Fresh Air, Ricky Skaggs and Arn Chorn-Pond

By: Terry Gross

Narrated by: Terry Gross

Country and bluegrass musician Ricky Skaggs and Khmer Rouge survivor Arn Chorn-Pond on this edition of Fresh Air. Ricky Skaggs has a new album out called The Three Pickers, and it features Skaggs playing along with Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson. Skaggs started performing as a young child and was considered a prodigy. His first number one single was "Crying My Heart Out Over You" in 1981, and he continued to have a string of hits throughout the eighties. Arn Chorn-Pond is the subject of the new documentary The Flute Player. As a child, Chorn-Pond was held in a Khmer Rouge labor camp where many children starved to death, many others were murdered, and those who survived were forced to work from 5 am to midnight. He was taught to play the flute to play propaganda songs, which helped assure his survival. At age 14, Chorn-Pond was forced into the Khmer Rouge army to fight the invading Vietnamese. After seeing his friends die, he fled into the jungle and survived mimicking the eating habits of monkeys. After finding his way to a Thailand refugee camp he was adopted by an American relief worker, Peter Pond, and brought to the U.S. (Broadcast Date: July 21, 2003)Want more Fresh Air?

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