. He regularly performs with numerous other orchestras worldwide.

Anti-violence activists Rochelle and Anthony Yates on this archival edition of Fresh Air. On July 18, 1988 the Yates' five-year-old son Marcus was killed in gun crossfire between two drug dealers fighting for turf in a corner store. There were 11 children in the store playing video games, two others were shot but survived, one of them was Marcus' six year old brother.

The United Nation's high commissioner for human rights, Mary Robinson on this edition of Fresh Air. Robinson is also the former president of Ireland. She discusses the murders last week of three U.N. human rights workers in West Timor. (Broadcast Date: September 13, 2000)

The economics of motherhood and the history of circumcision on this archive edition of Fresh Air. Economics journalist Ann Crittenden is a former reporter for The New York Times. She's the author of the new book The Price of Motherhood: Why the Most Important Job in the World Is Still the Least Valued. In the book, Crittenden writes about the cost to mothers when their work is unrecognized and undervalued.