Showing results by author "Terry Gross" in All Categories

Actor John Travolta on this edition of Fresh Air. Travolta plays an ex-Army Ranger turned DEA agent in the new film Basic. He became a star in the 1970s with the films Saturday Night Fever, and Grease.

Veteran actress Angela Lansbury on this archive edition of Fresh Air. She's spent over 50 years in the business on stage, and in film and television. When she was 17 she debuted in Gaslight, and was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Ingrid Bergman's Cockney maid.

Hear neurologist Oliver Sacks and rock critic Ken Tucker on this edition of Fresh Air. Oliver Sacks' new book is Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. It's a series of case histories that examine the relationship of music and the mind. Sacks has written eleven books; the most famous are Awakenings, which was made into a film starring Robert DeNiro and Robin Williams, and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.

British actor Colin Firth on this edition of Fresh Air. Firth is co-starring in the new romantic comedy/holiday feel-good film, Love Actually. Firth is probably best known for his role as Mr. Darcy in the BBC/A&E production of Pride and Prejudice. The film turned him into a heartthrob.

Actors Morgan Freeman and Tim Roth on this archive edition of Fresh Air. Morgan Freeman is one of the stage and screen's most acclaimed actors for his ability to immerse himself in different roles. He originated the role of the chauffeur in the Broadway production of Driving Miss Daisy. Later he revived the role in the movie version, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award.

Irish writer Nuala O'Faolain on this archive edition of Fresh Air. Her latest book is her first novel called My Dream of You.

Soviet born journalist Masha Gessen and poet Li-Young Lee on this archive edition of Fresh Air. Masha Gessen edited a collection of post-Soviet fiction by women, Half a Revolution: Contemporary Fiction by Russian Women. Gessen says that most of the writers in the collection belong to the "mute generation" that came of age under Brezhnev.

Actor Christopher Walken, Reverend Louis Sheldon and Winnie Stachelberg, political director of the Human Rights Campaign on this edition of Fresh Air.

We celebrate the centennial of Bing Crosby's birth with jazz critic and writer Gary Giddins. His 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.

Documentary film maker Ken Burns, critic-at-large John Powers, and rock critic Ken Tucker, on this edition of Fresh Air. Ken Burns' upcoming PBS documentary series The War tells the story of the World War II thru the eyes of the soldiers who fought.

Middle East historian David Fromkin on this edition of Fresh Air. David Fromkin is a professor of International Relations, International Law, and Middle Eastern Politics at Boston University. He's also the author of the best selling book, A Peace to End All Peace: Creating the Modern Middle East 1914-1922.

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.

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.

Musician, producer, arranger, composer Quincy Jones on this 70th birthday rebroadcast edition of Fresh Air. In his fifty year career he's worked with just about anyone who is anybody in the music business. As a teenager he played backup for Billie Holiday, along with his 16 year old friend, Ray Charles. At 18 he began playing the trumpet in Lionel Hampton's band beside Clifford Brown. He went on to work with Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughn, Lesley Gore and many others.

Computer programmer Linus Torvalds on this edition of Fresh Air. He is the creator of Linux, a computer operating system intended to improve upon Unix. When Torvalds wrote the original code in 1991, he sent it out on the Internet to allow anyone to make changes and improvements.

The late writer, Carol Shields on this edition of Fresh Air. Carol Shields discusses her life, her work, and her diagnosis of stage 4 breast cancer. She won a Pulitzer Prize for her best-selling novel The Stone Diaries. Her books are often about middle class people leading quiet lives.

Former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and actor Peter Gallagher on this archival edition of Fresh Air. McNamara is the author of In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam which contains the long awaited admission that McNamara felt the U.S. policy in Vietnam was wrong and the war was unwinnable.

Comic Bob Newhart on this archive edition of Fresh Air. He's been a part of the American comedy landscape since 1961 when his debut comedy album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart became a surprise hit. Since then he's starred in three TV shows, including the Peabody award winning original The Bob Newhart Show, and appeared in numerous films. There's a new Rhino anthology of his classic routines, Something Like This...The Bob Newhart Anthology.

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.

Congressmen Tom Cole and Rahm Emanuel, on this edition of Fresh Air. Congressman Tom Cole of Oklahoma's Fourth District was recently sworn in as Chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee.