Skip to main content
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.

Sort:

Newest

06:51

Jac Holzman, Elektra Records

Record executive Jac Holzman founded Elektra Records in 1950, initially focusing on recording folk and ethnic music. In 1964 he founded Nonesuch Records. In the 1960s he signed on some of the big pop and rock voices of the era like Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Carly Simon, Jackson Browne and The Doors. He talks about working with The Doors. Holzman headed Elektra Records for 23 years.

Interview
14:08

Ray Manzarek of 'The Doors'

Keyboard player and record producer Ray Manzarek was part of the rock band The Doors, which broke up after the death of lead singer Jim Morrison. This month marks the 40th anniversary of the band's formation. There's a new book out next month called, The Doors that gives an inside look at the band. It includes interviews with the three surviving members. Never before seen photos and previously untold stories are revealed.

Interview
07:09

Doors' Drummer John Densmore

After the breakup of The Doors, Densmore went on to play reggae music and got involved in theater and writing projects, penning his autobiography and publishing magazine articles. His current project is the group Tribal Jazz. Their self-titled debut album is now out in stores.

Interview
43:02

Investigating the CIA Torture Program

British journalist Stephen Grey writes about security issues and Iraq. His work appears in The Sunday Times of London, The New York Times, the Guardian, and The Atlantic Monthly. He says that dozens of terror suspects are still being held in secret prisons and interrogated by the CIA despite President Bush's declaration that the CIA is no longer doing so. Grey's new book is Ghost Plane: The True Story of the CIA Torture Program (St. Martin's Press).

Interview
28:09

Faith-Based Initiatives: What Went Wrong

David Kuo is the former deputy director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. He left in December 2003. He says he was disillusioned with the administration because they failed to actually fund faith-based charities, and they used compassion and religion for political ends. He is the author of the new memoir Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction.

Interview
10:56

Defending Faith-Based Initiatives

H. James Towey is the former director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. He is David Kuo's former boss. He responds to Kuo's criticisms of the Bush administration's follow through on the initiatives. Towey is now president of the Benedictine Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Penn.

Interview
34:01

Actor Forest Whitaker,'The Last King of Scotland'

Forest Whitaker played jazz musician Charlie Parker in Bird, a British soldier kidnapped by the IRA in The Crying Game, a mafia hit man who models himself after a Samurai warrior in Ghost Dog, and an internal-affairs detective on the FOX TV show The Shield. In his latest film, The Last King of Scotland, he plays Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.

Interview
22:07

Jay Allison, Curator of "This I Believe"

Peabody award-winning independent radio producer Jay Allison. His radio series include "Life Stories", "Lost and Found Sound" (with The Kitchen Sisters) and the "Sonic Memorial Project." He created Transom.org -- an online resource for newcomers to radio production. Along with producer Dan Gediman he created the "This I Believe" series, currently on NPR, modeled after the Edward R. Murrow series. Many of the essays are collected in a new book, and on CD.

Interview

Did you know you can create a shareable playlist?

Advertisement

There are more than 22,000 Fresh Air segments.

Let us help you find exactly what you want to hear.
Just play me something
Your Queue

Would you like to make a playlist based on your queue?

Generate & Share View/Edit Your Queue