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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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35:02

'Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst'

Filmmaker Robert Stone's new documentary tells the story of the Symbionese Liberation Army, the radical group that kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst in 1974. We speak with Stone and with reporter Tim Findley, who covered the kidnapping for the Hearst newspaper The San Francisco Chronicle.

27:32

A Tribute to Fats Waller

We rebroadcast a tribute to the great vocalist and composer Thomas "Fats" Waller from May 19, 2004. Guitarist and singer Marty Grosz and cornet player Randy Reinhart join us for a special in-studio performance in honor of Waller's 100th birthday. Waller wrote many hit songs, appeared in films in the 1930s and '40s, and wrote Broadway musicals.

16:34

Jazz Scribe Dan Morgenstern

The new book Living With Jazz: A Reader, is the first collection of Dan Morgenstern's writing, including liner notes, record and concert reviews, critical essays and other writings. Morgenstern has been on the jazz scene for more than 40 years, from his earliest days as an editor of the jazz magazine Down Beat. Since 1976, he has been the director of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University in Newark, N.J. The institute is billed as the largest collection of jazz-related materials anywhere. Morgenstern has won four Grammy Awardss for liner notes.

Interview
34:06

Rapper and Actor Mos Def

The multi-talented Mos Def plays a police officer in the new indie film The Woodsman, also starring Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, about a pedophile who moves into a suburban neighborhood. He also has a new rap album, The New Danger. Mos Def has appeared in the films Bamboozled, Monster's Ball, and Brown Sugar. He made his Broadway debut with the play Topdog/Underdog, and has also won an Obie Award. Mos Def will be in the upcoming films A Confederacy of Dunces and A Hitchhiker s Guide to the Galaxy.

Interview
45:18

From Direct Mail to 'America's Right Turn'

Richard Viguerie is considered the "funding father" of the conservative movement. In the 1970s and 80s he pioneered direct mail political fundraising. He is a co-author of America's Right Turn: How Conservatives Used New and Alternative Media to Take Power. He now heads the organization American Target Advertising Inc.

Interview
42:00

Catchy and Rare: 'A John Waters Christmas'

Director John Waters, known for making art from sleaze, has a new CD for the season, A John Waters Christmas. It includes such songs as "Here Comes Fatty Claus," "Little Mary Christmas," and "Santa Claus is a Black Man." Waters was once crowned the "Pope of Trash" by William Burroughs.

Interview
44:09

Arthur Green's 'Guide' Delves into Kabbalah

Historian and theologian Arthur Green has long studied Jewish religion and culture. Among the many books he has written is his latest, A Guide to the Zohar.

The Zohar is a collection of writings and teaching that appeared in the 13th century. It is the basis of kabbalah, a mystical extension of Judaism identified with alphanumeric codes and esoteric symbols. Green's Guide to the Zohar is an overview of modern studies of kabbalah's medieval origins.

Interview
31:42

New Hampshire's Bishop Gene Robinson

On Nov. 2, 2003, Bishop Gene Robinson became the world's first openly gay Episcopal bishop. He was elected by the Diocese of New Hampshire. His appointment and confirmation have caused some division in the Episcopal Church. Robinson was married for 13 years. He continues to be close to his ex-wife and two daughters. For more than 16 years, he's been in a relationship with a man.

Interview
19:47

A Bishop and a Break-Away Group

Bishop Robert Duncan is the moderator of a group formed in opposition to the ordination of Bishop Robinson. It's called the Network of Anglican Communion Diocese and Parishes. Their stated mission is to allow "Episcopalians to remain in communion with the vast majority of the worldwide Anglican Communion who have declared either impaired or broken communion with the Episcopal Church USA." For many Episcopalians, the ACN has come to represent the hope for a return to the historic faith and order of Anglicanism." Duncan is Episcopal Bishop of Pittsburgh.

Interview

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