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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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18:48

Evolutionary biologist and journalist Olivia Judson

In her new guide to the evolutionary biology of sex, Judson explores the sex lives of animals and insects. Posing as Dr. Tatiana, sex-advice columnist, she answers "letters" posted by such creatures as the fairy wren, the stalk-eyed fly and the African elephant. Her new book is Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation. Judson has also written for The Economist, Nature and Science. This interview first aired Aug. 13, 2002.

Interview
17:36

B-movie actor Bruce Campbell

He has starred in the mock-horror vomitorium comedies: The Evil Dead, The Evil Dead Two and Army of Darkness, all directed by Sam Raimi. He also has had television roles in the popular series Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules. More recently Campbell appeared in Spiderman and Serving Sarah. Campbell's memoir, If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor, is now out in paperback.

Interview
21:02

Comic book artist and writer Frank Miller

He transformed Batman into a brooding, tortured vigilante in his remakes of the classic Batman comic: The Dark Knight Returns and The Dark Knight Strikes Again. Both are now available in hardback editions. Miller also wrote the screenplays for RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3.

Interview
31:17

Children's TV host Fred Rogers

His popular show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was the longest-running program on public television. It ran 33 years and ended its run in 2001. Rogers is the author of the new book, The Mister Rogers Parenting Book: Helping to Understand Your Young Child. (Running Press). Earlier this year, Rogers was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor the nation can bestow.

Interview
19:23

Burmese writer Pascal Khoo Thwe

Burmese writer Pascal Khoo Thwe has written his autobiography From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey. (HarperCollins). Thwe grew up part of a tiny remote tribe in Burma which practiced a combination of ancient animist and Buddhist customs mixed with Catholicism. He was the first member of his community to study English at University. When a brutal military dictatorship took over Burma, Thwe became a guerrilla fighter in the movement for democracy.

Interview
21:11

Professor Charles Kupchan

In his new book, The End of the American Era: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Geopolitics of the Twenty-First Century, Kupchan argues that the era of American dominance may be coming to an end. This demise will not be brought on by the Islamic world or China, but from an integrated Europe. He says that as Europe's political and strategic goals continue to diverge from those of the United States, Europe will rise as a new rival. Kupchan served on the National Security Council during the first Clinton administration.

Interview
18:06

TV host, performer, and writer Ruby Wax

Born and raised outside Chicago, Wax moved to England during her 20s, and found success as a performer, writer and TV personality. Wax scripted the British TV comedy Absolutely Fabulous and has had many other hit TV series on the BBC. Her new memoir is called How Do You Want Me?

Interview
32:22

Czech writer Arnost Lustig

Czech writer Arnost Lustig is considered one of the country's most prominent writers. His new novel, Lovely Green Eyes, is the story of a 15-year-old girl in Auschwitz and the compromises she makes in order to stay alive. Lustig himself survived Theresienstadt, Auschwitz and Buchenwald camps. His family died in the gas chambers. Lustig teaches at American University in Washington, D.C. He is also featured in the new documentary Fighter, in which he and long-time friend Jan Wiener retrace wartime memories.

Interview
11:51

Celebrity chef Mario Batali

Celebrity chef Mario Batali is the co-proprietor of three Manhattan restaurants — Babbo, Lupa and Esca — and Italian Wine Merchants, devoted to the wines of Italy. Batali is also the host of [two shows on TV's Food Network: Molto Mario and Mario Eats Italy. His books are The Babbo Cookbook, Simple Italian Food and Holiday Food.

Interview
44:05

Political Satirist Bill Maher

He's just published When You Ride Alone You Ride With Bin Laden: What the Government Should Be Telling Us to Help Fight the War on Terrorism. It's a coffee table book of post-Sept. 11 political posters, with slogans such as "Political Correctness is Dangerous...Demand Real Security" and "Put a Flag on Your Car...It's Literally the Least You Can Do/Empty Gestures Don't Win Wars." For nine years, Maher was the host of the TV talk show Politically Incorrect" which aired first on Comedy Central and then on ABC.

Interview

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