Showing results by author "Terry Gross" in All Categories

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

Hear author Martha Weinman Lear and authors Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson on this edition of Fresh Air. Martha Weinman Lear's new book is called Where Did I Leave My Glasses? The What, When and Why of Normal Memory Loss. She explores the increasingly common phenomenon among baby boomers of memory loss associated with aging. She is also the author of the best-selling memoir Heartsounds.

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

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.

Hear comedian Robert Schimmel and world-music critic Milo Miles on this edition of Fresh Air. Robert Schimmel's new memoir is called Cancer On $5 a Day (Chemo Not Included): How Humor Got Me Through the Toughest Journey of My Life. While the circumstances of Schimmel's life are grim - he was diagnosed with cancer, went through chemotherapy, married and divorced the same woman three times, and lost a son to leukemia - he has managed to find the humor in it all.

Hear actor Mark Wahlberg, actor Colin Firth, and film critic David Edelstein on this edition of Fresh Air. Wahlberg was nominated for an academy award for best supporting actor for his role as a police sergeant in the film The Departed. Then, Colin Firth, who is probably best known for his role as Mr. Darcy in the BBC/A&E production of Pride & Prejudice. Finally, David Edelstein reviews the new documentary Taxi to the Dark Side.

Hear religion scholar Bart D. Ehrman on this edition of Fresh Air. Ehrman chairs the Department of Religious Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill. His new book is God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question - Why We Suffer. He is the author of the best seller Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why.

Hear singer-songwriter Ray Davies on this edition of Fresh Air. Davies first became known as the leader of the band The Kinks, one of the great and enduring British bands to came out of the 60s. Davies' first solo record, Other People's Lives was released in 2006. While recording the album in New Orleans, he was shot in the leg by a man who stole his girlfriend's purse. His new album, Working Man's Cafe, was released this month.

Journalist David Cay Johnston on this edition of Fresh Air. Last year, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the U.S. tax code.

Hear authors David and Nic Sheff, and critic at large John Powers, on this edition of Fresh Air. David Sheff and his son, Nic, have both written memoirs. David's new book is called Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction. Nic's book is called Tweak. Nic became addicted to meth and was in and out of rehab. David and Nic join us to talk about doing drugs, getting over them, and the effect on family.

Hear film director Milos Forman, film critic David Edelstein, and TV critic David Bianculli on this edition of Fresh Air. The Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan is presenting a two-week complete retrospective of Milos Forman's films from 1963 to the present, including One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus, and Ragtime. Forman grew up in Czechoslovakia, where he helped to create Czech New Wave cinema before emigrating to the United States in 1969.

Hear author Daniel Mendelsohn, TV critic David Bianculli, and film critic David Edelstein on this edition of Fresh Air. Daniel Mendelsohn's book The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million is about investigating what happened to his great uncle's family. As a child, old Jewish relatives told stories of family members killed in the Holocaust. Mendelsohn undertook a worldwide search for surviving members of his family's town.

Hear journalists Douglas Farah and Stephen Braun, and film critic David Edelstein, on this edition of Fresh Air. Farah and Braun have collaborated on a new book about Russian weapons supplier Victor Bout. Bout emerged from the Cold War with easy access to the massive inventories of weapons and ammunition built up by the Soviets.

Journalist Steven Weisman and writer Sarah Vowell on this edition of Fresh Air. Steven Weisman has covered politics, economics and international affairs for The New York Times for over 30 years. He now writes editorials for the paper. In his new book, The Great Tax Wars: Lincoln to Wilson - The Fierce Battles over Money and Power That Transformed the Nation he looks at the battles over "wealth, power and fairness" that led to the establishment of the income tax.

Journalist David Remnick and former two-time heavyweight champion of the world George Foreman on this edition of Fresh Air. David Remnick is the author of the book King of the World, about heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali. Remnick is editor of The New Yorker Magazine and is also the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lenin's Tomb. In 1974, in what was called the "Rumble in the Jungle", Foreman took on Muhammad Ali in Zaire for the world heavyweight title.

Hear comic Don Rickles, documentary producer Huw Cordey, and rock critic Ken Tucker on this edition of Fresh Air. He's known for insulting his audiences on stage, but Don Rickles doesn't consider himself an insult comic. His heyday was in the 1950s and 60s, on TV and in Vegas. Frank Sinatra was an early fan and helped get him noticed. Rickles has a new memoir, Rickles' Book: a Memoir.