Terry Gross

Alex Haley documented his family history going back several generations in Roots, which was later adapted into a popular television series. His first book was the landmark Autobiography of Malcom X, which was written in collaboration with the civil rights leader.

The performer's material draws from his upbringing as a Jewish kid in the Bronx, his college education and his improv training in Chicago's Second City.

James Farmer returns to Fresh Air to share memories of the 1961 Freedom Rides and later race riots that erupted during later that decade. His new memoir, Lay Bare the Heart, has just been published.

Rita Rudner started as a Broadway dancer before moving to comedy stages. She says she is constantly writing jokes and testing out new material on friends, strangers, and fellow comedians. Rudner recently made her seventh appearance on the David Letterman Show.

Fresh Air broadcasts a lecture Nat Hentoff gave at Lehigh University about the press's accountability to the public and the government.

Paul Nitze began his political career in FDR's administration. His research on the nuclear arms race and the Soviet Union has helped shape the US's foreign and military policy over the past several decades.

Emergency surgery to remove an aneurysm left jazz guitarist Pat Martino with no memory of his life or how to play his instrument. After years of recovery and practice, he has relearned guitar and returned to the stage.

In contrast to the serious and rebellious attitudes adopted by many contemporary rock acts, Jonathan Richman writes and performs straightforward and often childlike songs with his band, the Modern Lovers.

Director and producer David Attenborough has made several nature programs for the BBC, documenting animals' behavior in their natural environments.

Soprano Beverly Sills retired from singing in 1980 at the age of fifty, but still works in opera as the director of the New York City Opera. Rather than traveling abroad to hone her craft, she studied and built a career in America.