Showing results by narrator "Terry Gross" in All Categories

Looking at HBO's hit series The Sopranos as it enters its third season on this edition of Fresh Air. First, an interview with creator and executive producer David Chase. Actor Michael Imperioli, who stars as Christopher, has written some episodes. Imperioli also appeared in five Spike Lee films, and starred in, co-wrote, and executive produced Lee's film Summer of Sam. Imperioli also appeared in the films Goodfellas, Malcolm X, Clockers, and Household Saints.

Playwright and screenwriter Kenneth Lonergan on this edition of Fresh Air. The writer behind five screenplays and several theater productions, his new play is called Lobby Hero and opens March 13 at Playwrights Horizons. He also wrote, directed, and acted in the Oscar nominated You Can Count on Me, which came out last year. The screenplay for that movie recently won Best Screenplay by the Writers Guild of America and is up for an Oscar in the same category.

The 10th anniversary of the use of ground forces during the Gulf War on this edition of Fresh Air. NPR's Neal Conan talks with two former lieutenants who were tank platoon leaders with the 24th Infantry Division: Alex Verdon and Greg Downey. The two were just out of college and leading platoons for the first time. They tell their story in the new book, The Eyes of Orion.

Religion scholar Karen Armstrong on this edition of Fresh Air. The best-selling author of The History of God and The Battle for God, has a new book, Budda, about the life of Sidhatta Gotam. From North India, Sidhatta Gotama renounced normal life, leaving his wife and child to live alone and attain enlightenment.

Director, co-writer Stacy Peralta on this edition of Fresh Air. Stacy Peralta directed the documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys. The film is about the community of skateboarders in California in the 1970s who originated extreme skateboarding. They did so in rundown urban beach neighborhood near Santa Monica and Venice called Dogtown. They became international stars. Peralta was one of the Z-boys and is considered one of the founding fathers of modern skateboarding.

Investigative journalist Robert Bryce and remembering labor activist Anthony Mazzochi on this edition of Fresh Air. Robert Bryce'sHis new book is Pipe Dreams: Greed, Ego and the Death of Enron. It's a gossipy, irreverent analysis of the Enron scandal.

Journalist Bill Keller and actresses Lupe Ontiveros and Bonnie Hunt on this edition of Fresh Air. Bill Keller is a columnist for The New York Times and senior writer for the magazine section. He just returned from a trip to Russia. He'll discuss Russia's position on Iraq. Actress Lupe Ontiveros stars in the new film Real Women Have Curves as a mother at odds with her two teenage daughters. She recently starred in the independent film Chuck and Buck.

Jazz bassist Ron Carter and filmmaker Burr Steers on this edition of Fresh Air. Ron Carter has more than two thousand recordings to his credit. From 1963-1968 he was part of the Miles Davis Quintet with Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, and Wayne Shorter. Over the years, he's played with Randy Weston, Herbie Mann, Betty Carter, Eric Dolphy, Sony Rollins, McCoy Tyner and others.

Journalist Jonathan Landay and former White House Director of Counterterrorism Daniel Benjamin on this edition of Fresh Air. Jonathan Landay co-wrote an article called "Officials' Private Doubts on Iraq War. The piece appeared yesterday in newspapers owned by the Knight-Ridder-Tribune News Service, including the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Because Audible was not granted digital audio rights to today's issue of Fresh Air, we have selected a great interview with record producer and songwriter Neil Innes and actress Joan Cusack for this edition of Fresh Air. Neil Innes is a founding member of the comedy-rock group "The Bonzo Dog Band". He's also a member of "The Rutles", the band that he and Eric Idle of Monty Python created as a spoof of the Beatles.

Journalist Peter Maass on this edition of Fresh Air. In this week's New York Times Magazine cover story, Maass writes about Major John Nagl, a professor at West Point and a counterinsurgency expert who's putting his theories about counterinsurgency into practice for the first time. He's in Iraq with a tank battalion in the Sunni Triangle.

Former US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Ron Suskind on this edition of Fresh Air. The two have collaborated on the new book, The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O'Neill. The book chronicles his nearly two years with the Bush administration.

Tammy Faye Messner and record executive Simon Cowell on this edition of Fresh Air. Tammy Faye Messner, along with her ex-husband Jim Bakker, built the Praise the Lord televangelist network. Record executive Simon Cowell is one of the judges on the talent show, American Idol, a spin-off of the show he co-created in Britian, Pop Idol.

Fresh Air celebrates the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by talking with Shirley Ann Barnhard, Clayborne Carson, and James Farmer. Shirley Ann Barnhard is a staff member and tour guide at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA, where Martin Luther King, Jr., was once co-pastor with his father. Clayborne Carson is founding director of the King Papers Project. James Farmer is the co-founder of CORE, the Congress On Racial Equality.

Author Paul Auster on this edition of Fresh Air. His new book is Oracle Night. Auster is the author of 11 novels, three screenplays, five books of poetry, and seven works of nonfiction. His recent works include the best-selling novels The Book of Illusions and Timbuktu, and he also edited the NPR National Story Project anthology, I Thought My Father Was God.

Political activist William Greene, Wes Boyd, and Eli Pariser of the liberal group Moveon.org on this edition of Fresh Air. Greene is a founder of the conservative group rightmarch.com. Wes Boyd and Eli Pariser are members of the liberal group Moveon.org.

Peter Landesman, contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine, on this edition of Fresh Air. Landesman investigated the sex slave industry for this week's cover story, "The Girls Next Door."

Author Charles Lewis, and climber and author Joe Simpson on this edition of Fresh Air. Charles Lewis and a team of researchers at the Center for Public Integrity have investigated the financing of all of this year's presidential contenders in the new book The Buying of the President 2004: Who's Really Bankrolling Bush and His Democratic Challengers - and What They Expect in Return. Joe Simpson wrote the book Touching the Void about his ill-fated climb of Siula Grande mountain in Peru.

Because Audible was not granted digital audio rights to today's issue of Fresh Air, we have selected a great interview with former major league umpire Ken Kaiser, filmmaker Helen Stickler, and former skateboarder Kenneth Park.

Political commentator and former Republican Strategist Kevin Phillips and Afghani filmmaker Siddiq Barmack on this edition of Fresh Air. Phillips is a regular contributor to the Los Angeles Times and National Public Radio. And he's the author of nine books, including The Politics of Rich and Poor. In his new book, American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush, he takes a good look at the Bush family legacy.