Showing results by author "Terry Gross" in All Categories

Writer Armistead Maupin on this edition of Fresh Air. Maupin is the creator of the award-winning newspaper serial turned TV series Tales of the City. His new book, The Night Listener, is his first novel in eight years. It examines the relationship that grows between a cult writer and one of his younger radio fans; critics have noted the autobiographical subtext to the story. Maupin won the 1998 Peabody Award for his work in television and has written several novels and two collections of essays. He lives in San Francisco.

Creator of the TV series Law & Order Dick Wolf and Actor Robert Downey, Jr. on this edition of Fresh Air. Dick Wolf's Law & Order is the longest running drama on network television. After more than 300 shows and thirteen years the "ripped from the headlines" half cop-half law show is still going strong. It's also inspired two other series: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Phil Donahue, host and creator of The Phil Donahue show which originally went on the air in 1967 in Dayton, Ohio. It went into syndication in 1969, moved to Chicago in 1974, and then to New York before going off the air. Donahue's show gave rise to the daytime talk shows of today with audience participation and outrageous guests.

Hear writer Katha Pollitt and classical-music critic Lloyd Schwartz on this edition of Fresh Air. Pollit's new book is Learning to Drive: And Other Life Stories. It's a collection of personal essays. Pollitt is best known for her feminist, left-of-center political commentary, as in her regular column "Subject to Debate" in The Nation, for which she's been writing since 1980.

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.

Alexander Tsiaras, a pioneer in the field of medical-imaging technology, is today's guest on Fresh Air. In a new book, From Conception to Birth: a Life Unfolds, he collects images of the fetus in every stage of its development. The three-dimensional color visualizations are culled from a variety of medical-image techniques and then reconfigured on the computer.

Hear novelist Philip Roth, writer/director Kevin Smith, actor Ray Wise, and rock critic Ken Tucker, on this edition of Fresh Air. Philip Roth's new novel Exit Ghost is his ninth and final Nathan Zuckerman book. He began the series in 1979 with The Ghost Writer. In all, Roth has written 28 novels. There's also a new Library of Congress compendium of the series: Zuckerman Bound.

Father James Martin on this edition of Fresh Air. Father Martin is associate editor of America the national Catholic magazine. He's written a new memoir, Searching for God at Ground Zero, about the days following the September 11th attacks when he abandoned his editing duties to go and be with the rescue workers at the site of the ruined World Trade Center.

Hear author Bliss Broyard and journalist Yaroslav Trofimov on this edition of Fresh Air. Bliss Broyard has written a new family memoir: One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life - A Story of Race and Family Secrets. Her father was the literary critic Anatole Broyard, who died in 1990.

Hear 60 Minutes producer George Crile and musician Ike Turner on this edition of Fresh Air. George Crile was a producer for 60 Minutes and 60 Minutes II. He died in 2006. We'll listen back to an interview with Crile about his book Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History. A film based on the back will be released this month.

Inventor Dean Kamen and remembering Boston Globe reporter Elizabeth Neuffer who died in Iraq last week on this edition of Frsh Air. Dean Kamen invented the Segway Human Transporter, a high-tech scooter. The scooter relies on sensors, sold-state gyroscopes, and softwear to produce a balanced ride even over rough terrain. The price tag is around $5,000. Kamen's other inventions include a portable drug-infusion pump, a compact dialysis machine and a wheelchair that can climb stairs.

Former New York Times Balkans Bureau Chief and Middle East Bureau Chief Chris Hedges on this edition of Fresh Air. Hedges is currently living in New York. He's covered war zones in Central America, the Middle East, and the Balkans for more than 20 years and is the author of the new book, War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning.

Hear novelist Philip Roth, film critic David Edelstein, and TV critic David Bianculli on this edition of Fresh Air. The Pulitzer Prize winning author's 27th book, Everyman, is now out in paperback. It's a novel about a 71-year-old, divorced, successful, advertising man and his response to his physical decline and approaching death.

Former White House adviser David Gergen on this edition of Fresh Air. Gergen worked with Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton. He left politics and become a regular analyst on The Newshour with Jim Lehrer and Nightline. He is also editor-at-large at U.S. News & World Report. His new book is Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership.

Filmmaker Alexander Payne and singer and musician Alvin Youngblood Hart on this edition of Fresh Air. Alexander Payne directed and co-wrote the satirical films Citizen Ruth and Election. His newest film, About Schmidt, is also a social satire. It stars Jack Nicholson and Kathy Bates who have both been nominated for Academy Awards for their roles. About Schmidt is loosely based on the novel of the same name by Louis Begley.

Psychologist Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela on this edition of Fresh Air. Her new book is A Human Being Died That Night: A South African Story of Forgiveness. It's about Eugene de Kock, the commanding officer of state-sanctioned apartheid death squads.

Writer Andrew Solomon on this archive edition of Fresh Air. His book on depression, The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression, won a 2001 National Book Award. The work came out of a 1998 New Yorker magazine article. He drew on personal experience as well as interviews with patients, physicians, philosophers and drug designers. (Original Broadcast Date: June 11, 2001)

Professor of Islamic law Khaled Abou El Fadl and English professor Leo Litwak on this edition of Fresh Air. Khaled Abou El Fadl is the professor of Islamic law at the University of Southern California at Los Angeles. He's also the author of a number of books including, Conference of the Books: The Search for Beauty in Islam a collection of essays about the problems and challenges that confront Muslims in the contemporary world.

Remembering former publisher of The Washington Post, Katherine Graham and jazz critic Kevin Whitehead on this edition of Fresh Air. Graham died on July 17, at the age of 84. Graham's father owned The Washington Post in 1933 and later her husband, Phil Graham, took over. Following her husband's suicide in 1963, Graham became publisher, knowing little about the managerial or journalistic aspects of the job. But, learning while she worked, she transformed the paper into one of the country's most respected newspapers. The paper broke the Watergate scandal and published the...

Financial investigative reporter Alex Berenson and writer, actor, director, and comedian Harry Shearer on this edition of Fresh Air. Alex Berenson is a financial investigative reporter for The New York Times.