Showing results by author "Terry Gross" in All Categories

Audible® was not granted digital rights to today's entire program. Instead, we bring you former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, on this edition of Fresh Air. Jimmy Carter has 18 books to his credit, including memoirs and nonfiction, that reflect on his work as a mediator, his life in the White House, his childhood, and his spiritual life.

Khaled Hosseini's new novel is A Thousand Splendid Suns, and it is currently at the top of the New York Times best seller list. His debut novel, The Kite Runner, about a young man who returns to Afghanistan after a long absence, has been on the best seller list for two years, as both a hardcover and paperback.

Five years ago Oregon voters passed into law the Death with Dignity Act, legalizing physician-assisted suicide. Last Fall Attorney General John Ashcroft challenged the law.

Far Side cartoonist Gary Larson and Food Editor for the Los Angeles Times Russ Parsons on this edition of Fresh Air.Gary Larson's The Complete Far Side 1980-1994 hits stores this week. It's a two-volume hardcover set that includes every Far Side cartoon ever syndicated.

Hear film director/writer Wes Anderson, actor Jason Schwartzman, TV critic David Bianculli, and jazz critic Kevin Whitehead on this edition of Fresh Air. Wes Anderson's new film starring Jason Schwartzman is The Darjeeling Limited (which also stars Owen Wilson, and Adrien Brody). It's about three estranged brothers who go to India on a spiritual quest. Anderson's other films include The Royal Tennenbaums, Bottle Rocket, and Rushmore.

Journalist George Packer and television producer John Sacret Young on this edition of Fresh Air. George Packer grew up in a family with a very strong liberal tradition; his grandfather was a populist congressman from Alabama in the early part of the century; his father was a Jewish Kennedy-era liberal who was a professor at Stanford.

Doctor Mel Levine and advertising great Mary Wells Lawrence on this edition of Fresh Air. The founder of the All Kinds of Minds Institute and the Director of the Center for Development.

Syndicated columnist Molly Ivins and poet Dana Gioa on this edition of Fresh Air. Molly Ivins' new book (along with co-author Lou Dubose) is Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush's America. She is the former co-editor of the Texas Observer.

We kick off Word for Word Week at Fresh Air, featuring our favorite authors from the past year First up: lesbian pulp fiction. Writer Ann Bannon (her pseudonym) has written a number of books of lesbian pulp fiction, including Odd Girl Out, I Am a Woman, and Journey to a Woman.

They Might Be Giants band members John Linnell and John Flansburgh on this edition of Fresh Air. The wacky musical duo has just published a children's book (with companion CD) entitled Bed, Bed, Bed. Linnell and Flansburgh have known each other since childhood, and they started They Might Be Giants in Brooklyn, New York, where they still have a phone machine called Dial-a-Song.

Hear German filmmaker Werner Herzog and critic Milo Miles on this edition of Fresh Air. Werner Herzog's new film is Rescue Dawn, based on his 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly. It's the true story of Dieter Dengler, the only U.S. pilot to have sucessfully escaped from a North Vietnamese-controlled prison.

Singer and Songwriter Tom Waits on this archive edition of Fresh Air. Since the 1973 release of his first album, Closing Time, Waits has won over fans with his original songwriting and distinctive, gravely vocal style. One reviewer calls Waits "the Ultimate hobo boho, a Jack-in-the-box cum storyteller." Musicians including Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, and Rod Stewart have recorded covers of his songs.

Hear Romanian film writer-director Cristian Mungiu on this edition of Fresh Air. Mungiu's film 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days is about a young woman who gets an illegal abortion during the final days of the communist Ceausescu regime. The film won the Palme d'Or prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, the top prize.

Hear film director Milos Forman, film critic David Edelstein, and TV critic David Bianculli on this edition of Fresh Air. The Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan is presenting a two-week complete retrospective of Milos Forman's films from 1963 to the present, including One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus, and Ragtime. Forman grew up in Czechoslovakia, where he helped to create Czech New Wave cinema before emigrating to the United States in 1969.

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.

Actress, writer, comedians Ellen Degeneres and Andy Richter on this edition of Fresh Air. Ellen Degeneres will soon begin a comedy tour. Her five-year sit-com Ellen won an Emmy for her much anticipated coming-out episode. She and her character came out at the same time. This was followed by a very public relationship with actress Anne Heche, which eventually ended.

Fifth Beatle Pete Best on this edition of Fresh Air. He was the drummer for the Beatles in their early days in Liverpool and Hamburg. His mother, Mona Best, was the owner of The Casbah Coffee Club in Liverpool.

Writer Benson Bobrick on this edition of Fresh Air. He's the author of the recently published Wide as the Waters: The Story of the English Bible and the Revolution It Inspired. The book chronicles the difficulties scholars had in translating the Bible into English - efforts that culminated in the King James Version.

Comedian and political commentator Al Franken on this edition of Fresh Air. His new book is Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. Franken recently made headlines when the Fox News Channel tried to sue him over the phrase "fair and balanced," which Fox claimed as its own. Fox lost, and Franken got lots of publicity for the book, and it is now a best seller.

Religion scholar Karen Armstrong on this edition of Fresh Air. The best-selling author of The History of God and The Battle for God, has a new book, Budda, about the life of Sidhatta Gotam. From North India, Sidhatta Gotama renounced normal life, leaving his wife and child to live alone and attain enlightenment.