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Terry Gross at her microphone in 2018

Terry Gross

Terry Gross is the host and an executive producer of Fresh Air, the daily program of interviews and reviews. It is produced at WHYY in Philadelphia, where Gross began hosting the show in 1975, when it was broadcast only locally. She was awarded a National Humanities Medal from President Obama in 2016. Fresh Air with Terry Gross received a Peabody Award in 1994 for its “probing questions, revelatory interviews and unusual insight.” America Women in Radio and Television presented her with a Gracie Award in 1999 in the category of National Network Radio Personality. In 2003, she received the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s Edward R. Murrow Award for her “outstanding contributions to public radio” and for advancing the “growth, quality and positive image of radio.” Gross is the author of All I Did Was Ask: Conversations with Writers, Actors, Musicians and Artists, published by Hyperion in 2004. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, and received a bachelor’s degree in English and M.Ed. in communications from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She began her radio career in 1973 at public radio station WBFO in Buffalo, NY.

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22:09

Former Drug Czar William Bennett on Moral Education.

Former Drug Czar William Bennett. He is currently co-director of the conservative organization "Empower America." In 1981, he was appointed by Ronald Reagan to be Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 1985, he became President Reagan's Secretary of Education, and from March of 1989 to November of 1990, he served as President Bush's director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Bennett has written extensively on social and domestic issues and is the author of five books.

Interview
16:45

Film Director Ted Demme.

Film director Ted Demme. His new movie is "The Ref," starring Denis Leary, Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis. It's a dark comedy about a burglar stuck with two obnoxious hostages on Christmas Eve. Demme, who is 30, has also directed and produced for MTV; he's responsible for creating the popular hip-hop show "Yo! MTV Raps." His first feature film was "Who's The Man?" He is director Jonathan Demme's nephew.

Interview
50:36

Former Member of the Aryan Nations Floyd Cochran.

Floyd Cochran used to be a recruiter and public relations man for the racist, anti-Semitic Aryan Nations, based in Idaho. But about two years ago Cochran left the group and denounced it and it's racist views. Now he travels the country speaking out against the Aryan Nations.

Interview
08:50

Behind the Cameras: The Roach Wrangler On Set.

Entomologist Dave Brody curator of the entomology department of the Museum of Natural History in New York. Brody was the insect consultant -- a "bug wrangler"-- for films like "Creepshow" and "The Believers." (REBROADCAST from 7/9/87).

Interview
15:32

Behind the Cameras: Cinematographer Garrett Brown.

Cinematographer Garrett Brown, who in 1978 won an Oscar for his invention of the Steadicam, a camera-suspension system that eliminates the jiggle in hand-held shots. His shots are striking; They include scenes from "Rocky," running up the stairs of the Philadelphia Art Museum, in "The Shining", when the young child is chased through the garden maze, and from "Return of the Jedi" the speeder-bike chases. BROWN also invented the Skycam, a process whereby a camera is suspended by cables over a large span, like at a football field. (Rebroadcast of 01/14/1985)

Interview
22:17

Singer-Songwriter Alejandro Escovedo.

Singer/songwriter Alejandro Escovedo. Escovedo has just released his second solo album. It is called "Thirteen Years" (Watermelon Records). He was a founding member of San Francisco's '70's punk band the Nuns, the cowpunk band Rank & File and rock band True Believers. The title of the new album refers to a point during his marriage when all he had to offer his wife was song. After Escovedo and his former wife separated, she committed suicide.

Interview
16:27

Terry Phelps is More than the "Coach's Wife."

Teresa "Terry" Phelps. Author, law professor and wife of Digger Phelps, former head basketball coach at Notre Dame. Terry Phelps has written a memoir called "The Coach's Wife" (Norton). In 1991, Digger Phelps left Notre Dame and not one Notre Dame official attended his farewell address. Terry Phelps says her husband was the victim of the clashing demands placed on college coaches--be an educator, but be a money maker and entertainer too. She writes about her role as the "lovely wife," as coach's wives are often called in the world of college sports.

15:40

Rip Torn Discusses His Life and Career.

Actor Rip Torn, who now plays the Arty, the producer on the HBO comedy series, "The Larry Sanders Show". Torn has been a stage actor since the mid-1950's, when he left his native Texas (and his first name "Elmore") behind, for New York City and the Actors Studio. Described by one reviewer as "the good-looking no-talent with the ludicrously sinister name", Torn was often typecast as a heavy in television shows like "Dr. Kildare" and "Bonanza." (He also portrayed Henry Miller in an X-rated film version of "Tropic of Cancer.").

Interview

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