Terry Gross

Broadway actress Sophie Hayden worked in New York as an accomplished baton twirler before making it onto the stage. She put her skills to use in a recent production of Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors--where she twirled a machete.

Conceptual artist Jenny Holzer makes signs featuring original platitudes, which she displays in public places.

Lawyer and First Amendment expert Martin Garbus has a new book called Traitors and Heroes. He discusses the Lenny Bruce obscenity trials, the Reagan administration's effect on news coverage, and censorship issues abroad.

Jazz critic Francis Davis reviews a new greatest hits collection of the late blues singer Big Joe Turner, whose voice and presence were larger than life.

The British performer is an accomplished film, TV and stage actor who also had a number of hits on the British pop charts. Her Emmy-nominated variety show on the Fox Network, The Tracey Ullman Show, was just renewed for a second season.

At age 40, H.F. Saint gave up his career as a real estate investor to write his debut novel, Memoirs of an Invisible Man. He discusses the central trope of his book with guest host Liane Hansen.

Guest critic David Marc looks at the growing popularity of 1950s TV sitcoms. He thinks the trend reveals a troubling desire for an idealized suburban culture where whiteness and paternal authority ruled.

Allan Arkush is part of a new breed of directors who switches back and forth between film and television. A veteran of B-movies and cult films, he says TV offers more room for experimentation and narrative innovation.

Folk musician Michael Cooney returns to Fresh Air to share two older love songs that he thinks do a better job of conveying emotion than the pop hits of today.

The playwright and performance artist came from the New York fringe scene--which he believes is too afraid to really push cultural boundaries. His play Talk Radio is being made into a film.