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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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15:21

Glass Artist Dale Chihuly

The world premier showing of Dale Chihuly's translucent sculpture from his Finland Suite is currently at Jack Lenor Larsen’s Long House Foundation in East Hampton, New York. This fall, his exhibit “Chihuly Over Venice” will be featured at the international Contemporary Art Glass exhibition. Chihuly is among the best known American artists working today and is one of only four Americans to be given a one-person show at the Louvre.

Interview
20:58

A Gay Activist Speaks Out Against the White House

Political advisor David Mixner. His new book, Stranger Among Friends, is a memoir of the 1992 Clinton campaign and life inside the Clinton White House. Mixner was pivotal in getting then-Governor Clinton the support of gay voters and was hopeful that the Democratic victory would expand civil rights to gays and lesbians. With Clinton’s watered-down support of gays in the military and recent rejection of gay marriage, Mixner has become disillusioned with the administration, and his book reflects this.

Interview
20:40

Writer Nick Hornby on Pop Culture Passion

With the release of Hornby's first novel "High-Fidelity," one reviewer writes that the author has "established himself in England as a maestro of the male confessional." "High-Fidelity" is about 36-year old Rob Fleming, an obsessed record-collector, who's just lost his girlfriend, a casualty of his devotion to music. Next week, the book comes out in paperback. (RE-BROADCAST OF 9/26/95 INTERVIEW)

Interview
13:31

Playwright Mart Crowley on Homosexuality and Self-Hatred

Crowley's works were recently re-published in a book, "3 Plays by Mart Crowley" (Alyson Publications). "The Boys in the Band" (1968), is the classic portrait of a gay artist living in New York and was one of the first plays to break the taboo on the portrayal of homosexuality. A revival of "The Boys in the Band" opened in June and the film version is being featured at the Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival this summer.

Interview
21:30

David Mamet's "Remembrances" of Being a Young Writer

The essayist, poet and playwright's new book, "Make-Believe Town," is a selection of essays about everything from theater to politics to Judaism. His work has been called opinionated, forceful, original and always surprising. Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize for his play "Glengarry Glen Ross" and has written and directed several motion pictures.

Interview
50:43

Seeking Justice in Post-War Serbia

Journalist Chris Hedges. He's been covering the Bosnian conflict for the New York Times and offers insight to the current political and social atmosphere in the former Yugoslavia. This week marks the anniversary of the slaughter of thousands of Muslims in Srebrenica as they were attempting to retreat from the Serbs. Investigators from the international war crimes tribunal are currently exhuming the graves of that former U.N. "safe area."

Interview
21:51

The Split Between Centrist and Far Right Conservatives

Former conservative Michael Lind. As a writer and editor he worked closely with the leaders of American conservatism: as research assistant to William F. Buckley, Jr. and editor of the National Interest. He became disillusioned with the party because of it's economic policies and the dominance of such groups as the Christian Coalition. He also denounced Pat Buchanan in 1992. Lind's new book is "Up From Conservatism: Why the Right is Wrong for America." He's currently senior editor of The New Yorker.

Interview
18:50

Soul and Blues Singer Wallace Johnson

Fifty-eight year old Johnson's new CD is "Whoever's Thrilling You." It's his first full-length album and marks his return to the music scene after a 20-year absence. He gave up his music career for steadier work as a longshoreman in 1972 in order to take care of his wife and five children. Friends convinced him to return to performing around the New Orleans area in 1993 and this year he appeared at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Interview
19:11

How Memory Works

Professor of Psychology at Harvard, Daniel L. Schacter has studied memory for the past twenty years, the way the mind remembers. One chapter in his new book, "Searching for Memory: the brain, the mind, the past" is about the controversial issue of "repressed" memory.

Interview

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