Fresh Air Archive: Interviews with Terry Gross

January 26, 1988

Martial Artist and Actor Chuck Norris.

Actor Chuck Norris. He had changed his image from being a cult, martial arts film star to being America’s all-round tough guy. His movie at the time was “Braddock: Missing in Action III.” He had just written his autobiography. It was titled The Secret of Inner Strength - My Story.

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James Earl Jones

Issac Hayes

Keith Richards

Emmylou Harris

André Holland

Padma Lakshmi

Stephen Sondheim

Lena Waithe

Twyla Tharp

Mel Brooks

Martin Scorsese

Stanley Tucci

Tig Notaro

Burt Reynolds

Rita Moreno

A Black woman smiles with her arms in the air as she dances with a Black man at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem in New York City during the 1940s.

Black History is American History

Fresh Air host Terry Gross at her microphone in 1991

This is Fresh Air

Miles Davis playing his trumpet at Newport in a jean suit with sunglasses

Miles Davis and the Influence of the Cool

Country music legend Merle Haggard plays a fiddle in a cowboy hat

Country Music Icons

The Futurists

Hip-Hop History

Feminist demonstrator holds a sign that says "Our bodies, our minds, our power" while wearing an American flag headscarf

Feminist Voices

Woman sprinkles spice into a pan of meat while cooking.

Food for Thought

Toni Morrison looks off-camera in a black and white photo from 1977

She Leads: Trailblazers Of The Past, Present & Future

Donald Trump speaking at a campaign event in a MAGA hat with an American flag backdrop

The Trump Years

African American author Maya Angelou looks off-camera in a close-up portrait

African American Authors

Saturday Night Live (SNL) players Horatio Sanz and Amy Poehler sitting at the anchor desk during a segment of Weekend Update

SNL: Live from New York

Jazz legend Duke Ellington playing the piano in a spotlight at a concert hall

Piano Masters

A young Stevie Wonder, pictured during his Motown days, plays the harmonica in sunglasses against an orange backdrop

Making Motown

A series of brain images in black and white

How the Brain Works

Food & Cooking

Animals & Insects

Israeli pride parade with a man waving the rainbow flag

LGBTQ+ Issues

Nighttime view of the US Capitol building with a time-lapse of cars speeding by below

Government & Politics

A Muslim girl praying with beads in a colorful headscarf

Religion & Spirituality

Pop Culture

Comedy

Theater

Books & Literature

Close-up view of a music studio mixing board

In-Studio Performances

Young girls holding feminist signs at a protest

Feminism

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A doctor points a finger at a chest x-ray that shows the ribs

Health & Medicine

Police & Policing

Jazz

Today in Fresh Air History

May 14, 1990

How Carmen McRae and Other Jazz Artists "Handle" Monk.

Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a new CD featuring Carmen McRae. It's "Carmen Sings Monk" on the BMG/RCA label. The recording is a first: no other performer has been permitted to record the lyrics to Monks' songs. McRae got special permission from the Monk family. The CD also features the late saxophonist Carlie Rouse.

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