Showing results by narrator "Terry Gross" in All Categories

Hear actor Sidney Poitier, TV critic David Bianculli, and film critic David Edelstein on this edition of Fresh Air. Sidney Poitier was the leading African-American actor of his generation. His Academy Award winning classic film In the Heat of the Night is now out in a 40th anniversary edition DVD.

Neal Conan, host of NPR's Talk of the Nation, on this archive edition of Fresh Air. During the summer of 2000, Conan took a hiatus from his duties at NPR to follow the fortunes of the Aberdeen Arsenal, a minor league baseball team.

Hear journalist David Rieff and New York Times food columnist Mark Bittman on this edition of Fresh Air. David Rieff has written a new memoir about the death of his mother, Susan Sontag, who died in 2004 after her third bout with cancer. His memoir is Swimming in a Sea of Death: A Son's Memoir.

Professor Eric Klinenberg and comedian Dave Attell on this edition of Fresh Air. Professor Klinenberg's new book is Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago. It's about a 1995 heat wave in that city which proved to be an insidious natural disaster. Streets buckled, electric power blew, and over 700 people died. Klinenberg is an associate professor of Sociology at New York University.

Comedian Dave Attell is the host of Comedy Central's Insomniac with Dave Attell.

Directors Chris and Paul Weitz on this edition of Fresh Air. Their new film, About a Boy, is based on the novel by Nick Hornby and plays in theaters now. The Weitz brothers, born to fashion designer John Weitz and Oscar nominated actress Susan Kohner, first became famous for directing the 1999 teen comedy, American Pie. They also wrote the screenplay for the animated movie Antz and directed the Chris Rock movie Down to Earth.

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.

Soul week continues on Fresh Air. Two former members of the vocal group The Impressions - Jerry Butler and Curtis Mayfield on this edition of Fresh Air. Singer Jerry Butler, aka The Iceman. His 1969 hit, "Only the Strong Survive," is a rhythm and blues classic, and also the title of his autobiography: Only the Strong Survive: Memoirs of a Soul Survivor. Butler founded The Impressions.

Joey Ramone, the lead singer of the punk band the Ramones, died earlier this month. He had lymphoma. From their start in 1974, the Ramones combined fast, deafening guitar with precise drumming to create a hurricane of sound. Their songs had titles like "Beat on the Brat," "Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment" and "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue." This edition of Fresh Air features an archive interview with Ramone from 1988.

Singer and Hollywood legend Rosemary Clooney on this archive edition of Fresh Air. Clooney starred in the 1954 film White Christmas. She talks about her life as a singer and performer, and you can listen to songs from throughout her career. Her 1999 autobiography, Girl Singer, reads like a who's who from the Golden Age of Hollywood. She also released a CD companion to the book. Its called Songs from the Girl Singer.

Los Angeles Lakers coach, Phil Jackson on this edition of Fresh Air. Currently, his L.A. Lakers are battling the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA finals.

Actor, director, screenwriter Billy Bob Thornton on this archive edition of Fresh Air. The 1996 film Sling Blade which he wrote, directed and starred in put him on the map and earned him an Academy Award for Best Adapted screenplay. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the 1998 film A Simple Plan. Last year he directed the film All the Pretty Horses.

Hear former CIA chief George Tenet and comic writer John Ridley, on this edition of Fresh Air. George Tenet has a new memoir, At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA. Then, John Ridley, who has written a comic-book series, The American Way, has just had his works collected in a graphic novel.

Singer and Songwriter Tom Waits on this 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.

Actors Peter Falk and J.K. Simmons on this edition of Fresh Air. Falk is best known for his role as a rumpled L.A. detective in the 1970s TV series Columbo, where he garnered three Emmy awards. Simmons is a regular on HBO's OZ the graphic and disturbing drama of life in a maximum security prison. Simmons plays convict and neo-nazi Vernon Schillinger. And he has a recurring role in Law & Order.

Human Rights Lawyer Asma Jahangir. She's been at the forefront of the movements for women's rights, human rights and peace in Pakistan for twenty years.

Religion scholar Bart D. Ehrman on this edition of Fresh Air. He's the Bowman and Gordon Gray Professor of Religious Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill. His new book, Lost Christianities: The Battle for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew, chronicles the period before Christianity as we know it came to be, when conflicting ideas about the religion were fighting for prominence in the second and third centuries.

Hear singer and songwriter Sheryl Crow, and book critic Maureen Corrigan, on this edition of Fresh Air. Sheryl Crow performs in the studio solo, and with her band. Her new album, Detours, is her sixth studio album. It's also the most politically and personally outspoken record of her career. The first single from the album is "Shine over Babylon", which she describes as a "battle song in the face of fear" over our complicated and troubled times.

Actor Michael C. Hall and director and screenwriter Hal Hartley on this edition of Fresh Air. Michael C. Hall plays David Fisher, the gay brother who co-runs a funeral home on the HBO hit Six Feet Under. The American Film Institute has nominated Hall for Best Male TV Actor-Drama for his role in the series. Hall comes to TV from the stage. Most recently, he was on Broadway as the emcee in Cabaret. Prior to that role, he was in a number of off-Broadway productions.

Writer Richard Lourie and South African writer and actress Pamela Gien on this edition of Fresh Air. His new book is a biography of the Russian scientist, dissident, and Nobel peace prize winner Andrei Sakharov. He's considered one of the greatest physicists of the twentieth century. Sakharov created Russia's H-bomb, but later underwent a moral awakening and confronted his country over issues of nuclear responsibility and human rights. Lourie also translated the Sakharov's memoirs.

One of the founders of Apple Computers, Steven Jobs, talks about the future of computer technology on this edition of Fresh Air. Jobs led the development of the Macintosh computer and in 1985 he founded NeXT Computer. NeXT's mission is to develop customized software for businesses; two of their applications are OPENSTEP and NEXTSTEP.