Showing results by author "Terry Gross" in All Categories

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.

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.

Writer David Sedaris on this edition of Fresh Air. Sedaris is best known for his contributing work with Public Radio's This American Life. He's written three books of essays, Barrel Fever, Naked, and his latest Me Talk Pretty One Day.

On this edition of Fresh Air, host Terry Gross speaks with Michael Pollan. To learn more about the meat industry in the US he bought a calf, and then followed the process from fattening it to slaughter. He wrote about it in the Sunday, March 31st issue of The New York Times Magazine. The article "Power Steer" is the cover story. Pollan is also the author of the book, The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World.

Hear musicians Mick Jones and Tony James, and music critic Milo Miles, on this edition of Fresh Air. Mick Jones is the former lead guitarist of The Clash, and Tony James is formerly of Generation X. In 2002 they came together to form the band Carbon/Silicon.

Hear novelist and screenwriter Richard Price and book critic Maureen Corrigan on this edition of Fresh Air. Richard Price's new novel is Lush Life, about the repercussions of a shooting on the Lower East side. Price has also written for HBO's The Wire, which ends a five-year run on Sunday.

Writer Neil Baldwin and remembering poet Lucy Grealy on this edition of Fresh Air. Baldwin is executive director of the National Book Foundation and author of the book, Henry Ford and the Jews, in which he details Ford's early obsession with moralistic writings condemning Jews for not accepting Christ. Grealy died in December 2002 at the age of 39. As a child, she spent five years being treated for cancer, which left her face disfigured.

Musician Bootsy Collins and author Linday Gray Sexton, on this archive edition of Fresh Air. Bootsy Collins got his start with James Brown, where he "defined the finger-popping funk bass style" (Rolling Stone). He went on to work with George Clinton as part of the Parliment-Funkadelic tribe, before forming Bootsy's Rubber Band. On stage, he created alter egos, including Bootzilla, Boot-Tron, and King of the Geepies.

In honor of the 40th anniversary of the film West Side Story, Fresh Air speaks with cast members.

Jazz pianist Keith Jarrett on this archival edition of Fresh Air.

Hear professor Randall Balmer, rock critic Ken Tucker, and TV critic David Bianculli on this edition of Fresh Air. Randall Balmer is professor of American religious history at Barnard College, Columbia University, and a visiting professor at Yale University Divinity School. He is also the editor-at-large for Christianity Today. His new book is God in the White House: A History: How Faith Shaped the Presidency, from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush.

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.

Hear shock-rock icon Alice Cooper on this edition of Fresh Air. During his heyday in the early 1970s, Alice Cooper appeared on stage dressed like a ghoul, with a gaunt face and mascara streaked eyes, and performed cartoonish, violent stunts. His hits included "I'm Eighteen", "School's Out", and "Welcome to My Nightmare".

Non-proliferation expert Joseph Cirincione and The Weekly Standard's William Kristol on this edition of Fresh Air. He specializes in defense and proliferation issues at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is senior associate and director of the Non-Proliferation Project. He will discuss the evolution of the Bush administration's policy toward Iraq.

NPR's senior foreign correspondent Anne Garrels and her husband Vint Lawrence on this edition of Fresh Air. She was one of few journalists still in Baghdad during the invasion of Iraq. Often she reported from her room at the Palestine Hotel, as bombs flew overhead.

Humorist Fran Lebowitz and writer Anne Lamott on this archive edition of Fresh Air. The Washington Post called Fran Lebowitz "The funniest woman in America." Humorist Lebowitz has come out with her first children's book, Mr. Chas and Lisa Sue Meet The Pandas. In 1978, she wrote the critically acclaimed book Metropolitan Life a collection of witty essays on life. Writer Anne Lamott's new book is Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.

Hear The Simpsons executive producer and writer Al Jean, and actress Nancy Cartwright, on this edition of Fresh Air. Al Jean has been with the TV show since it began, first as a writer, then as executive producer. He has said the new Simpsons movie is about "what happens when a man doesn't listen to his wife."

Political satirist Bill Maher on this edition of Fresh Air. He's just published When you ride ALONE you ride with bin Laden: What the Government Should Be Telling Us to Help Fight the War on Terrorism.

Hear former presidential hopeful and best selling author of Great Political Wit, Senator Bob Dole, talk about his new book, Great Presidential Wit (I Wish I was in the Book), a collection of funny anecdotes and quotations by or about American presidents.

Audible® was not granted digital rights to today's entire program. Instead, we bring you cartoonist, writer, and Simpsons creator Matt Groening on this edition of Fresh Air. Matt Groening began his career as a rock critic before going on to create the much-loved cartoon series The Simpsons.