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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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43:45

Character Actor John C. Reilly On Working with Paul Thomas Anderson.

Character actor John C. Reilly. He's starred In all three of director/writer Paul Thomas Anderson's films. He played a small-time gambler In "Hard Eight," a porn star In "Boogie Nights," and a police officer In the new "Magnolia." Reilly has also worked with directors Brian DePalma ("Casualties of War") and Terrence Malik ("The Thin Red Line"). Reilly got his start In Chicago at the Goodman School of Drama and worked with the Steppenwolf theatre.

Interview
45:40

The Origins of Clinton's Sex Scandals.

Staff writer for The New Yorker and legal analyst at ABC News, Jeffrey Toobin. He's been a frequent guest on Fresh Air. He wrote about the O.J. Simpson trial in his bestseller "The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson." His new book is "A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal that Nearly Brought Down a President." (Random House).

Interview
21:30

Our Complicated Relationship with Clothes and Shopping.

Fabric artist and writer Andrea Siegel is the author of the new book, “Open and Clothed: For the Passionate Clothes Lover” (Agapanthus Books). In the book she aims to provide an alternative to what the media conveys about clothes, by talking to people in and out of the fashion industry about their motivations for dressing the way they do, and the roots of how they dress. Siegel’s great grandfather founded the New York department store, “Kleins.”

Interview
22:52

A Poem a Day.

Poet David Lehman is the editor of “The Best American Poetry” and on the faculty of Bennington College and The New School. His new book of poems chronicles his attempt to write a poem a day. It’s called “The Daily Mirror: a journal in poetry.” (Scribner)

Interview
43:40

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter and His Biographer James Hirsch.

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. In the early 60s, Carter was a top contender for the middleweight boxing crown. Then in 1967, he was convicted of three murders he did not commit. He was in prison for nearly 20 years, but continued to fight for his freedom in state and federal courts. Finally in 1985, he was found innocent and set free. We talk with Carter, and his biographer, James Hirsch, author of "Hurricane: The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter" (Houghton Mifflin Company). A new movie about Carter, called Hurricane, just opened.

20:35

From the Archives: Music Documentarian D. A. Pennebaker.

Filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker. One of America's foremost documentary producers, Pennebaker has brought his cinema verite approach to subjects ranging from Bill Clinton's presidential campaign, to Castro's Cuba, to Bob Dylan's first tour of Britain. Music has been the source of much of Pennebaker's work. His films have featured the likes of Pablo Cassals, jazz singer Dave Lambert, rocker David Bowie, John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Pennebaker's film on Bob Dylan, Don't Look Back, is being released on DVD. (REBROADCAST. ORIGINAL DATE 7/5/89.)

Interview
31:12

Conductor Benjamin Zander.

Conductor Benjamin Zander, of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. He has been called "a Pied Piper" of classical music and "one of music's evangelists." His passionate performances have earned him quite a following. Through his teaching and his pre-concert discussions, he has tried to spread his love of classical music to a wider public. He has conducted the Boston Philharmonic for over 20 years. His recording of Mahler's Ninth Symphony was just nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance.

Interview
19:33

"Connections" and Mental Health.

Dr. Edward Hallowell talks about his book Connect (Pantheon), about the importance of connectedness and what he sees as the essential need for intimate attachments. Hallowell is a practicing psychiatrist and an instructor at the Harvard Medical School. His other books include Worry(1997), and Answers to Distraction(1995) about attention deficit disorder.

Interview
42:08

Filmmaker Barbara Sonneborn.

Filmmaker Barbara Sonneborn. In her debut documentary Regret to Inform, Sonneborn weaves together the stories of widows from both sides of the American-Vietnam War. Sonneborn is a war widow herself; her husband was killed in Vietnam in 1968. Regret to Inform will air on PBS later this month. IT has already received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Documentary feature, and won the Best Director and Best Cinematography documentary awards at last year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Interview

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