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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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10:38

Hanif Kureishi Discusses the Appeal of Fundamentalism to Second Generation Immigrants.

Novelist/screenwriter Hanif Kureishi. Kureishi has been termed by the British press a "literary terrorist" for his works which encompass racist and sexual themes. He wrote the screenplays for "My Beautiful Laundrette," and "Sammy and Rosie Get Laid." Both were directed by Stephen Frears. His new novel is "The Black Album," (Scribner). Kureishi was born and brought up in south London; his father is Pakistani, his mother English.

Interview
34:30

Taking Down a Cyber Criminal.

Computer security expert Tsutomu Shimomura and reporter John Markoff. Markoff writes about computers and technology for the New York Times. The two have collaborated on a new book, "Takedown: The Pursuit and Capture of Kevin Mitnick, America's Most Wanted Computer Outlaw-By the Man Who Did It." (Hyperion). Mitnick was the most wanted computer hacker in the world, having stolen thousands of data files, and 20,000 credit card numbers. For two years he had eluded the FBI. Mitnick broke into Shimomura's home computer, and Shimomura joined the search.

47:26

Actor, Director, and Writer Sean Penn.

Actor/director/writer Sean Penn. The "reluctant actor" is starring in the new film "Dead Man Walking" directed by Tim Robbins, co-starring Susan Sarandon. (It's based on the book, of the same title, by Sister Helen Prejean). Penn has moved away from acting in favor of writing/directing: the 1991 film "The Indian Runner" which he wrote based on a Bruce Springsteen song, and last year's "The Crossing Guard" starring Angelica Huston and Jack Nicholson.

Interview
22:10

Jon Krakauer Discusses the Story of Ill-Fated Adventurer Christopher McCandless.

Writer Jon Krakauer. Jon Krakauer is a contributing editor for Outside magazine, and the author of "Into the Wild" [Villard Books]. "Into the Wild" tells the story of a young man's rash and tragic journey into the Alaskan wilderness. Christopher Johnson McCandless gave away all his money to charity, abandoned his car and possessions, hiked into the woods and within four months had starved to death.

Interview
11:34

Remembering Duane Hanson.

Sculptor Duane Hanson died on Saturday in a Baca Raton hospital in Florida at the age of 70. The cause was non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, according to the The Miami Herald. We'll hear an interview with Hanson conducted in 1990. Hanson was known internationally for his life-size super-realistic sculptures of people. His sculptures are so life-like that a museum worker in Florida once called the fire department for help when one of Hanson's sculptures failed to respond to his attempts to get her attention. Hanson was born in Alexandria, Minn in 1925. [Originally broadcast 6/18/90]

Obituary
32:41

The Politics of Hate in the United States.

On April 10, 1995 Kenneth S. Stern, the American Jewish Committee's advisor on hate groups warned authorities that some kind of "incident" is likely to occur on April 19, 1995. The second anniversary of the Waco fire. He was proved right. A bomb destroyed the Federal building in Oklahoma City. The bombing raised the suspicion that the bombing suspect, Timothy McVeigh might have ties to a militia. Stern's has written, "A Force Upon The Plain: The American Militia Movement and the Politics of Hate" which has been published by Simon and Schuster.

Interview
34:24

Code Name Jane.

Laura Kaplan is the author of the new book, "The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service," (Pantheon Books). In 1969 this underground abortion service began operation in Chicago, four years before Roe v. Wade. The members of "Jane" were lay-persons who learned how to perform abortions themselves. Laura Kaplan was a member of Jane. She was also a founding member of a Chicago-based women's health-care center. (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW).

Interview

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