Showing results by author "Terry Gross" in All Categories

Writer Stefan Kanfer and journalist Jody Rosen, on this edition of Fresh Air. Kanfer's new book is Stardust Lost: The Triumph, Tragedy, and Mishugas of the Yiddish Theater in America.

Rhythm and blues legend Smokey Robinson and the great songwriting trio Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Edward Holland on this edition of Fresh Air. Robinson has a new album called Timeless Love. Robinson sings hits from the American songbook, including "I Can't Give You Anything But Love (Baby)", "Night and Day", and "More Than You Know." William "Smokey" Robinson recorded dozens of top 40 hits for the Motown label as a solo artist and with The Miracles.

Actor Luke Wilson and director/choreographer Susan Stroman on this edition of Fresh Air. Luke Wilson appears in the film The Family Stone. It's about the annual holiday gathering of a New England family.

Critic at large John Powers, rock critic Ken Tucker, and TV critic David Bianculli, on this edition of Fresh Air. John Powers talks with Terry about the events that defined American culture this year.

The late actor Peter Boyle and historian Robert Satloff, on this edition of Fresh Air. Robert Satloff is the author of the new book Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust's Long Reach into Arab Lands.

Rhode Island Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee and linguist Geoff Nunberg, on this edition of Fresh Air. Lincoln Chafee is serving out his term after being ousted by Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse in the mid-term elections. Then, Geoff Nunberg considers some of the words that made headlines this past year and were part of the zeitgeist.

Ben Karlin, executive producer of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, on this edition of Fresh Air. It was recently announced that Ben Karlin will be leaving both shows on cable channel Comedy Central at the end of this month.

Author Michael Wex and film critic David Edelstein, on this edition of Fresh Air. Michael Wex is the author of Born to Kvetch: Yiddish Language and Culture in All of Its Moods which has just been published in paperback. Wex explores the history and culture of Yiddish: its complaints, curses and codes. Wex is a novelist, lecturer, and translator (his translations include a Yiddish version of The Threepenny Opera).

Election reform expert Dan Seligson, NAACP officers Marvin "Doc" Cheatham and Reverend Nelson B. Rivers, III, and musician, composer, and bandleader Don Byron on this edition of Fresh Air. Dan Seligson is the editor of www.electionline.org, a nonpartisan and non-advocacy organization that tracks and analyzes election reform issues. The website is a venture of the Election Reform Information Project. Then, NAACP officers Marvin "Doc" Cheatham and Reverend Nelson B. Rivers, III.

Keyboard player and record producer Ray Manzarek and record executive Jac Holzman on this edition of Fresh Air. Ray Manzarek was part of the rock band the Doors, which broke up after the death of lead singer Jim Morrison. This month marks the 40th anniversary of the band's formation. There's a new book out next month called The Doors. It's an inside look at the band and includes interviews with the three surviving members. Never before seen photos and previously untold stories are revealed.

Actor Ben Affleck and Jazz guitar players Bucky and John Pizzarelli, on this edition of Fresh Air. Ben Affleck is currently starring in the new film, Hollywoodland as George Reeves, the actor who played Superman in the original TV series. The film is about the real-life, unsolved murder of Reeves. Affleck also co-wrote Good Will Hunting with Matt Damon, and their screenplay won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.

Actor James Woods on this edition of Fresh Air. He's currently starring in the new CBS drama Shark playing the ruthless super-lawyer Sebastian Stark. Woods' films include Salvador, Ghosts of Mississippi, The Onion Field, Once Upon a Time in America, Nixon, and Casino. Then, TV critic David Bianculli reviews the new drama series Brothers & Sisters which airs on Sunday night in the time slot previously occupied by Grey's Anatomy.

Journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran and actor Ed Harris, on this edition of Fresh Air. Rajiv Chandrasekaran is the former Baghdad bureau chief for the Washington Post. His new book about the Green Zone in Baghdad during the first year of the U.S. occupation is Imperial Life in the Emerald City. Then, Ed Harris, who plays Ludwig van Beethoven in the new film Copying Beethoven.

Freedom scholar Michael Ledeen and Foreign policy expert Joseph Cirincione on this edition of Fresh Air. Michael Ledeen, the conservative thinker, holds the Freedom Chair at the American Enterprise Institute. He prefers the term "democratic revolutionary" to neoconservative. Ledeen has written many books on U.S. foreign policy and has consulted for the Bush Administration.

Actress Maria Bello and journalist Adam Roberts on this edition of Fresh Air. Bello is currently starring in the new film World Trade Center. Her other films include A History of Violence, Thank You for Smoking, and The Cooler. She also played Dr. Anna Del Amico on the TV show ER for one season (1997-98). Then, Roberts of The Economist in London is their former South Africa correspondent.

Actor John C. Reilly on this edition of Fresh Air. Reilly is currently co-starring in the new film Talladega Nights: the Ballad of Ricky Bobby with Will Ferrell. He's probably best known for his association with writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson in the films Hard 8, Boogie Nights, and Magnolia. Reilly came out of the Chicago-based drama troupe The Steppenwolf Theatre. He made his film debut in Brian DePalma's Casualties of War.

New York Times reporter Steven Erlanger on this edition of Fresh Air. He's the paper's Jerusalem Bureau Chief. He joins us from Israel to talk about intensified fighting in the region. Erlanger has reported from all over the world, serving in Moscow, Bangkok, Prague, and other cities.

Reporter Jane Mayer on this edition of Fresh Air. Her recent article in The New Yorker looks at David S. Addington, Vice President Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff and longtime legal advisor. Mayer says current and former Bush administration officials credit him with helping form the administration's legal strategy in the war on terror. The article, entitled "The Hidden Power," is featured in the July 3rd issue of The New Yorker.

Actor Paul Reubens on this edition of Fresh Air. His classic TV series Pee-Wee's Playhouse will be broadcast as part of the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block starting July 10th. The series, which includes 45 episodes, aired from 1986 to 1990. In 1991, Reubens was arrested at a Florida movie theater and charged with indecent exposure. Reubens got his start with the Los Angeles comedy troupe The Groundlings, where he originated the Pee-Wee character.

The Most Reverend Frank Tracy Griswold III on this edition of Fresh Air. He is the 25th Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. He's ending his nine-year term later this year, and his replacement - a woman - has just been named. Additionally, the Episcopal Church has been divided in recent years over the ordination of gay bishops. The incoming bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, is known as a feminist pro-gay liberal.