Showing results by author "Terry Gross" in All Categories

Journalist Raphael Lewis and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Moats on this edition of Fresh Air. Lewis is the Boston Globe's State House reporter. He'll discuss the ruling by the Massachusetts high court yesterday that gay couples in Massachusetts will be accorded full equal marriage rights rather than civil unions.

Singers Teddy Pendergrass and Al Green on this edition of Fresh Air Teddy Pendergrass was a popular soul singer in the group "Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes.

Jeffrey Toobin, staff writer at The New Yorker and writer Ben Cheever on this edition of Fresh Air. Jeffrey Toobin's new book is an investigation.

Author Martin Amis on this edition of Fresh Air. Amis is considered one of the leading British writers of the late twentieth century and one of the most controversial.

Senior vice president and editorial director of VH1, Bill Flanagan on this archive edition of Fresh Air. He's the author of A&R, a satirical novel about the music industry. Prior to this, Flanagan wrote extensively about the business for Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Esquire, and Spy. He's also the author of Written in My Soul, a collection of conversations with songwriters.

Jazz critic and writer Gary Giddins on this edition of Fresh Air. Gary Giddins new biography of Bing Crosby is called, Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams - The Early Years, 1903-1940. From 1930s to the 50s, Crosby was a pop culture icon, dominating American entertainment with his hit records and movies. In this first volume of the biography, Giddins chronicles the rise of Crosby's career.

Musician Ravi Shankar, actors Vince Vaughn and Gene Hackman on this edition of Fresh Air. Today, we learned that former Beatle George Harrison has died.

Novelists Jonathan Franzen and David Leavitt on this edition of Fresh Air. Jonathan Franzen's critically acclaimed new novel The Corrections.

Journalists Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck and veteran broadcaster and executive producer of 60 Minutes, Don Hewitt, on this edition of Fresh Air. Michel and Herbeck are staff writers for The Buffalo News. The two have collaborated on the new book American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh & the Oklahoma City Bombing. Michel lived 20 minutes away from McVeigh's father, and over time, he developed a relationship with the elder McVeigh, which in turn helped him gain access to his son.

Writer Peter Bergen and Kim Phuc on this edition of Fresh Air. Peter Bergen's a former correspondent/producer and current terrorism consultant for CNN, and the author of the book Holy War Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden. It's both a biography of Bin Laden and an explanation of bin Laden's global network. While at CNN, Bergen produced bin Laden's first TV interview, filmed at his mountain hideout in Afghanistan.

On this archival edition of Fresh Air, playwright and satirist from South Africa Pieter Dirk-Uys, and writer and director Todd Haynes. Dirk-Uys has a television talk show in South Africa that has an unusual twist. Instead of hosting his show as himself, he dresses drag as an Afrikaner dowager named Evita. His guests include such leaders as Nelson Mandela. His show is said to be "a way of making the country's leaders seem more human."

Veteran producer, pianist, singer, club owner George Wein on this edition of Fresh Air. He's the founder of the New Port Jazz Festival, the Newport Folk Festival, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. In the early 1950s he founded the jazz clubs Storyville and Mahogany Hall in his hometown of Boston where jazz giants Art Tatum, Sidney Bechet, Charlie Parker, Stan Getz and Miles Davis played.

From the Library of Congress, Recording Sound Specialist, Samuel Brylawski and acquisition specialist Cooper Graham and former White House press secretary Marlin Fitzwater on this edition of Fresh Air. The two compiled a collection of presidential speeches dating back 85 years Historic Presidential Speeches (1908-1993).

Former Washington deputy bureau chief for ABC News and award winning producer A'Lelia Bundles on this edition of Fresh Air. Her new book is a biography of her great-great-grandmother Madam C.J. Walker, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker. Walker was the daughter of slaves, and a widow at the age of 20.

Journalist Sam Quinones on Mexico and trumpeter Chico O'Farrill on this edition of Fresh Air. This Friday, George W. Bush embarks on his first presidential trip outside the US. He will travel to Mexico to meet the new president of Mexico, Vincente Fox. We talk about Mexico with Journalist Sam Quinones. He has been covering Mexico for 7 years.

Two of the most popular shows on television are U.S. versions of shows originated in Britain. Fresh Air's Terry Gross talks with the people behind them on this edition. David Briggs is the creator of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, which premiered on British television in September 1998 and thereby set the phrase (or its translation) "Is that your final answer?" into orbit.

Record producer and musician Don Was on this archive edition of Fresh Air. Was co-founded the funk rock group, "Was (Not) Was." In 1995, he won a Grammy for Producer of the Year. In addition, he's produced a number of albums for Bonnie Raitt, including her Nick of Time album which revived her career, Rolling Stones, Lyle Lovett, Al Green, Iggy Pop, and the B-52's.

Filmmaker John Waters on this edition of Fresh Air. His film Cecil B. Demented has just been released on video and DVD. It's about an underground filmmaker and his cult following who declare war on bad cinema by kidnapping a starlet and forcing her to star in their own film.

Historian Clayborne Carson, Maxwell Taylor Kennedy, and Rhythm and Blues musician Barbara Lynn on this edition of Fresh Air Clayborne Carson is director of Stanford University's King Papers Project, dedicated to editing and publishing all the papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. Carson is the co-editor of the new book A Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr a collection of eleven speeches delivered at turning points in the civil rights movement.

Host Terry Gross talks to two past transition directors who helped presidents move into the White House and satirist Harry Shearer on this edition of Fresh Air. Mark Gearan, now the head of the Peace Corps, he served on President Clinton's transition team as Deputy Director in 1992.