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Terry Gross at her microphone in 2018

Terry Gross

Terry Gross is the host and an executive producer of Fresh Air, the daily program of interviews and reviews. It is produced at WHYY in Philadelphia, where Gross began hosting the show in 1975, when it was broadcast only locally. She was awarded a National Humanities Medal from President Obama in 2016. Fresh Air with Terry Gross received a Peabody Award in 1994 for its “probing questions, revelatory interviews and unusual insight.” America Women in Radio and Television presented her with a Gracie Award in 1999 in the category of National Network Radio Personality. In 2003, she received the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s Edward R. Murrow Award for her “outstanding contributions to public radio” and for advancing the “growth, quality and positive image of radio.” Gross is the author of All I Did Was Ask: Conversations with Writers, Actors, Musicians and Artists, published by Hyperion in 2004. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, and received a bachelor’s degree in English and M.Ed. in communications from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She began her radio career in 1973 at public radio station WBFO in Buffalo, NY.

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08:46

John Waters' "Bad" Taste.

Filmmaker John Waters. We replay one of his earlier conversations with Terry, shortly after he made the cult film "Polyester," starring Divine and Edith Massey. "Polyester" was Waters' first studio film, and the first of his movies that didn't carry a self imposed X-rating.

Interview
17:34

Recovered Memories and Crime.

Journalist and author Lawrence Wright. Wright's latest book is "Remembering Satan: A Case of Recovered Memory and the Shattering of an American Family" (Knopf) Wright explores the nature of memory and the notions of recovered memory and repression. "Remembering Satan" is the story of Paul Ingram and his family. Ingram was a Washington state deputy sheriff. His two grown daughters accused him of sexually abusing them. They said that Ingram and other members of the sheriff's department had committed Satanic ritual atrocities.

Interview
23:02

Kemal Kurspahic Discusses the Latest Developments in Bosnia.

Kemal Kurspahic. He was editor-in-chief of Sarajevo's only surviving daily newspaper, "Oslobodenje." ("Oslobodenje" means liberation in Serbo-Croatian.) Now he is Washington correspondent for the paper. It has been a trial to get out the paper each day. The staff braved sniper fire just to get to work. After the paper's high rise offices were gutted by mortar fire, publication was transferred to an underground bunker. Three staffers were killed covering the war and Kurspahic himself was wounded.

Interview
51:41

Interview and Concert with Richard Thompson.

An in the studio concert and interview with singer/songwriter, guitarist Richard Thompson. He was a founding member of the band Fairport Convention in the late 1960's. He's since gone solo and is known for his dark songs which blend elements of British folk ballads, the blues, and rock n' roll. His latest album is "Mirror Blue," (Capitol). A retrospective collection of his work was released last year, "Watching the Dark: The History of Richard Thompson," (on Rykodisc.) (Rebroadcast of 2/7/1994)

Interview
15:52

Writer Shirlee Taylor Haizlip.

Writer Shirlee Taylor Haizlip. Her book "The Sweeter the Juice: a Family Memoir in Black and White," (Simon & Schuster), chronicles her exploration of six generations of her multiracial family tree. Haizlip is a light-skinned African-American. Her father was a prominent black Baptist minister in Connecticut. Her mother was the descendant of an Irish immigrant and a mulatto slave.

22:11

Pete Hamill Discusses His "Drinking Life."

Novelist, journalist and columnist Pete Hamill. He's written seven novels, including "Flesh and Blood" and "Loving Women." Most recently he was editor-in-chief at the New York Post. His latest book is a memoir of the years he spent drinking: "A Drinking Life: A Memoir." (Little, Brown & Co.) Hamill quit drinking twenty years ago. One reviewer in Publishers Weekly writes of HAMILL's new memoir, "This is not a jeremiad condemning drink, but a thoughtful, funny, street-smart reflection on its consequences." (REBROADCAST from 1/19/94)

Interview
45:24

Former Major Leaguer Keith Hernandez.

Former Major Leaguer Keith Hernandez. Called by some baseball purists the finest First Baseman in the game, Hernandez played with the St. Louis Cardinals, the New York Mets, and the Cleveland Indians. He is the winner of eleven consecutive Golden Glove Awards for fielding, and played in two World Championships. Hernandez's new book is "Pure Baseball: Pitch by Pitch for the Advanced Fan" (Harper): analysis of two 1993 match-ups, with play by play commentary, based on his seventeen years in the game. (Rebroadcast Originally aired 2/24/94)

Interview
18:21

From the Archives: Poet Philip Levine On "What Work Is."

Poet Philip Levine. He's considered one of this country's pre-eminent poets, but before he turned to poetry he worked for years at factory jobs. The images of those early days continue to influence his writings. Levine's collection of poems "What Work Is." won 1992's National Book Award. His new memoir is "Bread of Time" (Knopf). (Rebroadcast from 7/22/91).

Interview
08:51

From the Archives: Vonnegut on Writing and Censorship.

Author Kurt Vonnegut. Perhaps his most famous book, the anti-war novel"Slaughterhouse Five," has been rereleased in a twenty-fifth anniversary edition (Delacourte Press). Based on Vonnegut's own experiences during the Dresden firebombing during the Second World War, the novel was a cultural icon at the height of popular protest against the war in Vietnam. (REBROADCAST FROM MAY, 1986.)

Interview
04:51

From the Archives: Author Grace Paley.

Writer Grace Paley. Born in the Bronx in 1922, she's written three highly acclaimed volumes of short stories. Paley was actively involved in the feminist and anti-war movements, and regards herself as a "somewhat combative pacifist and a cooperative anarchist." Her "Collected Stories" have just been released by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. (Rebroadcast from 3/26/92).

Interview

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