Terry Gross

Performer-in-residence Harry Connick, Jr. performs to two tunes about his hometown.

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone explores the work of the AIDS activist organization ACT UP, and the artist collective associated with them, Grand Fury. In light of the recent rise of inaccurate and hateful messages about people with the disease, Grand Fury launched a street art campaign throughout New York City to educate the public.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new Christmas movie Scrooged, which is a modern take on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Schiff says that, while the casting of Bill Murray was inspired, the film is caught between schmaltz and humbug, and ends up being nothing at all.

Writer Patrick McGrath grew up near England's Broadmoor mental hospital, where his father worked. He is now a horror writer. His collection of short fiction is called Blood and Water and Other Tales. A novel is forthcoming.

Newman worked in newspapers, radio and television. He joins Fresh Air to talk about the importance of language in journalism, the voice he adopted to report on tragedies and assassinations, and how he filled airtime when the copy ran out. A new collection of his columns is called I Must Say.

Ray has written twelve books of poetry. His lastest, Sam's Book, centers on memories of his son Sam, who was killed in a drinking accident.

The fiction writer sought adventure, so he followed the Equator around the world. His new book describes the different cultures, colonial vestiges, and natural phenomena of his various stops -- many of which the locals described as the "middle of nowhere."

The critically-acclaimed jazz artist is known for her use of electronics in her performances. She joins Fresh Air to discuss musical development and her experience as a woman in a male-dominated scene.

Brad Dourif has played several killers and disturbed people throughout his career. He won an Oscar for his portrayal of a mental patient in the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. He voices a killer puppet in the new horror flick, Child's Play. Dourif says these kinds of roles pay the bills, but he keeps his eye out for other, more varied parts.

Fashion writer Samuel Coleridge visited sweatshops in India and South Korea to learn more about the hidden side of fashion design and clothing sales. His new book explores exploitative labor, licensing, and gender dynamics within the industry.