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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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43:46

The Future of the Yugoslavian War

BBC correspondent Misha Glenny. He's returned to London from covering the war in the former Yugoslavia. Terry will talk with him about the war and the history that led up to it. He's also the author of the book "The Fall of Yugoslavia."

Interview
28:58

The Ultimate Family Recovery Story

Doctor Al Mooney, a specialist in Addictive Medicine and his mother Dot Mooney. Doctor Mooney is the author of The Recovery Book, a guide to drug and alcohol recovery, and runs the Willingway Hospital, a drug and alcohol rehabiltation center in Statesboro Georgia. Doctor Mooney knows about addiction first hand. His late father, who was also a doctor, became addicted to drugs and alcohol -- and so did his mother. When the parents kicked their habits, they turned their house into a rehabilitation center for other addicts.

15:45

Stand-Up Comic and Actor Gilbert Gottfried

In the new animated movie Aladdin, Gottfried plays an evil parrot. His stand-up style can best be described as "cranky," with a high-decibel delivery. He's also done a stint on Saturday Night Live and was in the movie Beverly Hills Cop II.

Interview
15:26

A Son Tries to Clear His Father's Name

Alger Hiss & his son Tony Hiss. This is the infamous Alger Hiss who was convicted and jailed in 1950 for perjury after denying, under oath, that he had been a Soviet spy. This past October, with the opening of Soviet archives, there was found to be no evidence that Hiss had ever been an agent of the Kremlin. Hiss is 88 years old now, and has maintained his innocence all along. His son, Tony Hiss is a staff writer at "The New Yorker," and he wrote about his father's ordeal and exoneration in the November 16 issue of the magazine.

22:47

Curtailing Gun Violence in the African American Community

Counselor Alvin Cater founded the Al Carter Foundation at Cabrini Green, a housing project in Chicago of 6000 people. The foundation is a hands-on intervention program that reaches youth by going into the streets, and makes referrals to the 13 human service agencies within Cabini Green. He tells Terry about the recent truce brokered among gangs at the project, and the effect recent gun violence has had on the community.

Interview
18:09

Writer Gunter Grass on Political Strife in Germany

Some consider Grass Germany's greatest contemporary writer, both for his fiction -- including The Tin Drum -- and for his political essays. Grass argued for years against against German reunification because of the hatred and resentment he was afraid it would unleash; he believes his fears have since come to pass.

Interview
14:01

The Inside Story of "Casablanca"

Author Aljean Harmetz's new book, Round Up the Usual Suspects, tells the inside story of the making of the film Casablanca. Harmetz is also the author of The Making of the Wizard of Oz. She was the Hollywood film correspondent for The New York Times for 12 years, and is now a contributing editor for Esquire.

Interview
22:54

The Crisis of Rape During the Yugoslav War

Yugoslavian journalist, critic, and feminist Slavenka Drakulic. We last spoke to her in July about living in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, with the outbreak of war. Recently, Drakulic has been researching and writing about Muslim women who have been raped by Serbs for genocidal purposes.

Interview
16:50

Theater Critic John Lahr on Dame Edna

Lahr has written a number of books and screenplays, including "Notes on a Cowardly Lion:" (about his father, the comedian Bert Lahr), and "Prick up Your Ears; The Biography of Joe Orton. Lahr has been the drama critic for over 25 years for "The Village Voice," and for "Vogue" (of Britian). He's written a new book about Barry Humphries and his creation, the dandy/alter ego Dame Edna Everage.

Interview

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