Showing results by author "Terry Gross" in All Categories

In this special compilation, you'll hear exhilarating excerpts from classic interviews with 14 stars of comedy, including Tracey Ullman on her zany characters, Chris Rock on growing up small and black in a white neighborhood, Carol Leifer on the inspiration for her brand of cabaret comedy, and Henny Youngman on his famous line, "Take my wife, please."

Hear British scientist Richard Dawkins and geneticist Francis Collins on this edition of Fresh Air. Richard Dawkins is a professor of the public understanding of science at Oxford University. The New York Times has hailed him as a writer who "understands the issues so clearly that he forces his reader to understand them too". In his latest book, he writes about what he sees as the irrationality of a belief in God and sets down his arguments for atheism.

This audio is like an informal writing clinic, as you listen to these writers talk about their lives, experiences and, of course, their writing. While you are listening, Terry Gross draws out from these great writers the answers to your questions, just as the query begins to form in your own head.

Singapore's first Prime Minister and its current Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew and journalist Stan Sesser on this edition of Fresh Air. A very controversial figure, Lee Kuan Yew formed the People's Action Party and won the first Singapore general election in 1959. Since it was granted independence in 1965, Singapore has gone from British colony to Asian economic powerhouse.

Hear rock and roll singer/songwriter Tom Petty and rock critic Ken Tucker, on this edition of Fresh Air. This weekend Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will perform during halftime at the Superbowl. And this spring the band goes back on tour. Petty also has a recurring role in Fox TV's animated show King of the Hill.

Because Audible was not granted digital audio rights to today's issue of Fresh Air, we have selected a great interview with record producer and songwriter Neil Innes and actress Joan Cusack for this edition of Fresh Air. Neil Innes is a founding member of the comedy-rock group "The Bonzo Dog Band". He's also a member of "The Rutles", the band that he and Eric Idle of Monty Python created as a spoof of the Beatles.

Though Fresh Air has been categorized as a "talk show", it hardly fits the mold. Its 1994 Peabody Award citation credits Fresh Air with "probing questions, revelatory interviews, and unusual insights." And a variety of top publications count Gross among the country's leading interviewers. The show gives interviews as much time as needed, and complements them with comments from well-known critics and commentators.

Cage, Keitel, Coppola, and 15 other stars of the stage and screen speak candidly with Fresh Air's Terry Gross in this compilation of classic interviews. Also available: Fresh Air: Laughs, featuring Pryor, Carey, Mason, and more.

Singer Tom Jones on this edition of Fresh Air. The pop icon first gained fame with the 1960s hits "It's Not Unusual", "Delilah", and "What's New Pussycat". In the last 40 years of his career, he has released over 30 hit singles and several gold and multi-platinum records.

Hear drummer Levon Helm (formerly with The Band), Canadian author Jane Rule, and TV critic David Bianculli, on this edition of Fresh Air. When The Band supported Bob Dylan on stage in 1965, Time magazine described the combination as "in some ways, the most decisive moment in rock history." They went on to record their own highly influential albums Music From Big Pink and The Band in 1968 and 1969.

Veteran actress Angela Lansbury on this archive edition of Fresh Air. She's spent over 50 years in the business on stage, and in film and television. When she was 17 she debuted in Gaslight, and was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Ingrid Bergman's Cockney maid.

Novelist Philip Roth on this archive edition of Fresh Air. His book The Human Stain is about a classics professor accused of racism who has a secret about his own ethnic identity. It's just been adapted into a new film starring Anthony Hopkins and Nichole Kidman. The Human Stain won the PENN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.

Novelist Stephen King on this edition of Fresh Air. In 1999, the prolific and popular horror writer experienced something that could have come out of one of his books: he was struck by a car while walking along a rural road in Maine and nearly killed. Six operations and a long recovery followed. Five weeks after the accident, King started writing again and published the novella, The Plant over the Internet. His latest book is On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.

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.

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."

Former NASA flight director Chris Kraft and humanitarian aid worker Kenneth Gluck on this archive edition of Fresh Air. Chris Kraft was NASA's first flight director, from the first forays into space in the 1960s to after Neil Armstrong landed on the moon in 1969. Kraft also created Mission Control. He's written a new book, Flight: My Life In Mission Control. Kenneth Gluck was working with Doctors Without Borders in Chechnya when he was kidnapped and held for 26 days.

Crime writer James Ellroy and poet Maxine Kumin on this edition of Fresh Air. Ellroy sets his novels in 1950's L.A., where he grew up. His series of novels, L.A. Quartet was a best seller. His latest novel is called Hollywood Nocturnes. When he was ten, his mother was murdered near their L.A. home. He wrote an article about returning to L.A. to go through the police files on his mother in Gentleman's Quarterly.

Todd Gitlin, Mara Verheyden Hillard, and Bob Edgar discuss the peace movement on this edition of Fresh Air. Todd Gitlin was a leader of the peace movement in the 1960s. He is a former president of Students for a Democratic Society, and author of a number of books including The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage, and Media Unlimited.

A compilation of Fresh Air celebrity interviews with host Terry Gross.

Hear comic and actor Jerry Seinfeld and journalist James Fallows on this edition of Fresh Air. Jerry Seinfeld stars in Bee Movie, an animated feature. Seinfeld began his career as a stand-up comic and went on to star in the NBC hit television show Seinfeld, which ran from 1989 to 1998. He won a Golden Globe and an Emmy for his work on the show.