Showing results by author "Terry Gross" in All Categories

Journalist Anne Nivat is the Moscow correspondent for the French paper Liberation. Two years ago, after the Russians denied her press access to Chechnya, she disguised herself as a Chechen peasant woman and snuck across the border. For six months, she followed the war, traveling with the underground rebels and staying with families. Her reports were published in Liberation. Her new memoir is Chienne De Guerre: A Woman Reporter Behind the Lines of the War in Chechnya.

Hear journalist Charlie Savage and jazz critic Kevin Whitehead on this edition of Fresh Air. The Boston Globe's Charlie Savage received the 2007 Pulitzer Prize award for National Reporting for his series of articles in the Globe about revelations that President Bush often used "signing statements" to assert his controversial right to bypass provisions of new laws. Savage has written a new book that describes how the Bush-Cheney administration has expanded executive power.

Rock musician Wayne Kramer and linguist Geoff Nunberg on this encore edition of Fresh Air. Guitarist, singer, songwriter Wayne Kramer founded the MC5, a Detroit band considered to be the prototype for punk rock, in the late 1960s. By 1972, the band had burned out. In between then and now, Kramer did time in jail for drugs, teamed up with Don and David Was to found the group Was (Not Was), and began a solo career.

Writer Armistead Maupin on this edition of Fresh Air. Maupin is the creator of the award-winning newspaper serial turned TV series Tales of the City. His new book, The Night Listener, is his first novel in eight years. It examines the relationship that grows between a cult writer and one of his younger radio fans; critics have noted the autobiographical subtext to the story. Maupin won the 1998 Peabody Award for his work in television and has written several novels and two collections of essays. He lives in San Francisco.

Scottish writer/director/actor Peter Mullan and writer/director Niki Caro on this edition of Fresh Air. Peter Mullan's new feature film The Magdalene Sisters is based on the real life laundries run by the Sisters of the Magdalene Order in Ireland which opened near the end of the 19th century.

Actress Christine Baranski and garbage expert Benjamin Miller on this edition of Fresh Air. Baranski is probably best known for her work on the TV series Cybill, in which she played Maryann, the best friend of Cybill Shepherd. She's currently starring in the TV sitcom Welcome to New York. She also plays Martha May Whovier in the new film Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Musicians Joe Hunter and Jack Ashford on this edition of Fresh Air. Joe Hunter (keyboards) and Jack Ashford (vibes and tambourine) were part of the group of musicians known as the Funk Brothers, whose sound defined Motown in the 1960s and '70s. They worked with such legendary performers as Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, and many more.

Poet and memoirist Mary Karr on this edition of Fresh Air. In a follow-up to Liar's Club, what critics call "a hard scrabble childhood," Karr returns to East Texas to detail her adolescence in Cherry. The author 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 University.

Journalist S.V. Date and literary forensics expert Don Foster on this edition of Fresh Air. S.V. Date is based in Florida where he is Tallahassee bureau chief for The Palm Beach Post. He discusses the recount in Florida for the presidential election. Date is also the author of the novel Smokeout. Named the first literary detective of all time, Don Foster uncovered the identity of Joe Klein as the Anonymous writer of 1996's Primary Colors.

Stand up comics Ahmed Ahmed and Maz Jobrani and Pakistani dancer Sheema Kermani on this edition of Fresh Air. Ahmed is Egyptian-American, and Jobrani is Iranian-American. They've changed their routines since September 11th, cracking jokes about attending flight school and the like. Both have had small parts as terrorists in action films. Jobrani was in a Chuck Norris film and Ahmed was Terrorist #4 in Executive Decision. They live in Los Angeles.

Comedian and actor Tim Meadows and journalist Robert Sullivan on this edition of Fresh Air. Meadows was a regular on TV's Saturday Night Live for some 9 years. Leon the Ladies Man, a swingin' politically incorrect radio love doctor that he played on the show, is now featured in the new film The Ladies Man.

Author Jim DeRogatis on this archive 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.

Journalist Jeffrey Goldberg and writer, actor, director, comedian, and radio host Harry Shearer on this edition of Fresh Air. Jeffrey Goldberg's article in the current New Yorker magazine is about Saddam Hussein's chemical attacks on the Kurds in 1988. There is also new evidence of Hussein's ties to Al Qaeda. Goldberg has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2000. His specialty is foreign reporting with an emphasis on Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Doctor Peter Piot on this archive edition of Fresh Air. Since 1994, he's been the director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and the executive director of UN AIDS, the UN agency coordinating the fight against the disease. He also co-discovered the Ebola virus. He's considered the UN's top AIDS official. He says Asian countries need to take AIDS prevention and treatment more seriously, as they are only at the beginning of the epidemic. Countries most affected are Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia.

Hear teachers Frank Burd and Ed Klein, and rock critic Ken Tucker on this edition of Fresh Air. Frank Burd and Ed Klein are Philadelphia public school teachers who were attacked on the job. They talk about the difficulties of teaching in inner-city schools.

Executive producer and writer of HBO's Oz Tom Fontana and psychology professor Paul Ekman on this edition of Fresh Air. Tom Fontana is responsible for Oz, the realistic drama about life in an experimental unit of a maximum security prison. Fontana also created Homicide: Life on the Street and the 1980s drama set in a city hospital, St. Elsewhere.

Record producer and musician Don Was on this archive edition of Fresh Air. Was co-founded the funk rock group, "Was (Not) Was." In 1995, he won a Grammy for Producer of the Year. In addition, he's produced a number of albums for Bonnie Raitt, including her Nick of Time album which revived her career, Rolling Stones, Lyle Lovett, Al Green, Iggy Pop, and the B-52's.

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".

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and columnist Bruce Bartlett on this edition of Fresh Air. He is a professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University. His research is mainly in the areas of international trade and finance. He is one of the founders of an economic postulation called the "new trade theory." Krugman has also written and edited many books.

The creator of The Simpsons Matt Groening and writer Elisabeth Sifton on this edition of Fresh Air. Earlier this year The Simpsons celebrated its 300th episode, making it the longest running animated series on TV.